Sweat

In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story, Sweat, Delia finds herself stuck in an unbearable marriage. Her husband, Sykes, mistreats her, leaves all work to her, and is unfaithful. After being married to Sykes for 15 years, Delia has lost all hope in the marriage. The countless beatings and painful acts of Sykes have brought her over the edge. She is forced to go against her strict religious beliefs because of the life in which she has been leading since her matrimony to her husband. One passage that sums up many factions of Delia and Sykes’s relationship is as follows:

“She lay awake, gazing upon the debris that cluttered their matrimonial trail. Not an image left standing along the way. Anything like flowers had long ago been drowned in the salty stream that had been pressed from her heart. Her tears, her sweat, her blood. She had brought love to the union and he had brought a longing after the flesh. Two months after the wedding, he had given her the first brutal beating. She had the memory of his numerous trips to Orlando with all of his wages when he had returned to her penniless, even before the first year had passed. She was young and soft then, but now she thought of her knotty, muscles limbs, her

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Delia picked up a metal skillet and threatened to defend herself from her husband as he cowed in fear of being hit. Having come from Bertha’s home and having sexual relations with her as well, Sykes’ power was left at her house. Sometimes a person is forced to make a change in the way they live their life in order to make it tolerable. With rage and anger towards her husband, Delia states, “That ole snaggle-tooth black woman you runnin’ with ain’t comin’ heah to pile up on mah sweat and blood. She will not let him invade whatever will and life she has left in her. Sykes had gotten home, and as usual, a fight erupted between the two former lovers. Speaking of Delia’s necessary work, one man says, “She better if she wanter eat…Syke Jones ain’t wuth de shot an’ powder hit would tek tuh kill ‘em. The snake enters Delia’s clothing basket (her place of work) as well as her bed. The speaker’s tone can be taken as suggesting that Sykes deserves to die. She had!

built it for her old days, and planted one by one the trees and flowers there. The bedroom used to be the only place that hadn’t been defiled by Sykes, until he slept with Bertha in it. The skillet is a fragment of the house, and as she stands in her shielding stance, she is using her home to protect her home.

Approximate Word count = 2134
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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