Delia Jones Quotes In Sweat

The other men in the town seem to disrespect Sykes and even suggest that he should die. While Delia started to deliver the clean laundry in town one day, the men talked about how Delia is too good for Sykes and that she deserves better, They also despise Sykes for running around with an ugly and fat woman, ultimately cheating on his hardworking wife. Finally, one man says, “Syke Jones ain’t wuth de shot an’ powder hit would tek tuh kill ‘em. Not to huh he ain’t” (357) while another man adds, “…an’ we oughter kill ‘im” (358). It seems like Hurston portrays this hostility to reiterate to the reader that Sykes will fall victim to a well deserved death.

There is some parallel to Sykes sinful ways towards Delia in the sense that he is an adulterer who has defiled their matrimonial oath. Also there isn’t really anything good you could say about Sykes because he is very mean and cruel towards his wife, just a completely unpleasant human being. “Oh well, whatever goes over the Devils back, is going to come under his belly. Some time or ruther, sykes like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing” (519). This is also a motif taking from the snake biting Sykes, because he eventually got the evil that he meant for Delia, in the end the snake bit him instead of her. There is a verse from the bible that also is relevant given that Sykes got what he put out. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (KJV Galatians

Missie May was slowly regaining the position she once held in the relationship. In "Sweat," the power dynamics started off a bit differently. Sykes seem to have all the power in the household, as he did come and go as he pleased and beat Delia considerably. Hurston begins "Sweat" by illustrating Sykes' dominance over Delia. Delia is in a submissive position on her knees while Sykes is towering over with a whip. Delia is frightened because she believes the whip to be a snake. The whip is described as "something long, round, limp, and black"(Sweat 1491) which creates the illusion of a penis. Delia's feeling for the one-eyed snake, the whip, equates to her sexual desires to Sykes. But throughout the story, time and time again, Delia attempts to grasp some power. When her house becomes threatened, she stands up to Sykes. This is such a surprise to him that he doesn't beat her as he usually would, he instead leaves. The story does leave one wondering how much power Sykes really has in the town. He parades around town with his mistress. He beats on his wife and tries to woo every woman he sees. These are all points brought up by the townspeople themselves as they complain about him. They even talk about killing the man, but they continur to remain at a distance and watch everything he does. Can one really argue that Sykes isn't powerful in a town that allows him to do whatever he wants? But this power is, indeed,

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:

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

Zora Neale Hurston is a remarkable author who reflects her life in most of her novels, short stories, and her essays. She was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance, also known as “the new negro movement”, however; her writings were not given proper recognition at first because they were not of the “norm” for that time period. All of the authors during the Harlem Renaissance were expected to write about race with a political mind set. Hurston was tired of seeing the same writings just different authors so her literary works were very different and were meant to stand out (Trudell). Among all of her abstracts, Sweat was a story of determination and oppression, with religion and strength as the backbone of

“A battered woman can only endure, and only God can save her - if God will”(Carter 616). In “Sweat”, by Zora Neale Hurston, Delia, the main character, is trapped in an abusive relationship. No one in the town is willing to help Delia get out of her relationship. Delia has had to become a source of strength for herself, but if she wants to be saved, she will need God’s help. Delia faces many struggles and through it all tries to remain a woman of God. Eventually, she becomes an example of the Passion of Christ by suffering and triumphing over her hardships (Banks 3). Delia is a strong Christian woman, and there are many Biblical references throughout the story. In fact, Christian symbolism can be seen throughout Zora Neale

Although this angers Delia to hear, she simply reminds Sykes that she spends all of her time supporting them, and has done nothing but work, sweat, and pray for the fifteen years that she had been married to him. Delia eventually tells Sykes “Dat’s de reason Ah got mah letter from de church an’ moved mah membership to tuh Woodbridge – so Ah don’t haftuh take no sacrament wid yuh” (Hurston 569). Before she falls asleep that night, she reflects on the events of the evening, and finds some peace through her faith that Sykes would eventually get what is coming to him when she says aloud “Oh well, whatever goes over the Devil’s back, is got to come under his belly” (Hurston 565). It is also important to note that rather than give Sykes exactly what he has coming to him, Delia’s beliefs, both moral and religious, prevent her from taking action because she trusts that eventually God will take care of Sykes for the wrong he has done. We can see a bit of foreshadowing as to the fate of Sykes in the story when he assures everyone he is a snake charmer and can charm the deadly diamondback and says “Ah’m a snake charmer an’ knows how to handle ‘em. Shux, dat ain’t nothin’” (Hurston 568).

