Sweat By Zora Neale Hurtson Summary
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurtson exemplifies the amount of disrespect and domestic abuse a woman can handle. It also demonstrated how some males view women in a distasteful and unsatisfied way. Gender and sexuality can initiate most of the specific tactics of domestic violence that can dehumanize an individual, especially women. Zora Neale Hurtson’s character, Delia Jones, demonstrates how women can transition from being inferior to becoming superior in a domestic relationship. The story opened with Delia washing clothes for white people on Sunday, and Sykes verbally abused her for dishonoring God because she was washing clothes that belong to white people on the Sabbath day. As Sykes Jones stated, “Ah done tole you time and again to keep the white folks’ clothes outa dis house,” (site) exemplifying Delia has grown accustomed to remaining silent in the face of abuse. It is on this day after a particularly bad scare and added abuse by being mocked for that fear that her character shifts. Delia’s remarkable transformation as a character from a meek abuse victim to a stronger, independent yet gentle woman occurs whenever Sykes mocks her for her fear of snakes or when there is a scene involving the rattlesnake. At the beginning of “Sweat” by Zora Neale …show more content…
An example of Delia defending her emotional being and everything she earned is when she yelled, “that ole snaggle-toothed black woman you runnin’ with ain’t comin’ heah to pile up on mah sweat and blood” (cite). Warning her adultering husband she has a materialistic possession she is unwilling to part with and telling him to leave with the mention of divorce. Delia actively reacts to the abuse when Bertha wants to move into Delia’s house. This one want plunges Delia’s life to further hell as Sykes actively tries to remove her from the house. When he gets a negative response, he starts trying to scare her to death by getting a
What Is The Central Idea Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
704 Words | 3 PagesIn Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” and her essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” the African American social group is being represented in many ways. The texts have similar ways that African Americans are represented for the time period. The African Americans or “colored people” are represented in an aspect that comes from the author's point of view. The African Americans are represented as being unbothered, growing up in a closed community, playing the game with whites, and optimistic.
Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
820 Words | 4 PagesIn the short story Sweat written by Zora Neale Hurston, she tells the story of a hard-working woman named Delia Jones and her abusive, cheating husband Sykes. Delia and Sykes are drastically different characters. Delia is an honest, church going woman, who cleans white people 's laundry to make ends meet and Skyes is a low-down womanizer who uses his wife 's income to support not only himself but also Bertha the woman he is having an affair with. After years of putting up with her husband 's mistreatment, Delia finally holds her ground. She defends her job with a skillet.
Life Of A Slave Girl Analysis
1304 Words | 6 Pages“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves,” is what acclaimed slavery emancipator Abraham Lincoln once stated (Dorfman 1). However, before freedom was able to be obtained by all, many slaves had to endure traumatizing lives. Harriet Jacobs, a runaway slave, explains the sexual, emotional, and physical abuse that female slaves were forced to face in her narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. With her writing, awareness for the burdens of female slaves and the fact that they do not ask for the difficulty they receive was brought to the reader’s attention. Women in both the southern and northern regions were able to sympathize with what Jacobs had to say about her own personal struggles throughout her girlhood.
Critical Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
1187 Words | 5 PagesSyke displays his hatred towards Delia's career by stomping over the clothes she is washing. He directly demonstrates his discontentedness that he has with the white race and Delia's job: "Ah done tole you time and again to keep them white folks' clothes outa dis house” (Hurston). Without having proper historical
How Does Zora Neale Hurston Use Imagery In Sweat
610 Words | 3 PagesZora Neale Hurston’s Sweat uses a plethora of imagery and symbolism to capture the anxiety, torment, and eventual relief the main character Delia experiences throughout the short story. It is mentioned numerous times that Delia has a petrifying fear of snakes, however, Hurston also uses the snake to symbolize Sykes, her abusive husband, and the venom he spits at Delia through the abuse. The bed Delia shares with her husband is anything but comforting for Delia; rather, it is where she is bullied by Sykes and where she has her epiphany of her failing marriage. At the end of the short story, Delia finds relief from the hot, Florida morning sun underneath her Chinaberry tree and waits for Sykes to die. The imagery of snakes, the marriage bed,
Analysis Of Alvin Ailey's Cry
2321 Words | 10 PagesCradling. Dignified. Get rid of scarf.” Unlike other American women, black women were sexually exploited by their employers and had to scrub floors in their homes and in white homes as
Character Analysis Of Delia Jones In Hurston's Sweat
387 Words | 2 PagesIn "Sweat," the main character, Delia Jones, is portrayed as a strong-willed, hard-working washwoman who would wash clothes for white people. She worked tireless to provide for her family. Delia was married to Sykes, who would berate, beat and mentally abuse Delia, incessantly. For example, Sykes would walk into the room where Delia just folded clothing for the white people and find the whitest pile of clothes, stomp all over them and then kick them across the room, leaving her to clean up and restack them. Sykes was also openly living in infidelity with another woman, named Bertha.
