LIT 1012 Seminole State College Sweat Accounts of Domestic Violence Essay Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat” Discuss the theme of domestic violence as well as

LIT 1012 Seminole State College Sweat Accounts of Domestic Violence Essay Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”

Discuss the theme of domestic violence as well as Hurston’s use of literary symbolism in her short story “Sweat.”

First, explain the symbolic functions of the rattlesnake that appears in the story: How does it symbolize Sykes, both biologically and in terms of the serpent’s traditional symbolism within Christianity?

Second, discuss how the rattlesnake also symbolizes Delia’s renewal and rebirth once she’s able to finally escape her abusive relationship.

Requirements
LENGTH

Minimum: 600 words

PARAGRAPHS
One Introduction Paragraph
Two Body Paragraphs
One Conclusion Paragraph

Research

Locate two Secondary Sources (articles written by credible literary experts that explain/interpret the story you’re writing about)

One of the Secondary Sources should be from an Academic Database
One of the Secondary Sources should be found using the internet (Google, Bing, etc.)
Primary Source Quotes

Short story “Sweat” Zora Neale Hustorn

You are required to quote from the story itself in each body paragraph. You’ll need 2-3 quotes from the story in each of the two body paragraphs.

Secondary Source Quote
These are the two articles you found by conducting research, one from an Academic Database and one from the internet.
You’ll need a total of three quotes from your Secondary Sources, you can quote from one of your two articles more than once.

Types of Quotes

Two of your three quotes should be regular direct quotes like you did with your previous research essay
One of your three quotes should be a block quote.

Note:

1. Please use the questions for essay reference.

2. The Internet source: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/646/zora-neale-hurstons-sweat-and-the-black-female-voice-the-perspective-of-the-african-american-woman

3. The primary source and the other secondary source is provided as the document. You ONLY need to read from page 90-94 for the secondary source. Sweat Analytic
1. How has Delia been effected by this behavior over the years psychologically?
Delia’s psychologically has been affected by Sykes’s abusive behavior over the years is showed
in her response back to Sykes: “Sweat, Sweat, Sweat! Work and swear, cry and sweat, pray and
seat!” From the quote, Delia has expressed her exhaustion over the abusive marriage with Sykes.
She has been working very hard to get money for food and house while Sykes has done nothing
beside mentally and physically abuse her.
2. What have been the physical consequences on her body?
Delia’s body has been changed over the time being abused by Sykes, she was a young woman
with a soft body when she first married to Sykes. Walter Thomas stated: “She wuz ez pritty ez a
speckled pup!” Now, her limbs are more “muscle” and “knotty,” and her hands became “harsh
knuckly.”
3. Compare a rattlesnake to Sykes and his personality/behavior. What traits do
rattlesnakes and Sykes have in common?
The trait that rattlesnakes and Sykes have in common is the aggressiveness when being threat.
Rattlesnakes will attack when it feels in danger and Sykes abuses Delia because he feels insecure
if he cannot control her and makes her feel weak. Also, the rattlesnakes hunting behavior is
similar to Sykes’s laziness. The snakes wait for its prey in the bush just like how Sykes waits for
Delia to make money to pay for his food and the house.
4. Therefore, how might the rattlesnake symbolize Sykes himself?
The rattlesnake symbolizes Sykes himself by illustrating that Sykes abusive behavior toward
Delia is just as toxic as the rattlesnakes venomous. Every time Sykes abuse Delia mentally or
physically is just looking like a snake injects the venom to its preys.
5. What figure/character in Christianity is the snake/serpent most associated with (Delia
actually references this character twice in the story when referencing the rattlesnake).
The character in Christianity that the snake/serpent most associated is Satan.
Satan has used a snake to lie and made Eve disobey to the God and soon Adam follows it. The
snakes then “has been associated with sin” and also “as a symbol of Satan, has wound its way
around the human heart and filled us with its poison.”
6. Since Sykes is associated with the rattlesnake in “Sweat,” what additional symbolic
meanings might the rattlesnake also have?
The additional symbolic the rattlesnake might also have in “Sweat” is a threat for Delia. In the
story, Delia pray at night so she can “build a spiritual earthworks against her husband” and
Sykes’s behavior has forced Delia to ask the church to change her membership to another place.
Delia is afraid of being abused and threatened by Sykes just as much as she afraid of the snake.
7. How is Sykes like the character in Christianity associated with snakes/serpents?
The ways how Sykes being selfish and mistreat Delia through his words and actions such as
beats her, scares her, and putting her down has made him become an evil just like the character
in Christianity that associated with snakes/serpents.
8. How does the snake help Delia finally escape her abusive relationship?
The snake helped Delia to escape her abusive relationship by taking Sykes’s live away.
9. How, then, does the rattlesnake simultaneously symbolize what it did for Pre-Christian
cultures?
Once the snake helped Delia to escape her abusive relationship, it simultaneously symbolizes
two meanings as it did for Pre-Christian cultures. First, it gives Delia a new life of freedom
which can be a “rebirth” for her just like the meaning on the ‘Rod of Asclepius.’ Second, the
snake is represented as a guardian who help Delia get out of an abusive relationship with Sykes.
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston
from Carol Oates, Joyce, Ed. The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1992.
Hurd, Myles Raymond. “What Goes Around Comes Around: Characterization, Climax, and Closure in Hurston’s
Sweat.” Short Story Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 80, Gale,
2005. Gale Literature Criticism, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/UXLESY547383129/LCO?u=
lincclin_vcc&sid=LCO&xid=56b61f31. Accessed 25 July 2020. Originally published in Langston
Hughes Review, vol. 12, no. 2, Fall 1993, pp. 7-15.

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