Discussion Topic
Keeping in mind this relationship, post a message that responds to one or more of the following questions about Delia and Sykes:
- Why do you think Delia has put up with Sykes for so long when he treats her so badly?
- What makes her start standing up to him? What does Sykes have to do with it? Does he inadvertently help her gain strength? How?
- Why do you think Delia decides not to help Sykes after the snake has bitten him? Do you think she made a reasonable decision or not?
As a follow-up posting, comment on whether you agree or disagree, and why, with a classmate's posting.
Scoring
This discussion is worth a maximum of 15 points. You'll get 10 points for your first posting. Your instructor will give you another 5 points if you post a follow-up comment or question that furthers the discussion.
Original:
ReplyDeleteI think Delia has put up with her husband for so long because she doesn't know any other way to live. Ever since she married him, he has been beating her and after awhile, she began to familiarize it with her husband. Also, being a God-fearing woman, she does not want to divorce her husband because that is a sin in her book so she continues to put up with her husband. However she reaches her limit when he begins to threaten her home, which is what she worked her entire life for. Instead of giving in to his demands which is what she normally does, she stands up to him because her home is the one thing that matters to her in her life and she will not abide by him any longer.
Delia puts up with him because she does in a way love him, regardless of how he is. I believe it's called battered woman's syndrome, Delia has been abused by him ever since she got married to him. Usually she just ignored his anger but when she decides not to save him I think she's just thinking good riddance.
ReplyDeleteTo Jasbir:
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about Delia being a God- fearing woman, and putting up with her husband. I also think that she doesn't help him because he was having an affair.
Original:
ReplyDeleteI believe that Delia decides not to help Sykes out of revenge. She had been mistreated by Sykes for the duration of their marriage, and now she finally had gotten her revenge. She wasn't about to change that. I believe that her decision was valid, and, while it may have been rash, was reasonable, considering the horrible beatings he had given her in the past.
Delia "puts up" with her husband Sykes for so long because of the time in which it takes place. During the 19th century women were still suppressed to the domestic sphere. Even more so, an African American women was even more confined to the walls of her duty as a female and as a wife. She allowed the physical abuse because that was apart of the norms in society.
ReplyDeleteTo Marium:
ReplyDeleteI agree that Delia may have some form of battered woman's syndrome. While she confines herself to an abusive relationship, she feels like it is the only thing in life that she has, save for her job and church, and that leads her to stay with him until she realizes that she'd had enough.
In Response to Jasbir:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement completely, I feel as though I repeated what you said, but paraphrased it in my own terms but I didn't.
I also agree that Delia reached her breaking point, in which I believe that she should have surpassed a while ago.
Original:
ReplyDeleteI think Delia put up with Sykes for so long when he treats her so badly because she is a religious woman, who believes that divorce is against her religion. Also during this time, women had no rights. They were supposed to be solely devoted to their husbands and to the household. I think everyone has a boiling point and Sykes pushed Delia passed hers. I believe Delia realized that Sykes is never going to change and she is at a dead end with him.
To Marium:
ReplyDeleteI feel as if Delia doesn't love him, she just remains with him because she has no choice. It would be extremely hard for a divorced, black woman to live on her own in her time period, during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Knowing this, she is content to remain with him despite the fact that he cheats on her and abuses her. However, she does grow a backbone when he threatens the one thing important to her: her home.
Original:
ReplyDeleteI feel that what Delia was doing when Sykes was bitten by the snake was getting a type of closure with her husband. Kind of a "You treated me badly our whole marriage and this is what you get" type of thing. Vengeance i guess you can call it. But either way, any word you put to it still makes it completely wrong. In my opinion, no one deserves to die for anything they've ever done. I understand the time period they are living in means that divorce is strictly looked down upon, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.
To Shinece:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your original post. Similar to what I said in my comment, you stated that both women and African Americans were suppressed to the domestic sphere and abuse was normal and I completely agree with that.
Original: Delia has put up with Sykes for so long because perhaps she still loves him. She has become dependent upon their abusive relationship in which Sykes shows her attention, although it may not be in the healthiest way. Society during those patriarchal times also would have looked down upon her even more as a woman that defied the dominant male figure. Delia does not help Sykes in the end because she cannot stand this oppression any longer. This is symbolic of the rise of awareness in women of their rights to equality and justice in society. She wanted to make him feel powerless to show what he, and every other man, has put her, and every other woman, through. I feel, however, that though Sykes was ruthless to Delia, Delia did not make a reasonable decision because, as the saying goes, one should not fight fire with fire. Instead, Delia could have taken a more assertive approach to the dilemma, such as through demanding that Sykes and his mistress move from the house. For the story's sake, however, and to show the drastic circumstances of that oppressive time, Delia's allowance of Sykes' misery is appropriate.