Delia Breaks Up With Sykes
170 Words | 1 PagesDelia puts up with Sykes for so long because at one point in their marriage she loved him. She always wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. She realizes the Sykes isn’t the same man she though she married and she comes to the realization that she doesn’t love anymore. She actually hates him. Delia says she hats him to the same degree she loved him.
The Things They Carried, By Zora Neale Hurston
1746 Words | 7 PagesOne major theme authors universally write their stories around concern the power of human relationships. Though writers may take different paths to communicate this, the strength that comes from these unique connections that exist between individuals resonates with everyone. Authors clearly articulate through a myriad of rhetorical devices that maintaining relationships is a fundamental part in personal growth and allows for a stronger sense of self. In finding companionship and comradery. people become capable of evolving and arriving at better understandings of who they are.
Alice Walker's Dehumanization
156 Words | 1 PagesWalker’s essay shows the dehumanization and abuse that black women have endured for years. She talks about how their creativity was stifled due to slavery. She also tells how black women were treated more like objects than human beings. They entered loveless marriages and became prostitutes because of the injustice upon them. Walker uses her mother’s garden to express freedom, not only for her but for all the black women who had been wronged.
Dorothy Sterling We Are Your Sisters Analysis
878 Words | 4 PagesI find that this example highlights the fact that while women had far less political power in society during the nineteenth century, the least the law could do was to protect the sexual integrity of women; However, African American women suffered from racial, gender and class discrimination that makes it difficult for them to prosecute those that sexually assault them. Furthermore, anger of white men were usually taken out on the wives of freed African American men and usually in the form of sexual assaults and this made the situation for African American women
Comparing Story Of An Hour And Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
1184 Words | 5 Pages(Hurston 532). She believes in karma, that whatever Sykes does will come back around to him. She is good and believes that in time good things will come to her. Also it is clearly seen in the story how dynamic Delia’s character is. In the beginning, Delia is scared of Sykes and is too afraid to stand up to him.
Sweat Hurston Character Analysis
1101 Words | 5 PagesName: Lakisha Minnis Instructor: Mr. Compton English 2202-001 Date: April. 24, 2017 Sweat Zora Neale Hurston is a prolific writer famed for numerous award winning plays, novels and short stories. In this paper, I will be elaborating on a character from the novel Sweat. Her novel Sweat was first published in 1926. Sweat is a novel that tells a story about the good, evil, and domestic abusive husband.
Zora Hurston Sweat Analysis
676 Words | 3 PagesAlso when Walter Thomas says, “It’s too bad, too, cause she wuz a right pretty li’l trick when he got huh” (68), I learned that Sykes really had done a number on her physically and emotionally. That went on for a awhile and I really got the point that nobody except Bertha liked Sykes. Whether it was intended or not, I thought Bertha being described as “a hunk uh liver wid hair on it” (70) was quite funny. Later on, when Sykes gets the rattle snake, it’s clear he has crossed the line and Delia is done putting up with him. Her normal meekness towards Sykes is gone and when she said “Ah hates you, Sykes” (72) then continued to tell him how extremely much she hates him, I knew with certainty she had enough and was going to do something.
Delia Jones's Short Story 'Sweat'
201 Words | 1 PagesUnfortunately, it is not uncommon for a woman to be submissive and to take more than her fair share of abuse from a man , and when a woman such as Delia, is entangled in a relationship , this tendency of her relationship is often magnified. This is the case with Delia Jones, the protagonist of the short story “Sweat.” The quote above shows readers a slight description of how Sykes, Delia’s husband views her. When reading this quote most readers would think, she would argue back and fight till her death. Not only because of what he said, but what he has done to her.
More about Sweat By Zora Neale Hurtson Summary
What Is The Central Idea Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
704 Words | 3 PagesAnalysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
820 Words | 4 PagesLife Of A Slave Girl Analysis
1304 Words | 6 PagesCritical Analysis Of Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
1187 Words | 5 PagesHow Does Zora Neale Hurston Use Imagery In Sweat
610 Words | 3 PagesAnalysis Of Alvin Ailey's Cry
2321 Words | 10 PagesCharacter Analysis Of Delia Jones In Hurston's Sweat
387 Words | 2 PagesDelia Breaks Up With Sykes
170 Words | 1 PagesThe Things They Carried, By Zora Neale Hurston
1746 Words | 7 PagesAlice Walker's Dehumanization
156 Words | 1 PagesDorothy Sterling We Are Your Sisters Analysis
878 Words | 4 PagesComparing Story Of An Hour And Sweat By Zora Neale Hurston
1184 Words | 5 PagesSweat Hurston Character Analysis
1101 Words | 5 PagesZora Hurston Sweat Analysis
676 Words | 3 PagesDelia Jones's Short Story 'Sweat'
201 Words | 1 Pages