Category: Sweat

Zora Neal Hurston’s short story “Sweat” can be read as a work of feminist fiction, although not for the reason one thinks. We begin the story by being introduced to Delia, a washerwoman, as she is sorting out clothes after she has returned home from church.

She is singing and wondering where her husband could be since he took her horse and laundry hampers. As she continues sorting laundry and pondering his whereabouts, she suddenly feels something like a snake fall around her shoulders and screams, only to look up and see her husband, Sykes, standing over her with the bullwhip he uses to drive the horses. As you continue to read the story you will become aware that this image is not by accident. Her husband Sykes is an imposing and oppressive figure.

Delia reveals her anger because her husband purposefully terrorizes her. But Sykes doesn’t care about her feelings and yells at her and expresses his dismay about her continuing to wash white people’s clothes in the house, even as she tries to ignore him, he continues to kick the clothes piles all over the floor. He is overly eager to start a fight with her and keeps trying to provoke her with his words. Delia grows tired of his verbal abuse, she screams about how hard she’s been working and picks up an iron skillet from the stove as if to strike him. He’s caught off guard by the reaction from Delia. As the narrator states.“It cowed him and he did not strike her as he usually did.’ (Hurston 2). From this quote, it is clear that he is also physically abusive toward her and this makes Delia’s rebellious action even more surprising.

When Sykes finally leaves the house. Delia is left alone to further examine why her life and marriage were falling apart. Soon we are introduced to Sykes’s mistress, Bertha, whom Sykes has been taking care of with all of Delia’s hard-earned money. We come to understand that Delia finds her happiness by attending church and maintaining her small house. Sometime later Sykes returns home and tries to lie down with Delia. It is now made clear that this is a troubled household and that Delia’s patience with her abusive husband is going to have to have some kind of resolution. In an instance of foreshadowing, she thinks, “Oh well, whatever goes over the Devil’s back, is got to come under his belly’ (Hurston 3), which means that she knows eventually Skyes will get what’s coming to him.

As a little time passes, Delia sets out to do her washing and passes by a group of men sitting at the town store. The story then takes a turn as the men comment on how pretty Delia used to be and how it’s such a shame that she’s beaten so often and lost her good looks. They also discuss Sykes and his behavior with his mistress Bertha. One of the gentlemen is quoted saying, “There oughter be a law about him… He ain’t fit to carry guts to a bear.’ (4). The reader can determine that the gentlemen of the town have a strong dislike toward Sykes due to the way he mistreated Delia. On her way back, Delia sees Sykes out front of Bertha’s telling her that he will buy her whatever she wants. As the narrator states, “It pleased him for Delia to see.'(Hurston 5).

As you continue to read it is explained to the reader that Bertha has been in town for three months. It is also known that Delia and Sykes fought all the time and there was no peace in their household. They slept and ate in silence. Delia attempted on several occasions to make her marriage work and to get along with Sykes but she quickly changed her mind each time. It became a reality their marriage was over. One day Sykes comes home with a box and tells Delia to look inside. As she opens the box, Delia is startled to find a giant rattlesnake that Sykes has caught. She begged him to get rid of the snake, but Sykes refused to get rid of it, even though it is driving Delia crazy. The rattlesnake had just had a large meal when Sykes caught it. But the snake began to grow hungry again and always rattled around, scaring Delia to death. However, one evening Delia comes home to find that the snake is loose. So she decided not to stay inside the house and climbs into a Chinaberry tree to wait for Sykes to come home.

Once he arrives home he sees that there are no lights on in the house, and also finds the snake is missing. Then a little time later, as Sykes is rambling around the dark kitchen, he gets bitten by the snake. He tries calling out for Delia to help him, but instead of helping him, Delia simply lets him die.

As the reader, you could argue whether or not Delia was too afraid to move to get help for her husband, or if she purposefully let him die. You could agree with both, but if you are going to conclude that she was just afraid, you’d better take a closer look at the text before coming to that conclusion.

