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miranda1002
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High School - 11th Grade
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kwoo1213 Teacher
College - FreshmanPosted by kwoo1213 on Sunday May 18, 2008 at 7:03 PMHurston brings to the forefront the plight of many African-American women during the time period. Delia is relegated to working and toiling for the white people. The irony is that she is cleaning white people's clothing while staining her own with blood and sweat (eNotes). Hurston also highlights Delia's horrible abuse by her husband, Sykes. He is a cruel, hateful, abusive adulterer who openly cheats on Delia, along with beating her and belittling her. He is deliberately cruel to her. Their marriage is in name only, really, because of his abuse. Delia is sick and tired of the abuse, but knows her options are extremely limited by being an African-American and a woman, at that. Hurston does, though, give Delia power at the end of the story in making Delia choose not to help Sykes when he is bitten by the rattlesnake. She watches him die.
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