How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
"There's plenty men dat takes a wife lak dey do a joint uh sugar-cane. It's round, juicy an' sweet when dey gits it. But dey squeeze an' grind, squeeze an' grind an' wring tell dey wring every drop uh pleasure dat's in 'em out." (40)
Amen, Joe Clarke. Here, he uses this beautiful metaphor to describe how some guys treat their women worse than a piece of sugar cane—they objectify them, use them, and spit them out when they're done. Still, despite his wise insight, when Sykes appears, Joe's mouth stays shut. If he sees so many men mistreating their women, why doesn't he say something?
Quote #8
"Ah aint gut tuh do nuthin' uh de kin'--fact is Ah aint got tuh do nothin' but die." (66)
This is how Sykes responds to Delia when she asks him to take the snake out of her house. Here he shows how much of a macho man he is, telling Delia that the only thing he has to do is die. Ah, if only he knew what he had coming his way…
Quote #9
Nobody but a woman could tell how she knew this even before she struck the match. But she did and it put her into a new fury. (89)
Delia realizes that Bertha has been in her house while in the kitchen. It's a woman's intuition—a feeling she has that she just knows is true—and it makes her extremely mad. We don't blame her, either. It's bad enough to cheat, but it's just straight wrong to bring the lover into the home.