Sweat And Their Eyes Were Watching God Comparison

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When regarding power dynamics, both works showcase a struggle between husband and wife, both pertaining to abuse and intentional submission. In “Sweat”, The protagonist Delia endures a fifteen year long marriage filled with abuse and emotional neglect from her husband Sykes. In an aggressive argument between Delia and Sykes, he states “Ah don't keer how bad Ah skeer you” (1). This connects to the common themes of power dynamics, specifically those of gender roles, as their relationship kept Delia powerless under her malicious husband's control. Additionally, in Their Eyes Were

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“...No one has ever reported the speech of Negroes with a more accurate ear,” says George Stevens about Zora Neale Hurston’s book “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Blacks have been portrayed in various ways so to know that a fellow African American portrayed negroes with respect is heartwarming. By writing “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Hurtson highlighted negro life in in the time period with accuracy and adoration through black ownership and blacks defying gender roles.

She obeys everything her husband says and takes care of him by cooking as almost all wives were expected to do. Though the difference in this marriage is that instead of Sykes providing for the household by working while Delia stays home, like the traditional wives during this time would, Delia was the provider of the house. There came a point in Delia’s life that she felt she finally had to transition from staying silent, to taking the pain Sykes gave her and using it to her advantage to overcome her suffering by standing up for herself. I saw the change in her character first, when she gave Sykes her opinion on how horrible her life had turned out because she had married him,and also told him how she deserved a better life. Delia jones exclaims, “Ah been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin’ in washin’ fur fifteen years.

Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, begins by showing what is occurring in the present of the main character’s life. Janie, the main character of this story, is returning to Eatonville, Florida the town she once called home. Upon her return the townspeople gossip about her and make speculations about where she has been. They also wonder what happened to Tea Cake, the young man with whom she ran off. Of all the townspeople, only one person stood up for Janie and did not give in to the gossip.

Throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie exists as both the protagonist and narrator of her story, portraying the various life experiences she endured to her lifelong friend, Pheoby. Janie’s experiences as a

Without the dialect and sexual remarks, the moral of love and self-expression would not have stood out and Hurston would not have been able to deliver the realism of being a black in a southern community. It is true that Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes were Watching God, contains sexual, racial and obscene remarks. However, the aspects of the book, pertaining to US history, and the teenager’s mindset to find true identity and love allows this novel to be in the literary scene of high schools and an American. Therefore, it is inevitable that Their Eyes were Watching God should retain its position in the popular literary

Their Eyes Were Watching God was just like its author, Zora Neale Hurston, a outstanding product of the Harlem Renaissance. In her book, she carryouts the life of an African American woman named Janie Crawford who comes back to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida. Due to Janie’s mother leaving her at a young age, she was raised by her grandmother. The fact about her grandmother is that she was a slave and her viewpoint of the world is distorted. Her idea of a perfect life for a African American woman is that she should be married to anyone from a upper class society.

Power dynamics come in several forms, including wife to husband, slave to master, and worker to boss. This concentration of power often affects societal feelings and actions, as abuse and corruption may occur. These topics are focal points for Zora Neal Hurston’s investigations into if power is the true source of fate. Throughout both the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God and the short story “Sweat '' by Zora Neale Hurtson, the topics of destiny and power dynamics are evident through each work's central theme. In “Sweat”, Hurston highlights the idea of self determination, whereas in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston looks at the fragility of social norms and the importance of fate.

The torment of repetitive abuse and degrading mockery of appearance and behavior continuously adhered on during an entire marriage. Needlessly conceding into a complacent role bearing undeserved hatred. Both protagonists in “Sweat” and Their Eyes Were Watching God undergo this unwarranted treatment. Throughout both they are suppressed and put down, Delia upholding all work inside the household and enduring constant disrespect, and Janie continuously mocked, controlled, and paraded as a trophy-wife. While the works, Their Eyes Were Watching God and “Sweat,”by Zora Neal Hurston, teach the theme that for fulfillment of one’s self peace, realization and confrontation of one’s burdened anguish is required.

A mere “two months after the wedding, he had given her the first brutal beating” (Hurston 565), and continues to beat her for the next fifteen. This changes Delia from the “young and soft” woman she was to a tough and resilient woman who has to fend for herself (Hurston 565). Even while enduring Sykes’s outbursts, Delia, like the noble, virtuous woman she is, “brought love to the union,” but not even love “kin make a man be decent if it ain’t in ‘im” (Hurston 565-566). Hence, Sykes’s wickedness slowly corrupts the love of Delia until she hates him to the same degree she used to love him (Hurston 569). However, as the story commences, goodness regains the upper hand as Delia manifests bravery in standing up for herself, working harder and increasing her religious faith.

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Tea Cake didn’t have to beat Janie to show possession, but unfortunately, that is how the times were back then. The times have changed, but sadly not enough. 85% of women are abused in relationships, just like the affairs back in Hurston’s time. Hurston used Janie and Tea Cake and the rest of the characters in this book to make a point that you can let the pitfalls of jealousy rule everyday situations but you don't have to.