Work Cited

1. Hurston, Zora Neale. ‘Sweat.’ Houston ISD, 1926, houstonisd.org/site/handlers. Accessed 28 March 2019

There is a great problem in forensic science to rescue of body fluid for its identification. For the identification of the fluid like blood, semen, saliva and sweat number of methods have been developed. Short time ago Lednev and Virkler profile have published on considerable evaluation on the methods which are well established for body fluid analysis in the forensic science. There is no much more research on the sweat identification because it has no specific marks. Sweat is a dilute substance therefore it is tough to detect sweat marks by using ALS (alternating light source). Usually the human sweat analysis is used to identify the contamination it may be drugs or may its metabolites. In unknown sample the appearance of lactic acid may possible that sweat is percent. However, lactic acid may also present in semen and saliva and to differentiate either sweat or semen is present, complementary test are made. Recent studies have shown that dermcidin, an antibiotic peptide which is secreted by sweat glands of human and may prospect biological marker of sweat. For the identification of sweat a newly method dermcidin-specific monoclonal antibody is used.

Especially non-destructive methods are advantageous because for forensic analysis uncovered evidences needs to be preserved in which DNA extraction are also include. Nondestructive and confirmatory test for the analysis of stains of sweat is Raman micro spectroscopy. It is based upon the scattering of laser light between the interaction with vibrating molecules of liquid, solid and gas. It may tell about the structure of the substance. There is no preparation of sample and chemical reagent is required. Recent last year’s Raman spectroscopy may use in the forensic identification of drugs, lipsticks, inks, paints and fibers. For the identification of human saliva, blood and semen multidimensional Raman spectroscopy have been developed. Each Raman spectroscopy signature has unique characters and may vary from one donor to another donor.

Here is the discussion of Raman multidimensional signatures of sweat of human. To minimize the false positive with other body fluid, statistical analysis was performed by taken the variation of Raman spectra. To collect Raman spectra from different marks of dried sample of sweat, automatic mapping is used. As a result unique multidimensional spectra are obtained. It may also noticed that multi-dimensional Raman spectra have revealed that body fluid like semen, saliva and sweat may have minor variation which means that body fluid compositions are almost same with small variation. But sweat composition may vary from donor to donor. Because sweat composition may depend upon the condition in which it is released like in normal condition that in environmental condition and in in stress condition. Experimental data and florescent background data are made subtracted by using an automatic correction baseline, as a result two sets of data were made. After baseline correction the Raman spectra may come in first set of data. And second set of data may contain fluorescent background. Examination of these two set of data are made separately for the purpose of spectroscopic components. This may allow us to separate Raman and fluorescent contribution. After complete observation it is indicated that Raman spectroscopy has powerful consideration in forensic for the analysis of traces of sweat.

In another study about the observation of concentration on the skin mainly two methods are used one of which is ex vivo method and another method is in vivo method. Ex vivo method may be invasive because cell layer is removed from the sternum corneum with the help of tape which is adhesive in nature. But in vivo method is not invasive. Mainly Raman spectroscopy is used for in vivo method. In Raman spectroscopy the sample which is to be observed is passed through the monochromatic laser light. The molecules present in the sample and photons of light interact with each other, after interaction scattering of light occur. As a result energy is transferred and excitation of vibrational mode takes place. Vibrational motion depends upon the bond between the molecules and the masses of atoms.

When sweat comes on the skin of donor, it is collected with the help of pipette then it is instantly frozen at -20oC for later use. Seven samples are collected from Lee Bio solution, Inc. and then these are tested for HCV, HbsAg, syphilis, HIV -1 & 2 and HIV-1 antigen by using FDA approved method.

