Sweat

Summary

Delia Jones washes clothes for a living. She works very hard all week washing and delivering clean laundry. She is married to an abusive man named Sykes. He beats her and sleeps with other women. Sykes knows Delia is afraid of snakes. He manages to catch a large rattlesnake, and he keeps the caged animal on their property. He torments her throughout the story with violence. The snake gets loose in the house while Delia is working, and she flees in terror. Sykes comes home drunk and manages to get bitten. He dies.

Comment

Delia struggled very hard for extremely basic human needs. Sykes made her life more difficult. The conflict was that of a failed marriage with both parties hanging on because they did not know how to let go. I think that if Delia was a little less religious, and Sykes was a little more frugal--they could have gotten divorced and led happy lives. The unseen central character is the taboo of divorce. The entire ordeal of a tragic 15 year marriage could have been avoided.