“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston

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through due most in part to her husband. “Delia’s work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and up the rocks of Calvary many many times these months.”(Hurston p.534) Gethsemane is the garden outside of Jerusalem that was the scene of Jesus’ agony and arrest; a site of great suffering. The Calvary she refers to is the hill outside of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. Delia Jones is a relatable character because of these hardships. Through out the story readers become more concerned with her well-being.
Delia has worked hard for the home that she has. She has created her own little Eden to say in a sense. Beautiful and ordered. “ Too late for everything except her little home. She had built it for her old days, and planted one by one the trees and flowers.”( Hurston p.331)
The religious symbolism of the snake and evil is shown through out the story. Sykes Jones uses a bullwhip to scare Delia by laying it on her shoulder. The bullwhip is a symbol of the dominance ...

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