Spectra were gotten utilizing a Renishaw inVia confocal Raman spectrometer furnished with an exploration grade Leica magnifying lens, 50× long-extend objective (numerical gap of 0.35). The programmed mapping was performed at the lower plate of a Renishaw earlier programmed stage framework, and estimations were taken utilizing Wire 3.2 programming. A 785 nm laser light was used for excitation. A 10µL drop of each sweat test was set on a microscopy slide, which was secured with aluminum foil and permitted to dry totally. Aluminum foil was utilized to diminish solid fluorescence from glass. The laser control on the dried examples was around 115 mW, and the spot size of the excitation shaft was 5µm utilizing the standard confocal mode. The spectral resolution was approximately 1 cm-1. For the purpose of calibration, standard of silicon was used. We utilized a Raman spectroscopic mapping strategy, in view of the successive spectra acquisition of adjoining districts of an example. The programmed mapping was performed for three territories of 60 µm × 40 µm (32 points each) on each example, with three 10s aggregations at each point. In this manner, three sets comprising of 32 spectra were gotten from each example, where every range in set speaks to a specific spot from the examined zone of the stain. The programmed mapping was performed for the remainder of the tests with same way.

Hurston’s Sweat is a short story that represents not only the constraints of a racially divided society but also, and more notably the oppression of women in a patriarchal society. Delia is a microcosm for women of the time, physically inferior, meek at times, but irrepressible no matter how demeaned she feels. Sweat as a feminist text delves into ideas of intersectionality, the oppression of women and African Americans, and presents an uplifting narrative of a way towards freedom. Delia is a resilient character, one who must overcome the abusive nature of her husband and the fears that belittle her existence to that of a victim. Hurston uses this text as a symbolic way of portraying freedom, the snake represents both masculinity, as it is a phallic symbol, and it represents the power that Sykes holds over Delia, sweat to Delia is not only the result of her physical labor, it is the source of her power, as work gives her the ability to obtain independence and take back control from her physically superior husband.

Early on in the narrative it becomes evident that through Delia’s physical body she manifests her authority and her contrasting repression. While this notion is vital to the story, it also becomes clear that patriarchal society surrounding Delia focuses solely on the physical appearance as a functional way to objectify women and quantify her existence. Physically, Delia is small and submissive, she does her work and attends church, but does not defy her husband or her duties until she has a moment of insolence that leads to her freedom. Hurston describes, “Delia’s habitual meekness seemed to slip from her shoulders like a blown scarf. She was on her feet; her poor little body, her bare knuckly hands bravely defying the strapping hulk before her”. This is a defining moment for Delia as a woman, though Hurston describes her using words like ‘meek’ and ‘poor’, her physicality does not limit her empowerment even in the face of her domineering husband. Delia is at a disadvantage because of her size, but Sykes feels threatened enough to get a snake to keep Delia in line because he realizes in this moment that he is losing control. Delia is not only subject to her husband’s objectification but it is the eyes of the white porch dwellers that place a value on her based on her physical appearance. Elijah Moseley elaborates, “Too much knockin’ will ruin any ‘oman”. Elijah’s statement focuses on the power of men, with their ability to value or ruin woman with just their hands, but it also demonstrates the indifference men have to the struggles of womanhood. The men on the porch go even further in their objectification, relating Delia to a sugar-cane, diminishing her to her external self and thus placing no value on her as a person. Sykes and the men on the porch represent men as a whole, their tyranny not subject to that of a certain race, rather, as Hurston suggests, their oppressive nature is an attribute of masculinity as it is this attribute that destroys them in the end.

The interplay between Delia and Sykes is no more about marriage or the representations of femininity and masculinity then it is simply about power. It is evident that Delia exhibits power through her control of funds which she rightfully earns, but financial power does not protect her from the abuse of Sykes. There is a power play between the two, Sykes’ physicality and Delia’s resilience although it is clear that Sykes is dependent on Delia for support. Sykes’ dependence emasculates him and he feels as if he needs to exert his power in other ways. Sykes says, “Git whatsoever yo’ heart desires, Honey. Wait a minute, Joe. Give huh two bottles uh strawberry soda-water”. Sykes dangles power in front of Delia by giving her the option of getting what she wants, but then takes the power away quickly by choosing for her. Sykes pushes further by getting a snake and attempting to scare Delia into submission, her fear controlling her rather than Sykes. As Delia begins to understand that Sykes will not protect her from the snake, she has no choice but to face her fears head on. Hurston writes, “She stood for a long time in the doorway in a red fury that grew bloodier for every second that she regarded the creature that was her torment”. In this sense Delia’s fear transforms to resilience and anger, and by taking away her fear of the snake this empowers her to no longer be subjected to Sykes’ oppression. Delia takes back the power from Sykes and overcomes everything that disparages and subjugates her and her sex.

