“Sweat” by Zora Neal Hurston is one simple yet powerful story that aims to reveal the plight of women through Delia. Delia turns out to be an empowered woman who has built her own home, handles her family’s finances, works hard, and takes pleasure in the results of her hard work. The fascinating fact about Delia whom I believe represents women in general, is that she was able to establish and maintain a home despite being married to an inconsiderate husband who only brought a longing for the flesh instead of love into the relationship (699).
In a nutshell, Delia’s husband, Sykes has plans to kill her to pave for way for his second marriage to a plump woman named Bertha. He intends to achieve this by placing a rattlesnake in their house. The story develops with a twist of events whereby the snake ends up killing Sykes ridding Delia of her tribulations that have haunted her for her entire fifteen years of marriage.
First and foremost it is imperative to note that Delia was a quite a diligent woman. She was the backbone and engine of her household. In “Sweat” by Hurston, Joe Lindsay said,“Hot or col, rain or shine, jes ez regu’lar ez de weeks roll roun’ Delia carries ‘em and fetches ‘em on sat’ day,“ (700). This testimony given by village men is a true account for what a hardworking woman Delia was. She was thoughtful in her work, conscientious in nature. Hurston explains that she would sort the clothes to be washed into small heaps according to color (698). We later learn through her argument with Sykes that it was her who paid for the house and even fed them as evidenced when she said,” Ah been takin’ in washin’ for fifteen years. Sweat, sweat, sweat!. . . mahtub of suds is filled yo’ belly…mah sweat is done paid for this ho...
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...pecific poem in the bible (Proverbs 31 of the Old Testament) and he came to the conclusion that the poem speaks of the strength of women and thinks that men and women of today should recognize and praise women for their physical, financial, moral, mental and spiritual strength.
Works Cited
DeFranza, Megan K. "The Proverbs 31 "Woman of Strength": An Argument for a Primary-Sense Translation." Priscilla Papers 25.1 (2011): 21-25. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Apr. 2011
Hurston, Zora N. "Sweat." Literature for Composition. Ed Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, and William E. Cain.9th ed. New York: Longman, 2010.698-705. Print.
Hancock, Peter J. "Women, work and empowerment: A portrait of women workers in two of Sri Lanka's Export Processing Zones." Norwegian Journal of Geography 60.3 (2006): 227-239. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Apr. 2011
Behind every great man lies a great women. In some cases the women herself may not always be good or ideal according to society. Nevertheless it seems to add character to
Hurston, Zora Neale. "Sweat." Norton Anthology of Southern Literature. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York: Norton, 1998.
The two works of literature nudging at the idea of women and their roles as domestic laborers were the works of Zora Neale Hurston in her short story “Sweat”, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Whatever the setting may be, whether it is the 1920’s with a woman putting her blood, sweat and tears into her job to provide for herself and her husband, or the 1890’s where a new mother is forced to stay at home and not express herself to her full potential, women have been forced into these boxes of what is and is not acceptable to do as a woman working or living at home. “Sweat” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” draw attention to suppressing a woman’s freedom to work along with suppressing a woman’s freedom to act upon her
Analyzing the narrative of Harriet Jacobs through the lens of The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du bois provides an insight into two periods of 19th century American history--the peak of slavery in the South and Reconstruction--and how the former influenced the attitudes present in the latter. The Reconstruction period features Negro men and women desperately trying to distance themselves from a past of brutal hardships that tainted their souls and livelihoods. W.E.B. Du bois addresses the black man 's hesitating, powerless, and self-deprecating nature and the narrative of Harriet Jacobs demonstrates that the institution of slavery was instrumental in fostering this attitude.
Delia is a hard-working woman who is very obedient and faithful to her husband, Sykes. Through harsh words, he cuts her down about her work of washing white folks clothes and her looks saying that he 'hates skinny woman';. Delia's appearance resembles her hard work, with 'knuckly hands'; from using the washboard. Delia has put many hard- earned tears, blood, and sweat into her house while supporting Sykes' habits and taking all the abuse he could dish out. On many occasions Sykes has cut down Delia and her kind nature, even to her religious beliefs, accusing her of being a 'hipocrite'; because she worked on the Sabbath day.
