ENL 121-05
Oct 1, 1998
Major Paper # 1

1     Gene Giraudoux, the French playwright wrote “If two people who love each other let a single instant wedge itself between them, it grows—it becomes a month, a year, a century; it becomes too late.” [Source?] Based on the introduction of the author F[Z]ora Hurston, it is possible this story Sweat [Titles] is about the lives of real people in the South. The story focuses on one type of relationship that can exist between husbands and wives.  The men can be abusive and the women will try to survive by working from their homes from dawn to dusk to make ends meet. The theme of this story is survival in the face of (or in spite of) adversity. [New paragraph] The main character’s key to survival is her triumphant indifference to her husband's aggression.

2     [No paragraph] From the beginning of the marriage Delia learned to live with adversity.  [Topic sentence appears to be from a plot summary.] She comes to realize Sykes is not a person she can count on for a home, support and income.  His cruel sense of humor is manifested in the scenes where he places the whip on Delia’s shoulder leading her to believe it is a snake, a creature that fills her with terror. He demonstrates his carefree and careless nature, [no ,] by spending money that Delia earns to court another woman.

3     African American women have a history of being church going, God fearing individuals who are content to work hard for a living. To survive they learn to be well organized and efficient with time and money. The opinions of the townspeople lead a person to question what Delia was like before she got married and became indifferent to Sykes jealousy and resentful attitude toward her working for white folk.  Sweat and religion are her keys to survival.

4     Why does Delia remain passive through all the turmoil in her life? She knows that physically she is no match for Sykes.  She thwarts his attempts to draw her into confrontations by remaining indifferent to his abuse. It states in the beginning of the story that she gave up on love when Sykes started cheating on her. Without love Delia needs to focus her energy on other things to make her life worthwhile.  She chooses her work, house, trees and flower garden as the most important aspects of her life, all earned by her sweat. [Nice point] Her indifference to Sykes’s attempts to drive her away by sabotaging her life, makes his efforts fail.

5     The title of the story is not just the title of the work discussed; rather the author F[Z]ora Hurston gives the reader clues to what they are reading. [This is a poor topic sentence for this section. "The title of the story is symbolic."] Throughout the story several symbols are revealed [used].  From Webster’s dictionary the title Sweat has several definitions that describe the characters in this story.  Sweat means [Diction] a person who is hard working, in a state of anxiety, to be under strain or waits anxiously, these describe Delia when she gets married, as she passes through the years, and awaits Sykes death. [CS -1]  It also means to give the third degree or to force a person to work hard. This would describe the treatment Sykes forces Delia to endure. [It has still other implications in the story.]

6     Another area of symbolism would be the snake, seen as an extension of Sykes.  The snake torments Delia with his constant presence, making her live in fear until she chooses to become indifferent to him.  Again she triumphs over adversity and remains in her home.  When Sykes fumbles in the darkness, this symbolizes that life is coming to an end.  In the darkness, Sykes is destroyed by his own deed. The snake, his own evil idea, causes his death.

7     One of the most important conflicts noted is spouse vs. spouse. [Poor topic sentence -- it doesn't cover the paragraph.]A H[h]usband should be the bread winner and care for his wife and home, but in this situation the roles are reversed.  The wife has built a home, planted a garden and learned to be content with a cheating husband.  Another conflict is passive vs. aggressive, Delia is passive and content to live her life as non-argumentative, and Sykes is aggressive, beating his wife because he is resentful and jealous of the time she spends working and the income she earns. [CS -1] Good vs. evil is another conflict, but who is good and who is evil?  Sykes appears evil throughout the story; however, Delia lets him die in the end making excuses why she can’t help him. [Which of these conflicts is the most important? Why?]

8     For generations women have been the weaker sex even though they give birth, take care of the home, put food on the table, work outside the home, and become nurses when necessary.  Women can persevere when times are tough and man proves to be weak. [In what way did Sykes "prove to be weak"?]

[This is a competent essay, but it could delve deeper into the story. Delia certainly "survives," at least physically, but her position at the end of the story does not appear enviable. She is, it appears, sweating. Note the references to heat and to the cool earth. Why is she sweating?]

Student's Comments: (You can also use the back of either page.)

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I used a word-processor __x___while drafting ___x__ while revising ___x__ to type my paper.