Sweat places feminism and race at the forefront of the narrative, intersecting both these notions by signifying them through Delia’s repression. Hurston writes a distinctively feminist text, shaped by ideas of empowerment and individuality. Delia regains her power by continuously working hard, her sweat as a symbol of power, and by freeing herself from an oppressive marriage. Three symbols focus on Delia’s oppression and freedom, the snake, the interplay between light and dark, and the Chinaberry tree. The snake is a phallic symbol, thus representing men and masculinity as a whole, in the end the snake kills Sykes suggesting that the nature of men will destroy them if they give in to authoritative desires. Furthermore, snakes are a biblical symbol of evil, by taking this into consideration it is evident that Hurston portrays masculinity and maliciousness in correlation with one another. The Chinaberry tree is where Delia goes to rest once she is finally free, “She could scarcely reach the Chinaberry tree, where she waited in the growing heat”. The tree as a symbol of peace and freedom, both of which she can only reach once Sykes dies. Delia’s freedom exemplifies strength and resilience, while pinpointing the atrocities of a patriarchal culture. The notions of light and dark, represent two things in the text. Light is a symbol of purity, enlightenment, and optimism; this becomes clear as Delia is able to escape the darkness of the house and make it to freedom while Sykes is left trapped in the dark. Darkness epitomizes both death and beauty, as Sykes remains in the dark, however, Delia is a black woman and she is the protagonist and hero of the story. These contrasting ideas, portray the ambiguity that intersections of identities exemplify. Hurston’s story rectifies the ideas of female inferiority and gives Delia, and women as a whole, hope for escaping oppression.

Delia’s story is a characterization of the oppression of women in society and in marriage. Sykes is a physically superior tyrant whose ultimate downfall is his desire to control and demean women. Hurston’s purpose is clear, this story is simply about empowering women and showing them that they have power even when it seems like they are helpless. Delia goes from a victim of abuse and fear, to a woman who taps into her power without fear of backlash. Delia’s sweat, the result of her labor, gives her the strength and the power to overcome, her femininity proves powerful in the end as the snake, a symbol of masculinity, kills Sykes and Delia is set free.

The short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston details the finer points of the abusive relationship and failing marriage of Delia and Sykes Jones. Hurston presents Delia as a hardworking woman and a faithful wife, but the same cannot be said of Sykes’ character. Sykes has no recognizable redeeming qualities. He is neither hardworking nor faithful, and be both physically and emotionally abuses his wife. Throughout the timespan of the short story, readers see the witness the relationship between Delia and Sykes escalate to a fitting but unexpected climax. Hurston uses “Sweat” as a channel through which she examines gender inequality and criticizes the oppression of females in the institution of marriage.

