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Role Of Delia In Zora Neal Hurston's Sweat

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Zora Neal Hurston’s Sweat tells the story of a woman, Delia, who is in an abusive relationship with her husband Sykes. At the end of the story she lets him die from a rattlesnake bite in defiance to him after everything he has done to her, including beating her constantly and cheating on her. Delia’s actions at the end of the short story were completely justifiable.
For one, the story mentions multiple times that Delia is religious. In order to with the circumstances of her life, she tells herself that one day everyone will get what they deserve in the eyes of God. This includes Sykes and herself. There is a strong possibility that without this mindset, Delia would not have been able to survive the fifteen years of their relationship. When the rattlesnake attacks Sykes, she might have kept the thought that this was finally the divine retribution that was coming to him, so Delia did not act and instead let him die. Her coping mechanism protects her from going off the edge, and this time around it finally protected her from the biggest danger in life. …show more content…

She had wanted out of the relationship for a very long time, but because she is old she was worried that it was too late for her to be loved by Sykes or any other man. Plus, the marriage had hit its peak when Delia had stood up in defense for her job and Sykes put a rattlesnake in her laundry basket, potentially putting her in harm’s way. The story already tells us that Sykes is dangerous from the talk at Joe Clarke’s-- three women have already died from his cruel beatings. Who is to say that he would not have done to the same to her eventually as well? Delia was only defending herself from her long-time

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