Essay Sample: Women Rights in "Sweat" by Zora Hurston

The story "Sweat '' was about an older couple Delia and Skyes and how they lived their lives in the late 1920s in the Harlem renaissance. The novel is the story of a hard-working woman who provides for her abusive husband while being unhappy and feeling trapped within her marriage.   In Zora Hurston's short story "Sweat" she uses a powerful and dynamic dialogue that helps cause a powerful voice, mood, and tone to express the way many African American women were treated during the late 1920s in the Harlem renaissance.

According to Hurston in the late '20s, African American women were treated horribly by their significant others and had to accept Domestic violence. In this story, Delia who's the wife of Skyes was going through  Domestic abuse and this helps the reader understand the mood of the Short story which is irritation. Delia proves her irritation with her husband when she gets up from the dinner table and screams at Sykes by explaining that she hates him and telling him to get out of the house, Also she shows her irritation towards Skyes and Bertha who is Skye's mistress from another town. When she found out that Bertha came to live in a boarding house that Skyes pays for with Delia’s money. In paragraph 59 it states " Delia is avoiding the villagers and meeting places in her efforts to be blind and deaf." Delia had done this because she did not want to hear the villager's gossip or opinions on what is going on with her marriage. Also, she tries to avoid the topic at all means. Throughout the story, Delia has been Irritated with Bertha, because of the reason she envies Bertha because she doesn't have to work for a living and also states in paragraph 27 when she called Bertha  "ole snaggle-toothed black woman,".  

Empathy, In this short article Zora, expresses the tone by feeling Empathy with how Delia was being treated by her husband. With Zora having a relatable situation with Delia because they both have experienced or seen the abuse man treated the women in the late 1920s. Zora spoke out against the uncivil and unequal treatment of women especially in their marriages during her time. Skye abused Delia in many ways such as emotional abuse by putting a snake in the kitchen when Skye knew his wife's biggest fear was snakes. Also according to paragraph 64 Skye states    " he's gointer stay right heah tell he die. he wouldn't bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handle 'im. Nohow h wouldn't risk breakin' out his fangs  'gin yo' skinny laigs"  he is telling Dellia that no matter what she does or says the snake is not moving, and since Skyes claims that he knows the snake so well and knows how to tame the snake so it will not bite or harm him, but he is teasing Delia that she is so skinny that she shouldn't be worried because the snake isn't going to risk breaking his fangs on her.

Last, the voice of this article is very southern with Skyes and Delia being in Harlem in the 1920’s they had a different way of speaking. With trading words for example without them saying “People”, they would say “Folks”.  This helps the reader with imagery.  In paragraph 82 Delia threatened Skye by saying " Ah'm goin' tuh de white folks bout you, mah young man, deh very nex' time you lay yp' han's on me." Delia’s Speech has a different spelling and also has anger in this sentence. With her being so irritated with Skye she uses the white folks as a threat to make Skye leave her alone.

In conclusion, African American women in the Renaissance were not treated with no respect and had to handle the abuse dealing with men in the 1920s. The Harlem Renaissance had a lot of African American women mistreated and became victims of abuse, and I think Zara did an amazing job portraying that with the use of tone, mood, and voice and also an impactful dialogue between Delia’s marriage with Skyes.