Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”, Book Review Example

The theme of rebellion in Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” (1926) is conveyed as much through the story’s technical devices and narrative form as through its plot and characters. The story is about the tribulations of a middle-aged black woman, Deliah, who works as a washerwoman and who is trapped in a physically abusive marriage. Her husband, Sykes, is a drunk who beats her, wastes money, cheats on her and fails to contribute financially to the household. The arc of the plot traces Deliah awakening to independence and individuality through an increasingly rebellious attitude toward Sykes. Simultaneously, the story features innovative technical aspects that mirror the theme of rebellion. The way that Hurston uses narrative point of view, dialect, character conflict and symbolism in the story all stand as radical departures from traditional narrative. The following discussion will examine Hurston’s innovations in narrative technique in connection to the theme of rebellion in the story to show that Hurston intended the story, itself, to act as an agent of literary rebellion against a narrative tradition that she felt was responsible for the oppression of women in general and women of color in particular.

As indicated in Harold Bloom’s study Zora Neale Hurston”s Their Eyes Were Watching God (1987), one of the most distinctive qualities of Hurston’s literary philosophy was her desire to challenge convention. One of her earliest ambitions as a writer was to “create a body of literature capable of capturing the political and cultural realities of their experience while using literary forms created by and for white, upper-class men.” As the discussion below will demonstrate, the story “Sweat” stands as an excellent example of Hurston’s ability to subvert traditional approaches to both theme and form. The streak of rebellion that is evidenced by her literary works was also present in her personal life, even from her youngest years: “Always a rebellious, inquisitive child, she left home at the age of fourteen, when her mother died, and became a maid” (Bloom 10). The combination of working-class perspective and social and political defiance are the hallmarks of the story “Sweat.”

They are the two most obvious qualities that are expressed by the story’s protagonist, Deliah. this is significant because the story is told exclusively from Deliah’s point of view. This fact also marks one of the previously mentioned points of narrative innovation by Hurston. The fact that she chooses to write in Third Person narrative point of view, but to restrict the vision of the story to a single character is important because it indicates her desire to focus on the experience of black women. Hurston, by restricting her narrative to Deiliah’s perspective, challenges the whole history of Western literature where the perspective of a poor, black woman had seldom, if ever, even been represented as a divergence, let alone as the sole point of view. This gesture alone simultaneously challenges the conventional vision of African American women by creating a sympathetic heroine, and upsets the traditional idea of a literary heroine by offering a washerwoman in an abusive marriage as the protagonist.

Hurston’s decision to restrict the story’s narrative point of view to Deliah results in another technical innovation that is very important in the story. this is the use of dialect. The characters in the story are Southern African Americans and Hurston makes an admirable effort to replicate the authentic style of speech associated with this class of people. The use of dialect in the so try is a device to restrict the perspective and to focus on the “unsung” cultural realities associated with African American culture in a Caucasian dominated society. The use of dialect also functions as a direct challenge to literary convention by substituting broken grammar and odd spelling for technical “correctness.” The statement that Hurston seems to be making through her use of idiosyncratic dialect is that realism and authenticity are more important that arbitrary standards. In other words, she is placing the flavor of experience over the demands of aesthetics and literary rules. However, it should never be overlooked that another aspect of Hurston’s use of dialect is to reject the language of the white ruling-class.

One example of the way in which the dialect of the story functions as both an aesthetic and thematic tool is when Deliah confronts Sykes about the rattlesnake. Her words are short and direct adn have a rhythm that conveys a deep seriousness and authority. She tells Sykes “Ah wants you tuh take dat snake ‘way fum heah. You done starved me an’ Ah put up widcher, you done beat me an Ah took dat, but you done kilt all mah insides bringin’ dat varmint heah.” (Hurston). The way that the words sound is as important as their sense. She is trying to ward of a danger with a staccato rhythm. the words also indicate how her confidence and self-esteem are both rising. The use of dialect brings Deliah more to life and intensifies the rebellious strategy of using a poor, African American woman as a narrator.

The dialect adn definition of the protagonist are essential components of the character conflict that is represented in the story. The sense of conflict in the story is drawn entirely from the interaction between Deliah and Sykes. Of course, there is a conflict between both of the characters and the rattlesnake and there are implied conflicts involving minor characters in the story, but the main source of tension is the relationship betwen the story’;s two primary characters. This is an innovative strategy that works to forward Hurston’s political and social themes. The fact that she chooses to show domestic conflict between a man and woman as the most profound and important of themes is a radical shift from traditional narrative. Just as Deliah functions in the role of provider in her relationship, the idea that the marriage could be a possession of the wife, rather than the husband is a radical suggestion. the same goes for the idea that the wife, as provider, has not only a right but an obligation to protect her hard-won property. the conflict between the two characters is an inversion of the usual ideas regarding the gender-roles that are anticipated in a marriage.

The way that the story’s central conflict is ultimately resolved is also innovative. Hurston chooses to bring the resolution of the story through the introduction of a non-human character. the use of the rattlesnake as a method of conflict resolution is radical and surprising. The way that Sykes brings the snake into their home to try to murder his wife shows the reader that Deliah’s move toward individuality and freedom is a threat to him. the reason that it is a threat is because, despite his apparent disregard for her, Sykes is completely dependant on Deliah for his material and emotional needs. This is a radical challenge to conventional notions of marriage adn also to conventional ideas of narrative that regarded “weak” husbands ironically rather than tragically.

The reason that Hurston is able to avoid irony in the conflict is by introducing powerful symbols to the story. Her use of symbolism is also a challenge to convention that helps to forward her political and social ideas. For example, the snake symbolizes not phallic power, but the cyclical nature of responsibility. It could also be thought of as symbolizing the fact that “what comes around goes around” so that in trying to kill his wife, Sykes actually kills himself. Similarly, the laundry symbolizes how Deliah is cleaning the dirt out of her life. The pairing of domestic imagery with nature imagery asserts a feminine vision at the story’s end as does the passive “murder” of her oppressor.

In conclusion, Hurston’s technical innovations are as powerful in “Sweat” as her depictions of character and conflict. In fact, the two are one and the same due to Hurston’s desire to challenge literary convention of both theme and aesthetics. The story features the innovative use of a unique protagonist.The story follows though on this innovation by adhering to a rigidly intimate narrative point of view. This approach is fleshed out by the use of authentic dialogue that breaks with convention but intensifies Hurston’s style and theme. Character conflict in the story is sued to challenge traditional conventions of marriage and the use of unique symbolism brings the story to an innovative climax that breaks with tradition narrative endings. The use of innovative narrative elements in the story is therefore an aspect of the story’s themes of social and political rebellion and resistance to a pervasive white, Patriarchal culture and literary aesthetic.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold, ed. Zora Neale Hurston”s Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Chelsea House, 1987.

Hurston, Zora Neale. “Sweat”