In the very beginning of “Sweat” one can see that Delia possesses a very strong work ethic, by the way that she is working vigorously 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. The white clothing that Delia washes in the story represents her character. White signifies her virtuousness and wholesome spirit. Delia has a docile personality and a prevailing belief in God. Delia’s body may be physically broken from all the years of tough labor and mistreatment from Sykes, however her spirit remains unbroken. Delia is a church going woman that is inspired by her trust in God. She has confidence that God will steer her the right way and shield her from Sykes cruel physical and emotional abuse.
It was so much neater than a number of bundles lying around.” (Hurston 731). This quote shows that Delia is the clothes that are in the hamper because it was neater than the other bundles. We see that neatness being disrupted from the mess when Sykes antagonizes Delia because of her work. Hurston, yet again, breaks another gender role stereotype and shows that Sykes, the “man” of the relationship, is immature and most likely provides nothing to their relationship. Hurston shows readers that Sykes is not the breadwinner and he has a very rude and outlandish personality and leaches off of
While Delia has been working all night long; the man of the house arrives and does not acknowledge her exceptionally done work. Instead, he torments her about the fact she’s working on a Sabbath and calls her a hypocrite. He expects her to maintain him and treat him like her overlord.
Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” is a distressing tale of human struggle as it relates to women. The story commences with a hardworking black washwoman named Delia contently and peacefully folds laundry in her quiet home. Her placidity doesn’t last long when her abusive husband, Sykes, emerges just in time to put her back in her ill-treated place. Delia has been taken by this abuse for some fifteen years. She has lived with relentless beatings, adultery, even six-foot long venomous snakes put in places she requires to get to. Her husband’s vindictive acts of torment and the way he has selfishly utilized her can only be defined as malignant. In the end of this leaves the hardworking woman no choice but to make the most arduous decision of her life. That is, to either stand up for herself and let her husband expire or to continue to serve as a victim. "Sweat,” reflects the plight of women during the 1920s through 30s, as the African American culture was undergoing a shift in domestic dynamics. In times of slavery, women generally led African American families and assumed the role as the adherent of the family, taking up domestic responsibilities. On the other hand, the males, slaves at the time, were emasculated by their obligations and treatment by white masters. Emancipation and Reconstruction brought change to these dynamics as African American men commenced working at paying jobs and women were abandoned at home. African American women were assimilated only on the most superficial of calibers into a subcategory of human existence defined by gender-predicated discrimination. (Chambliss) In accordance to this story, Delia was the bread victor fortifying herself and Sykes. Zora Neale Hurston’s 1926 “Sweat” demonstrates the vigor as wel...
Zora Neale Hurston’s writing embodies the modernism themes of alienation and the reaffirmation of racial and social identity. She has a subjective style of writing in which comes from the inside of the character’s mind and heart, rather than from an external point of view. Hurston addresses the themes of race relations, discrimination, and racial and social identity. At a time when it is not considered beneficial to be “colored,” Hurston steps out of the norm and embraces her racial identity.
"Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women." Why was slavery "far more terrible for women"? In Harriet A. Jacobs’s memoir, she shows people the additional horrors and brutalities that an enslaved men went through, but enslaved women were often used as “breeders”. The enslaved women went through further horrors than men, they had to bore pain and degradation.
The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.”- C. JoyBell C.
...of god, allowed women to follow him despite their social status. Mary Magdalene was a prominent disciple of Jesus who played an active role in serving him. Ruth is also an excellent example of god’s trust in women. Not only does the bible disprove of the belief that women are less than through situations he also proves this in individual verses.
"Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston is filled with symbolism ranging from images that are easily captured to things that require a little bit more insight. Religion has apparently played a major role in Hurston's life, readily seen in "Sweat" with the references to a snake and Gethsemane. Symbolism plays a big part of this story and after analyzing these, they give the story a deeper meaning and can enlighten the reader as to the full meaning of "Sweat".
Although this verse attempts to show the equality of women on the spiratual path, there