Literary Devices in Sweat
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Summertime in rural Florida: a land of snakes, gators, and sweltering heat. Okay, perhaps it's not the ideal place and time for a vacay, but it's perfect for a short story. The fact that Hurston sp...
Narrator Point of View
The narrator in "Sweat" is in smack in the middle of the hot, sweaty action of the story. While she obviously knows central Florida locals and their way of life, her voice is starkly different from...
Genre
Most of the drama in this story arises from the dirty and disastrous marriage between Delia and Sykes Jones. Conflict and emotion often come out through their heated and super colorful arguments. T...
Tone
Oftentimes, thanks to the omniscient narrator, we're inside Delia's head and have a front row seat to her thoughts, feelings and emotions: Too late for everything except her little home. She had bu...
Writing Style
Give It To Us Straight, ZoraThe voice of the narrator likes to spout her version of the truth with little frills or fuss. We get lots of background info, setting, and pertinent details without any...
What's Up With the Title?
The story's title, "Sweat," seems pretty straightforward, right? The story takes place during summertime in Florida, when it's hot enough to make a reptile break a sweat. The fact that Delia is a m...
What's Up With the Ending?
She could scarcely reach the Chinaberry tree, where she waited in the growing heat while inside she knew the cold river was creeping up and up to extinguish that eye which must know by now that she...
Tough-o-Meter
We base the toughness of "Sweat" on two main criteria: the 'What-The-Heck-Are-They-Saying Factor' and the sometimes-lofty religious ideals/allusions. While we're all pretty aware of the difference...
Plot Analysis
So Fresh, So CleanDelia Jones is a hard working washwoman, a churchgoer, and an all-around good person. Unfortunately, she's married to a cold, violent man of little talents—except, of course, if...
Trivia
Hurston may have claimed to be born in Eatonville, Florida in 1901, but it's not true! She was actually born in Notasulga, Alabama…in 1891. Of course, she did move to Eatonville eventually when s...
Steaminess Rating
There's no nookie in this marriage, kids. We can guess that Sykes is sleeping with Bertha, but when he's at home he's too busy bullying his wife to ever really mention it. To be quite honest, he's...
Allusions
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