ReplyDeleteTo Christian: I concur with the concept that no one deserves to die. Death should occur on its own time and not at the hands of anyone else. Delia, in my opinion, was wrong for not helping Sykes. As I stated though, her actions demonstrated how wrongly she had been treated and how angry she, and all other women, felt about this normal treatment.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Delia's refusal to help Sykes after the snake has bitten him exemplifies her spiritual downfall. Delia's christian righteousness, evident in the scene when she returns from a 'Love Feast' at church, seems challenged by her failure to seek help for Sykes after he has been bitten by the snake at the end of the story and by her deliberate showing herself to him so he will know she knows what he attempted and that there is no hope for him. It is a way of exacting her revenge but at a terrible, spiritual cost. Delia's virtue is easily overshadowed by Syke's villainy, and I believe that she was right in the long run for not helping him. His outrageous behaviors had to be subsequently punished for all of his misdeeds. One can say that Delia's sweat represents both literal bodily toxins and symbolic poisons that represent the social system that has caused her to sweat. Syke's is possessed by an evil that consumes his soul and eventually kills him; however, Delia remains pure because the sweat, the toxin or poison that represents the social system that exploits her, is released from her body and doesn't corrupt her physically or mentally.
ReplyDeleteTo Sherifa:
ReplyDeleteI concur with your reference to patriarchal times and its correspondence to Sweat's background. It truly adds another layer of meaning to the story, and allows one to draw a deeper comprehension of what message it is trying to portray. Though two wrongs do not make a right, I feel that it was appropriate for Delia to not help Syke's in his time of peril, because he represented true evil and needed to be severely punished for all of his wrongdoings --- whether it be mentally, or in this case death.
Original:
ReplyDeleteI think Delia stayed with Sykes because she couldn't imagine life without him and decided to just keep things the way they were. Delia needed to stand up for herself, because after being abused for so many years she had built up anger and insecurities; something she didn't notice from before. I think her decision was justifiable after years of being abused; I hate to say it but Sykes had it coming.
To Shinece:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about Delia, I didnt notice about the time era; but the way she acted is justifiable for a woman during her time. Woman werent given any rights, so she had to stick with him until to the end.
To: Jon
ReplyDeleteI agree that Delia did not help Sykes out of revenge but I also think she did not help him because she believed that it was fate. Since she is a fateful woman, I believed the other reason she put up with Sykes so long is because she knew that one day he would get exactly what he deserved. It’s karma, in a way. He treats her badly and in response, he dies a painful death.
Original: I believe that Delia decided not to help Sykes after the snake bit him because her remorse for being in such a relationship had controlled her actions. Delia is rightfully acting out of revenge because she can no longer take the pain that she has been put through. Her emotions have consumed her actions and she does not feel the need to help a person that never respected her, someone that took her for granted, someone that abused her both physically and emotionally. Delia can no longer with stand the embarrassment that Sykes has caused her and I believe that her actions are greatly justifiable. In what world is it right to stay in an unhealthy environment that yields no positive outcomes?
ReplyDeleteOriginal:
ReplyDeleteI believe that the reason why Delia has been in a relationship with Sykes for so long is because she loved him. Maybe, she stayed with him for so long because she is looking for the reasons why she was with him to begin with. When Delia came to the realization that Sykes is an arrogant man, and will never change, she starts to stand up for herself. The straw that broke the camel's back was when Sykes came into the house and deliberately put dirt on the clothes she just cleaned. At that point you can feel her frustration and she began to stand up for herself. Delia did not help Sykes after he was bitten. She wanted him to suffer after being so cruel towards her. Killing someone is never the answer, but it seems like in Delia's case, killing him was the only way to stop him from abusing her mentally, physically, and emotionally any further.
To Sherifa: I am not sure I see your observation of Delia's withstanding her pain for so long because she still loved Sykes. I do not think she still loved him, if anything she was acting out of the pain that blinded her and stifled her actions against him. Delia did not know anything out of the situation that she was in, and I believe that is what kept her there for so long. She knew that she had lost all love for him but she did not know how to move on from that.
