Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston Summary

Perhaps the most important event in the story occurs when Sykes brings home a huge six-foot living snake. Fear once again overcomes Delia and she pleads, “Syke! Syke, mah Gawd! You take dat rattlesnake ‘way from heah! You gottuh. Oh, Jesus, have mussy” (360). Sykes, on the other hand, stands in amusement almost as if he loves to see Delia psychologically abused. His cockiness unravels as he acts like he is invincible and like anyone and anything should and will comply with him. In regards to the enormous snake, Sykes boasts, “…He wouldn’t bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handel ‘im” (360). He makes sure to instill fear into Delia by telling her to be careful because the snake would have no problem coming after her. Hurston also has Sykes portray his own death. In this same scene, Sykes’ reply to

Knowing Zora Neale Hurston was a religious woman, it is no shock that throughout the “Sweat” there are many hidden Biblical references. One reference the story often makes is the snake. The snake is a reference to many things. It first, is a reference to the snake in the book of Genesis, where the devil tempts Eve. The snake also represents original sin and the darkness that comes in all of humanity. In “Sweat”, Delia is afraid of the snake, thus showing her fear of sin and darkness, portraying her as a strong Christian character. The snake can also be a connection to Christ. When the snake is first brought to the house it appears dead. It remains this way for three days, until it miraculously awakens (Carter 611). This relates to Christ when he is hung on the cross and buried. He

Missie May was slowly regaining the position she once held in the relationship. In "Sweat," the power dynamics started off a bit differently. Sykes seem to have all the power in the household, as he did come and go as he pleased and beat Delia considerably. Hurston begins "Sweat" by illustrating Sykes' dominance over Delia. Delia is in a submissive position on her knees while Sykes is towering over with a whip. Delia is frightened because she believes the whip to be a snake. The whip is described as "something long, round, limp, and black"(Sweat 1491) which creates the illusion of a penis. Delia's feeling for the one-eyed snake, the whip, equates to her sexual desires to Sykes. But throughout the story, time and time again, Delia attempts to grasp some power. When her house becomes threatened, she stands up to Sykes. This is such a surprise to him that he doesn't beat her as he usually would, he instead leaves. The story does leave one wondering how much power Sykes really has in the town. He parades around town with his mistress. He beats on his wife and tries to woo every woman he sees. These are all points brought up by the townspeople themselves as they complain about him. They even talk about killing the man, but they continur to remain at a distance and watch everything he does. Can one really argue that Sykes isn't powerful in a town that allows him to do whatever he wants? But this power is, indeed,

Sykes personality is totally different than Delia’s. Sykes Jones is physically and emotionally cruel to Delia. He is immoral and unfaithful; furthermore he takes the money that is earned from Delia's tough labor and squanders it away on his mistress, Bertha. Whereas Sykes may be strong in body, he does not have any belief in God. Sykes in a sense can be compared to the devil because like the devil he drained Delia of her beauty, joy and happiness that she once possessed. This point is brought up in the story when Joe Clarke and the village men are talking about Delia and Sykes ” …But dey squeeze an’ grind an’ wring every drop uh pleasure dat’s in ‘em out” (443). According to Davis Masson, who wrote, Essays Biographical and Critical “All sadness and melancholy come from the devil” (86). Once their marriage starts to fall apart, Sykes uses Delia’s anxiety of snakes against her. Andre’ Ménez, who wrote The Subtle Beast, states, “Being sometimes poisonous, hidden in the shadows; slowly and mutely guiding, snakes have often been deemed powerful and shifty, evil creatures whose major aim was to frustrate the natural and proper development of life” (9).

Depending on who is speaking at the time, the tone of “Sweat” seems either one of anger and frustration, one of hope and determination, or one of sadness and despair. When Sykes speaks the tone is angry and evil because almost everything that comes out of his mouth is negative. In comparison, When Delia speaks the tone rings more of peace, hope, and determination. When the narrator chimes in the tone seems sad because he/she informs the reader of the upsetting truths about Delia’s marriage and the many hardships she has had to face throughout the story.

Above all the evilness from Sykes, Delia’s strength lies in her religion and her humility towards her husband, in the end, victorious over his brutal strength and attitude. In the beginning of the story, Delia was very tolerant of her husband’s pranks and malicious threats. Being strong towards her religion, she would still attend church every Sunday and pray every night before she goes to bed. Towards the end of the story, Delia’s tolerance towards Syke’s actions begins to change and she becomes more aggressive towards him. She starts talking back to him and draws an iron skillet and strikes a defensive pose, which Sykes is in shock, coming from her. Also towards the end of the story, Sykes lets loose a poisonous snake knowing Delia is afraid of them. Delia then sees the snake in her basket and leaves it loose for Sykes. At the end, thanks to karma, the snake bites Sykes on the neck and Delia refused to help while he is dying.