In order to immediately set the standard for the relationship between Delia and Sykes, Hurston begins her short story with an account of an interaction between the couple. Having been working all morning long on her day off, Delia, being so caught up in her work, did not notice her husband when he approached. She also did not notice that what Sykes had placed on her shoulders was a bull whip rather than a snake, as she had immediately perceived. It seems as though Sykes had a prior knowledge of Delia’s fear of snakes, and it can be assumed that he played the prank with ill-intentions rather than a fun prank between lovers. Hurston uses this interaction to establish both characters’ personas. This interaction particularly highlights the lack of respect that Sykes has for Delia and her hard work. A husband’s role is to cherish and provide for his wife, yet Sykes does not provide for Delia and does not ever express gratitude for Delia’s work. As the story progresses, readers gain an even deeper understanding of how mistreated Delia is by Sykes. Readers see that the mistreatment goes beyond cruel pranks and into the territory of absolute emotional abuse. Sykes calls his wife derogatory names such as “big fool,” “aggravatin’ nigger woman,” and a “hypocrite”. Sykes also scatters the laundry that Delia has been working on and stomps his dirty feet on the clothing which demonstrates his disregard for her hard work. With the stomps of Sykes’ feet, Hurston is able to portray how the value of a woman’s work is diminished by men. Although Sykes does not deserve any respect in regards to his attitude or work ethic, he still demands respect because of his position as the husband in their marriage. Sykes’ abuse of power in the relationship speaks to the inequality found in the stereotypical gender roles of traditional marriage and the overall oppression of women in a patriarchal society.

There is a reversal of gender roles in “Sweat” that challenges traditional views, and Hurston employs this reversal so that she may reveal the flawed logic and innate inequality of the stereotypical husband and wife. With the presence of Delia’s work ethic and strong will, Hurston denies typical female stereotypes. Through Sykes’ abuse of power, Hurston negates the credibility of his true power as the man in the marriage. Another way that Hurston challenges stereotypes with Delia is through her willingness to stand up for herself in the face of her abusive spouse. Perhaps a stereotypical, emotionally weak female would have been more accepting of Sykes’ abuse. It is generally accepted that females are the weaker of the two genders, and they are more willing to submit to a dominant male. Delia, however, is not a submissive female. In an attempt to defend herself, Delia tells Sykes: “Mah tub of suds is filled yo’ belly with vittles more times than yo’ hands is filled it. Mah sweat done paid for this house and Ah reckon Ah kin keep on sweatin’ in it”. In addition to illuminating Delia’s boldness, this quote also allows Hurston to present the persevering spirit of women through her character. Although she is trapped in a marriage with an abusive husband, she still manages to prevail and wishes to continue her hard work, regardless of how her husband feels about it. Delia has an epiphany when she stands up to her husband, and, after he has left, she contemplates the complications of her marriage.

Hurston describes Delia’s contemplation: 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. (2) While Delia had always been dedicated to Sykes in the way that a wife should be, he never reciprocated the dedication. Delia’s dedication to Sykes and his complete disregard for her dedication is a way in which Hurston reflects on the traditional image of marriage and its misrepresentation of the realities of marriage. The power bases of Delia’s marriage allow for readers to see the inequality that exists in a marriage within a patriarchal society. Sykes is a figurehead created by Hurston to be the face of an abusive husband. A mere two months into a fifteen year marriage, and Sykes had already asserted his dominance over his wife because it is socially acceptable for men to be brutes and women to accept it.

Readers see Delia’s character evolve and grow less and less concerned with Sykes. Sykes stays away from home with his mistress, but when he does come around, Delia does not exert any energy arguing with him. She does not allow him to have any power over her, proving that the way she sees the power bases in the relationship have changed. Sykes is, however, not to be ignored or undermined by his wife. He wishes to make her as miserable as possible, and, knowing Delia’s terrible fear of snakes, he brings a rattlesnake home to taunt Delia. Sykes boasts that the snake recognizes his power and would not dare bite him, paralleling his feelings about his submissive wife. While Sykes is away one night, Delia is frightened by the snake and runs away to hide. When Sykes comes home, he does not see the snake. In an ironic turn of fate, the snake, which was supposed to respect Sykes, bites him. Sykes cries out for help, but Delia does not respond to him. Sykes expected Delia, like the snake, to remain submissive and under his power, but again, like the snake, Delia is a sentient being and cannot be disregarded or walked over. Through the creation of the parallels between the snake and Delia, Hurston illuminates the source of their marital strife for a final time: Sykes had a false sense of power stemming from his male privilege.

