Blog 1: Sweat

I. This is the first in a two series blog post of literary review. For anyone reading this, the context is simple as this is merely an exercise in academia. It is in no way meant to be a critique, but fanfare for the common man. With that said, for this entry, I will be analyzing the short story, “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston.

The story “Sweat” begins with what is obviously a case of domestic violence (DV). Delia, a woman of sufficient wealth who had acquired her own house and land, marries a good-for-nothing man, named Sykes who holds no job, and has no source of income. Throughout the entire story, Delia is responsible for all the housework, and any additional work that needs done. In fact, the only work that could be argued that Sykes does would be to treat his wife as though she were his personal slave.

The battered wife does make some attempts to fight back by at least picking up a fryin0g pan after her abusive and adulterating husband threatens her. This of course results in Syke’s level of abuse escalating after bringing home a large rattle snake, knowing that his wife is deathly afraid of them.

Toward the climax of the story, Sykes, deciding it was time to cast his wife aside for a new love-toy, manages to predate Wil E Coyote by several decades in setting a trap using the snake to kill his wife. Out of sense of irony, and catastrophic incompetence on his part is killed by the snake instead, as the wife hides nearby, ignoring his cries for help.

II. The reason why this text resonates with me is relatively simple—I still see this form of behavior at nearly all levels of society today, though it is still equally prevalent among the poor, and within minority communities, it is still predominant in the upper echelons of society as well. Granted, my physical firsthand experience, being directly involved in said escalation is pretty limited, or at least limited to having never seen a man place a rattle snake in a laundry basket to kill his wife. Given, I will admit that I have known more than my fair share of DV victims, and/or have reported on them over the course of my career, and have first hand seen the results of an aggressor who has shoved his wife down a flight of stairs, twisted her arm, or even slapped her around. 

Domestic violence appears to be an issue that is not bound by time, and the topic of DV as illustrated in this story still play true today, which makes “Sweat” still relevant even in the post-equal rights era (though one could still debate if we really are living in such a time), and the challenges faced in communities continues. And, like many of the women (and a couple of men) that I have known over the years who were on the back-end of domestic violence, many of my friends had displayed great strength in their perseverance to not idly sit by and eventually take action. However, sometimes, before others whom I have known may have been strong in a multitude of difference way, fate had stepped in before they had a chance to leave their battering others (arrest, suicide, etc…), we see a similar event in the case of Delia, who before having the opportunity of acting on her own, bared witness to fate’s intervention through the snake.

III As the story of “Sweat” had been unfolded, we see similar stories not only played out in the media today, through various prime time news reports, or in print publications such as the newspaper’s police blotter or in magazine articles, but also in pop entertainment. A central focus of NBC’s long-standing crime drama, Law & Order SVU franchise focuses on domestic violence and sexual assault.However, while awareness of domestic violence issues remains high, the media had spent years moving from simple awareness to a near accepted or even glorificationof the issue, peaking in the mid-to-late nineties gangsta rap with the works of mainstream artists such as Snoop Dog, Easy-E, Ice-T, and Doctor Dre.

Fortunately, trends in pop media over the years has toned down the glorification of physical violence against women. It could be stated it has not gone far enough. One bright point however in the media was NBC going so far as introducing former gangsta rapper Ice-T to Law & Order SVU, playing a detective who hunts down and arrests perpetrators of domestic violence. Yet despite these slow changes in attitude, the views of domestic violence have not been eliminated in the media, whether through popular television or music today, or from the days when Hurston wrote “Sweat” nearly a hundred years ago, domestic violence still permeates within the media even today; although much more overtly than perhaps in the past.

IV. The works of both Law & Order and “Sweat” speak to each other quite well, despite the lack of any local law enforcement showing up at the door of Delia and Sykes, though perhaps the snake takes the roll of judge, jury, and executioner in the place of the TV crime drama’s fictional New York courts. Granted, I prefer most of my media to be snake free, seeing how I hate snakes, but that’s for an entirely different writing.

I felt that both mediums illustrate a complete picture of domestic violence and how they both exemplify how the greater social economical planes know no bounds. While the television drama encompasses a much larger franchise than the Hurston piece, both works can equally play well in showing the emotional and psychological trauma that comes in to play. Whereas any number of events play out of Law & Order SVU, we see the emotional, psychological, and physical abuse Delia faces at the hands of her husband.

At the end of the day, not a lot has changed since Hurston’s “Sweat” in regard to domestic violence, with the exception that dialogue appears to be more forthcoming. While women are coming forth now with less fear than a hundred years ago, much work still needs to be done. I’ll close with some period music and some passages from the story via YouTube. Please enjoy.

Courtesy, Global Image Works, YouTube

Courtesy, Anastasia Teasley, YouTube