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Sweat | Introduction

In 1926, a group of writers from the younger generation of the ‘‘New Negro’’ movement in New York City, including Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, decided to organize the quarterly magazine Fire!! Frustrated by the responsibilities thrust on them by Alain Locke and other leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, these writers wanted to express their own ideas without the artistic constraints of a political agenda. And, although they only managed to publish one issue because of a host of complications, the magazine left behind one of the most lasting legacies of the radical younger generation of black writers, still considered Hurston’s best fiction of the period: a short story titled ‘‘Sweat.’’

Now available in the complete collection of Hurston’s stories published by HarperCollins (1995), ‘‘Sweat’’ focuses on the turning point in the life of Delia Jones, a washerwoman from Hurston’s hometown of Eatonville, Florida. Beginning with an outburst against her abusive husband and finishing with her involvement in his death, the story follows Delia through a transformation, an upheaval of values that Hurston is interested in setting in the context of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City. The author makes use of biblical allusion and African American folk culture to attack issues of gender and oppression that were taboo topics at the time and continue to have a wide significance today.

Sweat Summary

Set in a small all-black Florida town near Orlando, ‘‘Sweat’’ opens with Delia Jones soaking some clothes on a Sunday night. She is wondering where her husband has gone with her horse and buckboard (a simple carriage), when suddenly a bullwhip drops over her shoulder and terrifies her. Her husband, Sykes, then bursts out laughing at this joke he has played, since he is well aware of Delia’s fear of snakes, and proceeds to taunt her and kick around the clothes she had put into piles.

Delia tries to ignore him, but Sykes continues to threaten her, saying that she should not be working on Sunday. Although Delia goes to church each week, she cannot manage to deliver clean clothes in time to the white people she works for if, as is considered correct practice, she does no work on Sunday. And so, in contrast to her usual meekness, Delia shouts that she will not lose the house she has worked so hard for and threatens Sykes with a frying pan. Sykes is too surprised to beat her, so he just says he hates skinny women and goes to his portly mistress for the night. Remembering all of the times Sykes wasted her money, slept with other women, and beat her, and realizing that the only thing left to care about is her ‘‘lovely’’ home, Delia goes to sleep. When Sykes finally comes home and kicks her feet out of the way, she... » Complete Sweat Summary