In conclusion, Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” illuminates the inequality in the stereotype of the traditional marriage. Hurston throws gender roles away in order to critique their legitimacy through her portrayal of a dominant female that overcomes her oppressor. Hurston’s short story sheds light on the issues associated with gender roles and the way in which a female, no matter how hardworking, can be oppressed by marriage in a patriarchal society.

In life there’s always gonna be a good versus evil. There’s going to be times where you are going to be a good person and you are gonna be fighting the bad in your life. Also in life you are gonna be the bad person where you are gonna fight off the good. In the short story Sweat by Hurston the theme is about good versus evil. Hurtson has two main characters where one is the good character fighting the evil from the other character. On the other hand the other main character is terrorizing the good in every way possible. Hurston really showed us how the good in good versus evil will always have a better ending than the evil. In life it is true because when you are good in life you beat all the evils and have a “happy” ending . On the other hand when you are the bad and you are trying to fight all the good eventually you are definitely going to pay for the consequences or what I believe in is karma.

In the short story Sweat by Hurtson uses language as one of the keys to get the reader’s attention. The language of this story reminds me of the south back in the 60s or the 70s. The way how huston has her characters say a specific line makes me feel the tone of the voice from the characters.One example from the short story would be when delia yells at sykes because she is sweating her butt off to support her and sykes. “What’s it got to do with you, Sykes? Mah tub of suds is filled yo’ belly with vittles more times than yo’ hands is filled it. Mah sweat is done paid for this house and Ah reckon Ah kin keep on sweatin’ in it.” (hurtson 1023). Here Delai is expressing how she sweats to keep a roof over her and sykes head. Delia also yells at sykes how she wants to do hard work under her own house.. The words are laid out and shows me that she is fed up with Sykes . Here Hurston places Delia as the good and sykes as the evil. Delia is fighting the evil which means she is fighting against sykes and his actions because he tortures her and makes her suffer. Delia is trying her hardest to fight against all the bad that syked brings to her.

At the beginning of the story Hurston has the characters labeled. What i mean by labeled is that Hurtson has delia labeled as the good and sykes as the evil. At the beginning of the story, Sykes is labeled as a bad guy because of the way he treats Delia. Delia is labeled has this hard working good character that cares for sykes in the household. An example why hurston wanst the reader to know that sykes is evil by the writer having him scare delia with a fake snake even though she scared of them. “Sykes, what you throw dat whip on me like dat? You know it would skeer me–looks just like a snake, an’ you knows how skeered Ah is of snakes.”(Hurston 1022). At the beginning of the story sykes is already labeled as the evil to sykes and it shows how delai is trying to fight all the bad off. So already Hustson wants the reader to hate sykes and love delia because sykes scared her with something she really hates and wants the reader ask why would he would do something like that to her. So knowing that evil can leave to consequences at the end of the story huston made sykes die trying to prank delilah by hiding a snake cause she was scared of snakes but it backfired on him and the snake bit which he eventually died for doing something evil to a person that trying to do the good in life. So Hutson made the bad character die and ade the good character live.

The tone that hurtson sets in this story is very good. She sets the tone of good vs evil. She sets the The opening scene of ‘Sweat’ by Zora Neale Hurston establishes the emotionally charged tone and the marital conflict with the initial interaction of the protagonist Delia Jones and the antagonist, her husband named Sykes. In this exposition to the narrative, at eleven o’clock on a Sunday night, Delia sorts the laundry that she has taken in from white people so that she can support herself; her wayward husband is still out. Before he enters the room she is in, he throws a bull whip onto her and terrifies Delia, who fears that it is a snake. Knowing that she is so frightened of these reptiles, Skyes cruelly laughs at her. He slapped his leg with his hand and almost rolled on the ground in his mirth. ‘If you such a big fool dat you got to have a fit over a earth worm or a string, Ah don’t keer how bad Ah skeer you.’With added antagonism, Sykes kicks the laundry that Delia has worked so hard to sort, and he orders her to be rid of white people’s laundry. He also ridicules her as a religious hypocrite who attends church on Sunday and then works on the Lord’s Day. Hearing this accusation from her adulterous and irresponsible husband causes Delia to grab her frying pan and threaten Sykes with injury, thus provoking greater conflict between them.

