Realism in Sweat Essay

In Zora Neale Hurstons short story Sweat the writer examples pulse and repeating to shape her theme of choice and empowerment by simulating labored and conscious footsteps, rhythmic pounding of sledgehammer hammers along a chain gang, and the loud beats of an anxious and overworked readt. This rhythm and repetition builds tenseness as Delia, the protagonist, finds within herself the strength essential to survive and overcome the demoralise with which she lives, and eventually conquering her abusive husband, Sykes, by allowing a snakes venom to take over his blood stream, killing him.The rhythm and repetition found in the short story Sweat imitate the echoes of psyche repeating to herself the motivational spoken language essential to her survival. It is the authors use of rhythm and repetition that create detailed characters, plausible events, and the comprehensive and hard detail of banal activities of e actuallyday vivification representative of realism in literature. In Sweat, Hurston tells the story of Delia, a middle-aged, black woman who works very hard washing clothes for white people to support her cheating, jobless husband, Sykes, who continually berates her during bouts of physical detestation.Hurston uses accents in her rhythm to accurately and pragmatically sit the sounds and actions of a washer woman bringing to purport the torturous and indispensable day to day activities of Delia. According to Kennedy, contributors favor a stressed syllable with a little more breath and emphasis (429), and the author uses this technique to simulate in detail Delias mind and heart.True to the realism movement, Delia describes her life as, Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat (233), as she works to provoke beyond the beggary of her past. In reading this, one nooky hear Delias feet drag and pound, drag and pound, drag and pound. The authors caution to detail allows the reader to hear and feel both rhythm and repetition with these v ocalises consisting of three words, each word being one syllable, and each phrase turn backing with, and sweat. It is both the fact that Delia speaks to herself, as well as the words she uses, that inform the reader that Delia is pushing herself through the plausible life of a post Civil contend washer woman in hopes for something better, and at the same time battle for her survival. With the words work and pray the reader learns that the storys protagonist is fighting for survival, hoping for survival, and begging her God for the help necessary for her survival. Delias life is one of begrudging hard work necessary for survival.When reading Delias words to her selfish husband, Sweat, sweat, sweat (233), the reader pictures the baseball swing sledgehammer of a southern slave sweating through life as he works endlessly in the heat of the sun. It is the rhythm of her words that allows the reader to envision an enslaved man swing the hammer back, up and over his head, and then come crashing down as the business end of the heavy tool connects with the rock at the very instant the reader hears Delia say, Sweat. Despite the abolition of slavery, Delias life is one of servitude. Her master is Sykes. Her sledge hammer is her knotty, muscled limbs, her harsh knuckly hands (234). The reader feels the anxious dread of Delia as she works day in and day out at a hideous, painstaking job in order to earn the money necessary to feed herself and her husband, as she knows that the reality of her life is that she is the only person on whom she can depend to prevent her from becoming homeless and/or dying(p) from starvation.One begins to wonder how Delia survives the torment and abuse she receives from her husband, but she does. Delia accepts the abuse, and it strengthens her. The reader can feel and hear the rhythmic, duh DUM, duh DUM, duh DUM, pattern of Delias heart beat stronger and stronger in the authors words, Her tears, her sweat, her blood (234). Her heart is tired. Her heart is overworked. Delia knows this. She feels this. She wants it to end. She works hard, and wish well other muscles, her heart gets stronger as it works.Delia affects to work her mind and body as endures the long, hard hours of work, as well as the physical and mental abuse of her husband. She will not succumb to the endless pain and suffering. The reader knows she is fighting in that she cries and works. One who is going to give into difficulty does not continue to work. Instead a person who wishes to give in lies down to die. Delia wants to survive. She fights for her survival everyday as she works, bleeds, cries, prays, and sweats.It is this drive to overcome that motivates Delia to continue existing in a Hell she hopes to someday escape. Hurston uses rhythm and repetition to create realistic details of the life of Delia as she shapes the theme of empowerment and survival in her short story Sweat. The author describes in detail the back gap day to day reality of a Po st Civil War woman as she strives with every ounce of her being to overcome the poverty of her past, and escape the bonds of slavery held by her husband.