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How does Sykes humiliate Delia in public?
Her husband, Sykes, returns home and plays a nasty trick on her with his horsewhip, which resembles a snake—he throws it onto her shoulder, terrifying her. When Delia realizes what has happened, she tells Sykes that it’s a “sin” to frighten her in this way.
Why does Sykes criticize Delia in sweat?
Delia’s husband, Sykes, considers her to be a hypocrite because she is working on Sunday. Sykes reveals his attitude about Delia’s “hypocrisy” in the story’s exposition. After she reorganizes the clothes that he has disturbed, Delia goes back to washing them.
What does Sykes do to frighten Delia?
Sykes is so determined to hurt Delia and take the house that he resorts to unsafe extremes—like bringing a rattlesnake into the house to scare her off—which eventually lead to his own death.
What does Sykes criticize Delia about?
Hover for more information. Delia’s husband, Sykes, considers her to be a hypocrite because she is working on Sunday. Sykes reveals his attitude about Delia’s “hypocrisy” in the story’s exposition . After she reorganizes the clothes that he has disturbed, Delia goes back to washing them.
What does Sykes use to scare Delia at the beginning of the story?
Snakes
Snakes. The snake, long a symbol of evil and malevolence, is used throughout the story. Delia is deathly afraid of snakes, a fact that Sykes uses to his advantage. At the beginning of the story, he tricks her with a whip to scare her and to show her once again that he has dominance over her.
Why does Sykes say that he scared Delia with the whip?
Since Delia is afraid of snakes, Sykes uses snakes and snake-like objects repeatedly to frighten her. The sinful nature of his effort comes up in the very first scene of the story, when Delia explicitly tells him that “it’s a sin” to frighten her with his snake-like whip.
What kind of person is Sykes?
We’ve got a lot of words to describe Sykes—cowardly, mean, unfaithful, childlike, cruel—but we think Hurston does a much better job in the description/insult department.
What does Sykes look like in Sweat?
Translation: Delia hates Sykes as much as she would hate a mangy dog that won’t stop eating all her eggs. Translation: A guy who looks like a bag of wrinkled rubber with flappy ears is definitely no Denzel Washington. In that sense, Hurston uses Sykes as a joke and a warning, a study on machismo and cruelty.
What does the snake symbolize in Sweat?
The snake, long a symbol of evil and malevolence, is used throughout the story. Delia is deathly afraid of snakes, a fact that Sykes uses to his advantage. At the beginning of the story, he tricks her with a whip to scare her and to show her once again that he has dominance over her.