Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston

647 Words3 Pages
Kwameisha Edwards English 2001 Assignment #7 Sweat is a short story which was written by Zora Neale Hurston, it was published in 1926. It is about an abusive marriage between Delia and Sykes Jones. They were married for 15 years, but Sykes verbally and physically abused Delia. Judging from the story, Delia was a Christian woman who worked hard for a living because her worthless husband didn’t contributed anything to the house. Sykes was very ungrateful and didn’t appreciate his wife, he tried to get her out of the way so he can be with his mistress Bertha. The saying “Karma is a bitch,” relates to the story because, Sykes tried poisoning his wife with a rattlesnake, but instead he was bitten and died from the poison. The story unfolds when Sykes got home and verbally abused his wife, but she stood up and faced him without any fear in her eyes, that was the breaking point for Delia, despite all her hard work he didn’t appreciate her, so she decided to stand up for herself and no longer endure her husband’s abuse. Sykes character unfolds when the narrator painted a picture of what he really is and his thoughts against his wife, he was wicked and cruel against his wife but was sweet and caring towards his mistress Bertha. He would go all out just to get Delia out of his way of being happy with his mistress. Sweat as the name of the story suggests, is very symbolic to the play because it symbolizes all the hard work Delia has done and all the struggling and sacrifices she has been through, it also symbolizes he rough and hard life she was living. It relates to the theme and element of conflict, which is hardwork and oppression because she worked hard and was constantly being oppressed by her husband until she found the strength to stand up to him. The major conflict in the story is being displayed throughout the story, between Delia and her husband, Sykes wanted

More about Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston

Open Document