Sweat: Delia
Forever in Sweat
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is a story of power between a couple. The characters are executed perfectly on how their own behaviors of power either worked against them or worked in favor of them. “It will come back to haunt you”, is a perfect example my mother told me if I tried to get revenge on a friend. My mother would say, “do not wish anything bad or do anything to someone else you do not want happening to you.” This is a great quote I have lived by throughout my teenage and young adult life. In Delia’s case, when Skye wants his revenge, she does not tolerate his behavior and even comes back to “haunt him”. She acts in peculiar ways towards him that angers him even more to the ultimate revenge.
Delia Jones is the main character of the story. She is a wash-woman in Florida and works very hard for the white people in her town. She is perceived to be an independent woman with power. She works hard for what she wants; she has her own job, and has her own house to grow old in. She is married to an abusive man named Skye. Her husband is very cruel towards her and doesn’t appreciate the hard work that she does.
Skye, her husband, is also an important main character in the short story. He does not appreciate Delia at all. When they got married, they were in love but that quickly faded away. As Hurston says, “Anything like flowers had long ago been drowned in the salty stream that had been pressed from her heart.” All their love has gone for each other. He would go out on trips with all the money and come back to her without a cent. He was not supportive of her work. He was unfaithful to her because he loved fat women, and she was skinny. All he was was physically abusive to her while she sweat and worked.
Other than Delia and Skye, there are a few characters that give more meaning to the story. The village men on Joe Clark’s porch are the flat characters in this story. They are gossipers but they effectively give the background/history of both
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is a story of power between a couple. The characters are executed perfectly on how their own behaviors of power either worked against them or worked in favor of them. “It will come back to haunt you”, is a perfect example my mother told me if I tried to get revenge on a friend. My mother would say, “do not wish anything bad or do anything to someone else you do not want happening to you.” This is a great quote I have lived by throughout my teenage and young adult life. In Delia’s case, when Skye wants his revenge, she does not tolerate his behavior and even comes back to “haunt him”. She acts in peculiar ways towards him that angers him even more to the ultimate revenge.
Delia Jones is the main character of the story. She is a wash-woman in Florida and works very hard for the white people in her town. She is perceived to be an independent woman with power. She works hard for what she wants; she has her own job, and has her own house to grow old in. She is married to an abusive man named Skye. Her husband is very cruel towards her and doesn’t appreciate the hard work that she does.
Skye, her husband, is also an important main character in the short story. He does not appreciate Delia at all. When they got married, they were in love but that quickly faded away. As Hurston says, “Anything like flowers had long ago been drowned in the salty stream that had been pressed from her heart.” All their love has gone for each other. He would go out on trips with all the money and come back to her without a cent. He was not supportive of her work. He was unfaithful to her because he loved fat women, and she was skinny. All he was was physically abusive to her while she sweat and worked.
Other than Delia and Skye, there are a few characters that give more meaning to the story. The village men on Joe Clark’s porch are the flat characters in this story. They are gossipers but they effectively give the background/history of both
Cited: Hurston, Zora Neale. “Sweat” Biblioklept. Edwin Turner. Biblioklept Blog. Web. 26 Jan. 2014 .