Eng 28 - Essay on Marriage "sweat"

Miriam Hernandez

Professor Carlos

English 28

July 2, 2015

Sweat

        Marriage is a unique way to share a lifetime together if is well taken care of and if is well

nurture with patience, love, forgiveness and harmony.  In Zora short story “Sweat” she writes

about bad relation between husband Sykes and his wife Delia that leads to physical violence.  

Delia has been physically abused by Sykes for the past 14 years.  Delia has always been

submissive, until one day she decides to speak up and stand for herself.  After Delia standing up

for herself, Sykes realizes that he needs to find another method to scare her.  Sykes finds useful

bringing a rattlesnake home to torture Delia but this rattlesnake is what leads to his death.  Delia

could have stopped Sykes from entering into their house where the rattlesnake was but she

didn’t; however, she is justified because Sykes is cruel, sadistic man who not only oppresses her

abusing physically, emotionally, but also could have extremely killed Delia.

        Delia is a strong, hard workingwoman who is always working to pay for everything she

and her husband Sykes have.  Sykes does not care how much Delia works or how hard she tries

to please him, he always disrespects her and treats her very cruel. Sykes physically abuses Delia,

without any regrets.  He beats her up, every time he has a chance.  Delia means nothing to him,

except that she is in the way.  His only option is to mistreat Delia as much as he can until she

runs away and never come back.  Sykes physical abuse towards Delia goes beyond too far, that

he disfigure her features.  She no longer looks as good as she used to, “too much knockin’ will

ruin any’ omen, he beat huh’ enough tuh kill three woman, let one change they looks” (Sweat

532).  This shows how far the abuse has gone, and how he brutally beats her for her to die.  

Sykes cruelty has no limit.  Delia has always been so submissive to Sykes; whenever he would

hit her she wouldn’t do anything about it.  One day that Delia decides enough is enough, she

talks back to him stands for herself in a defensive way.  Delia realizes that she no longer have to

put up with Sykes and his abusive and cruel behavior, that she is a strong woman who pays

everything around the house while he does nothing but to cheat on her, and wasting all the

money she earns with sacrifice.

Fourteen years of feeling unappreciated, physically abused, mentally abused, mistreated,

bullied, worthless, confused, ashamed and afraid lead Delia’s decide not to help her husband; all

this feelings hiding in Delia’s heart, tearing her apart slowly but surely.  She gets overwhelmed;

having these feeling floating in her mind, that she paralyzes when her husband asks her for help,

“Delia, Delia, she could hear Sykes calling in a most despairing tone…she never moved, he

called and the sun kept risen”(Sweat 537).  Here we clearly see how Delia lets Sykes die.  She

does nothing to help her husband in need when the rattlesnake bites him.  For Delia to be happy,

Sykes death is the only option she has to be free from violence and start a new life.  Delia’s

decision is justified thanks to his cruelty, and brutality towards her; she let “Poetic Justice”(a

result of ultimately virtue is rewarded by an ironic twist of fate related to the characters own

conduct) do its job. Sykes decides his own destiny, little he knows the snake was his mortal

death.  Delia is not guilty on letting the man die; a man that brutally abused her by putting her

down all the time, letting her feel worthless, unappreciated, and suffered from violence, torture,

discrimination as a woman, which led to low self-esteem.

        Sykes bringing the snake home was his own sentence; “his own venom” kills him. Sykes

desire to get rid of Delia was only the beginning of his life sentence.  Sykes abusive behavior

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