‘Sweat’ written by Zora Neale Hurston bears an undertone of bondage and slavery against the black. In this story, Delia, who is a middle-aged black woman who washes clothes for the white people to take care of her husband Sykes, who abuses her mentally and physically. Sykes is unemployed, and therefore, he depends on Delia’s provision, yet he cheats; he is arrogant, abusive, and continuously abuse Delia, who is forced to endure all these suffering in their marriage.

Delia pleads with her God for help so that she may survive. Delia’s life is miserable, and she describes her life as ‘Work and sweat, prays and sweat” (Hurston 233). She lives in slavery and abuse for fifteen years. Sykes selfishly utilizes Delia instead of appreciating her work. Sykes attacks Delia as she is folding the clothes and lays a bullwhip, which is long as a snake on Delia’s shoulder, ‘just then something long, round and limp and black fell upon her shoulders, and she slithered to the floor beside her’ (Hurston 221). Sykes intimidates and frightens Delia. Sykes tries to demonstrate his superiority over Delia, and he, therefore, uses the bullwhip to discipline and maintain legacy over Delia, whom she portrays to be a slave.

Delia lives a life of servitude even after the abolishment of slavery since Sykes is her master. She works endlessly in the heat of the sun just as the slaves were forced to work,” sweat, sweat, sweat’ (Hurston, 233). Delia’s sled hammer is ‘her knotty, muscled limbs and harsh knuckled hands’ (Hurston 234). Delia works for long hours daily to earn a living to feed herself and her husband; otherwise, she would die from starvation and be homeless.

Sykes plays a trick on Delia and does not give her freedom in their marriage. Sykes abuses Delia economically by taking her earnings. Delia, therefore, depends on washing clothes for the white people in hideous places, and on Saturdays, she delivers clean clothes and picks the dirty clothes to support her husband, pay for the house, and buying food. Delia is unable to seek an excellent job opportunity because she is black and therefore portrayed to be inferior, ‘Ah been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin in washing” (Hurston 1023). Delia is so emotional and finds it hard to communicate since the emotional and physical abuse compounds the economic difficulties she undergoes from her husband, and she no longer hopes for love.

Delia is forced to meet his obligations because of the hard life she lives, and she works hard. She remains resilient and reliable in every moment. Even during the weekend, Delia comes around; she continues to attend to his work obediently,’ Hot or cold’ rain or shine” (Hurston 1024). Delia is terrified and shaken when Sykes brings the bullwhip to the housed but remains firm and defiant. She makes up her mind to cling on her Christian teachings and her God to help her overcome life struggles as a result of abuse from her husband.

Delia breaks the expectations of Christianity and faith even though she had always observed them. After the first trick on Delia when he uses a bullwhip to punish Delia without reason, Delia utters to herself in a loud sound, ‘oh well, whatever goes over the devil’s back is got to come under his belly. Sometimes or rather, Sykes like everybody else is gotta reap his sowing’ (Hurston 1024). Delia realizes that there is a snake (bullwhip) in the house decides to run away from the wrath experiencing craziness then a feeling of composure in her mind, ‘well, ah done de best ah could. If things aren’t right, Gawd knows to taint mah fault” (Hurston 1029). It clear that Delia is fed up with economic, physical, and emotional abuse.

Delia undertakes moderately a heartfelt feeling on the viewpoint about her husband, Sykes. She endured at the beginning of their stay working hard to provide for the family. Delia had wished her husband Sykes would live in peace with her bound with true and genuine love in their marriage. Delia had not bothered to fight back her husband but patiently endured the sufferings earlier before. Delia, however, develops a “triumphant indifference” (Hurston 1024) to Sykes that blooms into a fierce rebellion and decides that she will allow Sykes to bear the consequences of his actions marking a significant progress.

Work cited

1. Hurston, Zora Neale. Sweat. Rutgers University Press, 1997.