I want to focus on the story ‘Sweat’ because it happened to be my favorite from the selected female authors we read this semester. I was very struck by the story because Hurston wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, and represents women even in a male-dominated culture. The story ‘Sweat’ takes place in a rural setting. Hurston tends to focus on relationships and conflicts in her writing. In this story, Delia is a hardworking woman. She is also strong, despite being in an abusive relationship. Her husband is portrayed as rude, and clearly doesn’t appreciate anything she does. The narrator also tells the reader how young and beautiful Delia used to look before her abusive marriage. The husband in the story is upset and mad at white people. However, Delia has to work so she defends herself and her job. The story ends with a snake bite that kills her husband. However, he was the one who brought it in the house to scare and more than likely kill Delia. I believe that Hurston’s intentions were to represent a strong female woman who held no regards for a man who mistreated her. I also believe that her intended audience was for females in general. By making Delia hardworking and strong, she is a woman who represents female empowerment. By doing so, Hurston makes women more aware that they don’t have to be consumed in a male-dominated culture, but that a woman can do as she pleases, and not have to

Zora Neale Hurston’s short story "Sweat" takes place in the 1920s in a small African American community in southern Florida. The story takes a look at a woman dominated by her husband, a common issue for many wives in the south during this time. Delia Jones, the protagonist in the story, is a hard-working woman who has bought her own home and supported her husband for fifteen years by taking in the laundry of white folks from the next town over. Delia’s husband Sykes does not value her or the work she does to support the both of them. Sykes has abused his wife for fifteen years and takes no shame in parading around his fat mistress for all to see. Sykes wants to get rid of Delia and take everything she’s ever worked for. Delia, though

The snake in the story symbolizes evil which portrays domestic violence. Sykes tried getting rid of Delia so he could go and be with Bertha, his mistress. He knew how afraid Delia was of snakes so he decided to bring one home. “Then, moved by both horror and terror, she sprang back toward the door. There lay the snake in the basket!” (Hurston 8). He really wanted the snake to bite Delia so he could get rid of her. Leaving the snake in the basket where he knew was the easiest place for it to bite her. Sykes knew that the snake would bite her. He was pure evil. The snake however did not bite Delia but it bit Sykes. “He crept an inch or two toward

Hurston deliberately labels Sykes as the patriarchal male head of the household. In a typical household a man is labeled as “strong”, “protective, and “decisive” one in the family while a woman is typically “Emotional”, “motherly”, and “submissive” (Hurston 85). Sykes physical and emotional abuse can be seen as an outlet to remain a part of the patriarchal rule in which a man subsides and as an outlet to enforce gender rules within the household. An example of his verbal abuse is “Well you better quit gettin’ me riled up, else they’ll be tottin you out sooner than you expect. Ah’m so tired of you Ah don’t know whut to do! Gawd! How ah hates skinny women!” (Hurston 2). Sykes seems to have no sense of empathy for Delia and continues to physically and emotionally abuse her through violence. He frightens her terribly, condemns her, and doesn’t give one penny to the family. His only concern is keeping her emotionally and physically hurt as he knows that as a woman she is vulnerable.

To begin the story, Hurston, with the use of the narrator being from third person omniscient, introduces us to Delia as a wash-woman who was working on a Sunday night all the way until eleven o’clock after church earlier in the

Through external conflict exhibited by three significant occasions with the antagonist and husband, Sykes Jones, Zora Neale Hurston takes her leading character, Delia Jones, through an internal change from a submissive character to an aggressive and defensive character in her short story, "Sweat." When the story opens, one finds Delia Jones on a Sunday evening washing clothes, as was her profession, and humming a tune, wondering where her husband had gone with her horse and carriage. Little did she know that within the week she would stand against her abusive husband and watch him die of the situation he would create.

Not only does he drain her financially, but he has also abused her mentally and emotionally for the most of their marriage. Delia reminds Sykes that all she does is "Sweat, sweat, sweat! Work and Sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat!" from the fifteen years she has been washing laundry and laments (Hurston 278). However, despite all the cruelty that is happening, the author still portrays her persona with great compassion. Delia has enormous love, but soon discovers that she has the capacity to hate as much as she loves which has developed from her long-suffering life with Sykes. The author creates Delia based off her own life of being a Christian woman, therefore, in the story "Sykes is clearly wrong throughout the story, and Delia is right in living out the principles of Christian love, tolerance, and humility" (Banks). The importance of this quote is that it puts Delia's character into perspective and reveals why the way she is. The author's beliefs and practices are demonstrated through Delia and explain her actions in the story.