The Harlem Renaissance was an era when African- Americans brought their talents to Harlem at the end of World War I (Wormser). Out of that era, it brought authors, poets, and scholars (Wormser). Zora Neil Hurston came out of this era and became a well-known author. The Sweat is one of her well-known stories that demonstrated literary realism to show their everyday life and how they would talk unlike romanticism that used nature and “imagination” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). The Sweat can be considered as a literary cannon which means a book that has been approved by culture ("A Literary Canon?") and that’s what Zora did. Through the Sweat, we learn about a woman and her role in society and how she lived. In the Sweat, we came across …show more content…
However, Delia proved to accomplish her stability by providing for Syke but mostly for herself. She stated to herself, “Too late for everything except for her little home. She had built it for her old days” (Zora Neal Hurtson, 351) which demonstrates her independence she had while building the house. If she did not have love from Syke, she at least had a roof over her head. We can conclude that Delia was a breadwinner yet Syke would leave to “numerous trips to Orlando with all of his wages when he had returned to her penniless” (Zora Neal Hurtson, 351). Syke seemed not to care what he did with his money while Delia was the one having to work by washing white people’s clothes on a weekend to be economically stable. He may return penniless but she told him, “You ain’t paid for nothing on this place” (Zora Neal Hurtson, 351). She was the provider in their marriage and not being appreciated by what she does. Then we read about the men talking about Delia while being at Joe Clarke’s porch about her working during “Hot or col’, rain or shine, jes ez ez de weeks roll roun’ Delia carries em’ an’ fetches ‘em on Sat’day.” ( Zora Neal Hurtson,352). She was willing to work no matter how the weather was. With this, we can conclude that this was a dysfunctional marriage because there was no hope for love and Delia was the one that providing for her own marriage with no support from Syke. The Sweat demonstrated us feminist consciousness through Delia by demonstrating us through Delia what her role in society was. It gave us a deeper look of the African-Americans especially among woman in the South. She made us become aware to how women were treated and she trying to gain respect to those types of women. It may be story from another culture but at least we had the ability to read it and not been blind of issues like
Delia Jones is a black woman who live in Florida that holds to her belief in God to help her get through the suffering that she endures from her abusive husband, Sykes. The theme of the story is good vs. evil which are shown as Delia and Sykes. Delia is the good, hardworking, and self sufficient character that is put through a lot having an abusive husband. Delia has a very strong work ethic, by the way that she is working hard to wash the clothes for the white people that she worked for to put food on the table and a roof over her and Sykes’ head. Sykes returns the favor by taking Delia’s money and spend on rent for Bertha’s house.
She provides for her family constantly. She plays the role of a typical 1950’s woman well. Whenever she has visitors she always offers them food. For instance, when Gabriel visits, she asks, “You hungry, Gabe? I was just fixing to cook Troy his breakfast” (26).
In 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.
The amount of torment one human can endure is amazing, and Delia Jones in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” isn’t exempt. She manages to hold together a home, work full-time, clothe and feed her extremely abusive husband. The question lingers; how can one continue to live in this kind of situation. It seems that for Delia, God plays a big part in her life, and Zora has appropriately left behind contextual references, symbols and representations in “Sweat”. Faith is a major theme utilized in the short story, while Sykes’ timely end rewards Delia for her priest-like patience.
“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.
The authors, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, demonstrates how two women growing up together can lead to different point of views. In both stories, there is a woman – Sula in “Sula” and Dee in “Everyday Use” – returning home to find things the way they left them. Sula and Dee’s lives are considered very unconventional in comparison to their towns and families. In the case of Dee, she changed her name because, “I [She] couldn't bear it any longer, being named after people who oppress me." (Walker 1191)
For the first time Sykes backs down. This is the beginning of the end for their relationship. Hurston lays the foundation for a story of good versus evil. Fifteen years is a long time for anyone to be mistreated and taken for granted. Poor Delia once being a lovely young woman, soft and feminine, over her fifteen years of marriage, she had worked until she had nothing soft left about her.
Tempel Anneke was very dependent on the community and her family for support, including her son. She had no means of
Historical criticism strives to cognize a literary work by examining the social, cultural, and intellectual context that essentially includes the artist’s biography and milieu. Historical critics are more concerned with guiding readers through the use of identical connotation rather than analyzing the work’s literary significance. (Brizee and Tompkins). The journey of a historical reading begins with the assessment of how the meaning of a text has altered over time. In many cases, when the historical context of a text is not fully comprehended, the work literature cannot be accurately interpreted.
As a solitary woman confronting the evil of her husband, Sykes, Delia Jones can be viewed as the principle of power. She works hard as a washerwoman to support her church, family, and home, these being her motivation. However, she is still referred to by Sykes as “one aggravatin’ nigger woman” (Hurston 1). Delia has to deal with all of the physical and verbal abuse caused by Sykes. Having to live with this everyday helped Delia become a strong woman.
I also think that in the 1920 's, women were not given the same status as we are today, so she would have probably been blown off. The men on the Joe Clarke 's porch seem to have plenty to say about Delia, Sykes and his mistress. They criticize Sykes, identifying him as a good-for-nothing, but admit that there is nothing that can be done about their situation. Clarke explains, "Taint no law on earth dat
She showed all African American women and men that they can achieve the impossible and have an intelligent mind like everyone else. Even African American poets from today like Alice Walker found her as an inspiration. In one of her poems about being brought to america, she perfectly summarizes what the struggle was being a slave that is equal to everyone
While reading, it becomes evident that Delia is a good person. Not only is she good, but she holds strong to her religion. She is always putting others needs before her own. Delia does not only work to support herself, but works to support her husband and his mistress. “’Mah tub of suds is filled yo’ belly with vittles more times than yo’ hands is filled it’”
Name: 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.
Before I began reading, I tried guessing what the story was about. Only knowing that the title was “Sweat”, I thought the story might be about sports or hard labor. Then I opened up the story and the first thing I noticed was that the author’s name was Zora Hurston. I only found out that the author was female once I saw “her” in the section below describing her life and writing career. I found out other important things such as she lived in Florida, she wrote during the Harlem Renaissance (1920s), she died impoverished, and her work was eventually found by the women’s movement.