I want to focus on the story ‘Sweat’ because it happened to be my favorite from the selected female authors we read this semester. I was very struck by the story because Hurston wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and represents women even in a male-dominated culture. The story ‘Sweat’ takes place in a rural setting. Hurston tends to focus on relationships and conflicts in her writing. In this story, Delia is a hardworking woman. She is also strong, despite being in an abusive relationship. Her husband is portrayed as rude, and clearly doesn’t appreciate anything she does. The narrator also tells the reader how young and beautiful Delia used to look before her abusive marriage. The husband in the story is upset and mad at white people. However, Delia has to work so she defends herself and her job. The story ends with a snake bite that kills her husband. However, he was the one who brought it in the house to scare and more than likely kill Delia. I believe that Hurston’s intentions were to represent a strong female woman who held no regards for a man who mistreated her. I also believe that her intended audience was for females in general. By making Delia hardworking and strong, she is a woman who represents female empowerment. By doing so, Hurston makes women more aware that they don’t have to be consumed in a male-dominated culture, but that a woman can do as she pleases, and not have to

The story Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of Delia who overcame her abusive husband, Sykes through her development of becoming a strong woman. The development of Delia’s character throughout the story relates to Zora Neale Hurston’s life of growing up into a strong, empowered woman. Delia and Zora were both verbally and physically abused which made them afraid and timid. Zora made her characters talk in a dialect that she grew up listening to which was uncommon to do in literature. Delia and Zora both had to provide for themselves by putting in the effort remain stable and happy. They also stood up for what they believed in which started their development into strong women. Delia had to let her husband die in order to gain independence, while Zora had to move away from home in order to be successful in her future which developed them both develop into independent women. They became stronger because of these things which empowered them to take back control of their lives. The snake is a symbol in the story that represents the evil that was overcome by the good. This story can now be better analyzed when looking at the life of Delia which connects to Zora Neale Hurston’s life.

Zora Neale Hurston is a remarkable author who reflects her life in most of her novels, short stories, and her essays. She was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance, also known as “the new negro movement”, however; her writings were not given proper recognition at first because they were not of the “norm” for that time period. All of the authors during the Harlem Renaissance were expected to write about race with a political mind set. Hurston was tired of seeing the same writings just different authors so her literary works were very different and were meant to stand out (Trudell). Among all of her abstracts, Sweat was a story of determination and oppression, with religion and strength as the backbone of

Through external conflict exhibited by three significant occasions with the antagonist and husband, Sykes Jones, Zora Neale Hurston takes her leading character, Delia Jones, through an internal change from a submissive character to an aggressive and defensive character in her short story, "Sweat." When the story opens, one finds Delia Jones on a Sunday evening washing clothes, as was her profession, and humming a tune, wondering where her husband had gone with her horse and carriage. Little did she know that within the week she would stand against her abusive husband and watch him die of the situation he would create.

In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”, the main characters in both of these short stories are the making of male influence, in this case negative influence, and much of their anger and hatred is intermixed with occasional feelings of adoration8. For these two female characters in "A Rose for Emily" and "Sweat", their troubles are the outcome of male control, and even though their anger is showed and solved in different ways, these two characters delve into despair and isolation because of the male influence and control in their lives; the affect it has on them is their anger and hate towards these male influences.

The snake in the story symbolizes evil which portrays domestic violence. Sykes tried getting rid of Delia so he could go and be with Bertha, his mistress. He knew how afraid Delia was of snakes so he decided to bring one home. “Then, moved by both horror and terror, she sprang back toward the door. There lay the snake in the basket!” (Hurston 8). He really wanted the snake to bite Delia so he could get rid of her. Leaving the snake in the basket where he knew was the easiest place for it to bite her. Sykes knew that the snake would bite her. He was pure evil. The snake however did not bite Delia but it bit Sykes. “He crept an inch or two toward

Foreshadowing is a common device used in many short stories, but “Sweat” uses it in a untypical way. In “Sweat,” two events are foreshadowed, but only one occurs. When referring to Sykes’ mischief, Delia says, “Some day Ah’m gointuh drop dead from some of yo’ foolishness” (Hurston 1022). After Sykes brought the snake into the house, Hurston writes, “Delia came down.. she saw his chalky-white fangs curved… in the wire meshes” (Hurston 1027). According to this, Delia’s death is being foreshadowed. She feels that Sykes actions will lead to her demise and the snake’s exposed fangs create an image of how she will

Turn, scoop, turn, throw, turn, scoop, turn, throw. These commands go through my mind and body as I throw in sand and concrete mix with a shovel into a mixer with water. The sun is giving the scene an ugly yellow that reminds me that it isn't even close to get off work. The mixer is huge, heavy, gray, and worn out from years of experience, like the wrinkles on a grandmother's face. Round beautiful glazing drops of sweat create a mustache across my face followed with a river of sweat aesthetically running down my neck. The sweat creates a pool, it's final destination, on the long sleeved shirt I always wear to protect me from the sun's suffocating rays. The best feeling from sweat is the small satisfaction of the rare breeze that would caress

Along with the consistent clop of the horse’s hooves, I could hear men groan at the heat, perspiration beads flanking their foreheads and the napes of their neck. This particularly annoyed me; I had lush, ginger hair that I had wished to keep clean and smooth. But with the deadly rays of the sun beating my back, sweat beads formed on my neck’s nape and on my forehead and slipped down in thick, flat streams. It amalgamated with my hair, creating a damp, tousled mess that reached to where I had my hair tied up in the back. It also caused my once silky bangs to meet the sweat and create the appearance that my hairline was greasy. How nauseating our appearance was!