Introduction
The Sweat transitions enormously when Bertha is introduced in the story. Sykes is committed to having her put up with Della as a concubine. Delia is not ready to allow another woman to have the resources she has labored to buy. She resists, and in the event, the two entangles in fighting scenes, to the extent of separating even the place of worship. Striving to take Della out of her own house makes Sykes come home one day with a snake. In the end, Sykes gets a bite or the rattlesnake’s strike and suffers snake injury. The rattlesnake is symbolic in the story, used to show enmity between Sykes and Delia.
The Situation Involving the Snake
Unusual of him, one day, Sykes comes home earlier than Delia. He was standing on the kitchen door in a manner that he blocked the entry of his wife, with the only way left for her being through outstretching his arm. Sykes suddenly pushes her backward when she tried her way in. She almost fell upon a soapbox her husband had brought with him from the push, which had the snake. She was scared and begged Sykes to take away the rattlesnake, but he refused and demanded that the snake stays there until it dies (Hurston, n.d. p. 46-47). The villages heard about it, and some came to see it. One of the villagers named Thomas manages to question him how he managed to hold a five-foot rattlesnake, but Sykes answers conceitedly. The snake later bit him, making his neck swell even after boosting about knowing how to handle it, “He wouldn’t bite me cause Ah knows how to handle ‘im” (Hurston, n.d. p. 47). The only person who was around to save him was his wife, Delia, but she is reluctant to do it.
Delia Can Save Her Husband Sykes
Delia was able to save Sykes from snakebite, but she was not ready. Even though she was afraid of snakes, as she confesses that she was afraid of earthworms, and the snake was the biggest she has ever seen, she would have used neighbors. Her reluctance is a form of revenge, considering the husband was abusive. Therefore, the concluding statement is that both the fear and her vengeful heart prevented her from saving Sykes, even though she had the ability.
The Three Ideas from Hurd’s Article
The first idea relating to the snake as per Hurd’s article is that Sykes unfairly intimidated Delia with a bullwhip, knowing that she fears slithery animals. He did so as a way of scaring her off from her duty of sorting white folk’s clothes, “aware that she must sort white folk’s clothes on Sunday evening…” (Hurd, 1993. p. 7). The second instance is that he destroyed the pen to remove an enclosed rattler. The intention was to execute his planned murder. Sykes has the terrible intention of killing his wife; so that he would install Bertha in the house she had struggled to buy. The third aspect of the snake in Hurd’s article is the actual striking of Sykes by the snake instead of Delia, who ran outside with a lantern. From the house’s darkness, Sykes was not aware of the reallocation of the reptile; thus, it was easier for the snake to execute the mission.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hurston’s short story “Sweat” revolves around Delia and Sykes’s failed marriage. By introducing a snake into Delia’s house, Sykes wanted to execute murder so that he could remain with his other woman. The snake, however, strikes him instead, and Delia has no will to rescue him. Hurds has mentioned these instances in his article “What goes Around Comes Around: Characterization, Climax, and Closure, and Climax in Hurston’s ‘Sweat.”
References
Hurd, M. R. (1993). What goes around comes around: Characterization, climax, and closure in Hurston’s “sweat”. The Langston Hughes Review, 12(2). Web.
Hurston, Z. N. (n.d). Sweat. Rutgers University Press.