ReplyDeleteOriginal:
ReplyDeleteSweat is so named, in my opinion because it signifies the struggles of a woman who also happens to be an African American. The time that Delia lives in is unfortunately a prime for an oppressive society. First of all Delia is an African American which alludes to how she was probably segregated. This is also implied by her occupation as a washerwoman for “whites”. In addition to dealing with this, Delia was a woman. A woman that found herself in an abusive relationship and could not foresee it. For example, she describes the first couple of months as happy. Delia probably thought that she deserved the relationship that she was in, despite the abuse, whether this was due to her belief in God or own logic. Sometimes people in abusive relationships convince themselves that they are getting what they deserve. Or perhaps they perceive the abuse differently; physiologically they can rewire their thoughts. For instance it is possible that Delia convinced herself that her husband choose to beat her out of love. With such an unstable interpretation with right and wrong unclear, it became almost impossible for Delia to stand up for herself. The fact that her husband Sykes has another woman and wants to drive her out of her home sparks her stance. Delia recognizes however that her husband will get what he deserved eventually, which is death.
To Justin:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your response to Sherifa. Delia had every right to refuse to aid her husband. Think about everything that Delia put up with in her marriage with Sykes besides the psychical abuse. Mentally she was extremely unstable, her husband belittle her and event went to the get of harassing her. He purposefully interfered with Delia when she was working. Not to mention that he flaunts his mistress around the entire town. Sykes doesn’t rest there either, he buys a snake and places inside the house knowing very well that Delia does not like them. He vindictively placed the snake in Delia’s home to frighten her. The snake actually killed Sykes showing that it was his own malicious behavior that caused his death. If he never intended to hurt Delia by putting a snake in the house, he may have never died. Delia choose not help Sykes, which is a right she earned. Perhaps she believed it was an act of God either way she knew it was not her job to interfere. Delia should not have been obligated to assist a ruthless, spiteful oppressor. Through Delia’s perspective letting Sykes die, saved her own life and the snake could have been interpreted as a blessing in disguise.
I think that Delia decides not to help Sykes after the snake has bitten him because she sees his demise as punishment for all the wrong doings he has committed against her. She made a reasonable decision by letting him die because as a husband, he was an unfit infidel that abused her. Being the man that he was, he deserved to die.
ReplyDeleteTo: Ellysa
ReplyDeleteI agree with your reasoning on the naming of Sweat. It really gives you personal insight on the struggles of a woman who is trying to balance work and a domesticated life.
Original:
ReplyDeleteDelia represents a God-like figure. I think that she puts up with Sykes for so long because she is devoted to her Christian religion. Being Christian, Delia is against divorce, and stays with Sykes even though he has a mistress whom he openly dates.
To Marium:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement. Delia had to be in love with Sykes in one way or another because they stayed together for 15 years. But another reason why she might have stayed with him was because she was not secure about her money situation since they shared all their earnings for so long.
Original:
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of why Delia stays with Skyes plays into her religious aspects. In many religions divorce is Frowned upon, and even banned in some. At one point its possible that Delia remembers something about the way Skyes used to be, which would account for the reason she married him and puts up with the amount of abuse she has received over the course of her marriage. This story doesn't strike me as having a present day setting, the standing of women during this story was probably a lot less than it is today. If she could some how manage to leave him it wouldn't matter because she couldn't make anything of herself on her own.
I believe that she put up with him for so long because she simply DOES love him. Regardless of the way he acts, she can't help but love him. That's why she not only puts up with him, but she feels the need to maintain the household in which they BOTH live in. Nonetheless, there's only so much a woman can take before she becomes fed up...Why didn't she help him after the snake bite? Because she had enough.
ReplyDeleteTo Lizzie:
ReplyDeleteI disagree with what you said about the pain blinding her. They say "love is blind". I believe that her love for him, as well as other contributing factors such as the time period, and her religion blinded her from seeing that how he'd been treating her was wrong. She was living through this marriage thinking that this was all normal, and that this was a part of how she would show that she loves him - by allowing him to be the "man" and have his way with her.
After dealing with Sykes for so long it may seem shocking that Delia stands up to him. For years she has been putting up with his verbal and physical abuse. However, that suddenly changes when he begins to threaten the thing that means the most to her, which is her home. The story takes place soon after the end of slavery, which shows that the possessions people have are dear to them. Delia is not willing to lose all that she has worked for to her abusive husband. Sykes indirectly causes her to stand up to him because on top of his constant abuse and mistreatment he is trying to rip away her home from her. His negative actions towards her gives her the strength to stand up and say that this battle, which is the one concerning her home, is one she refuses to lose.
ReplyDeleteTo Ellysa:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on the fact that Delia lives in a society that constantly oppresses her due to numerous factors including that she is an African American and a woman. This contributes greatly to her standing up for herself towards the end of the short story. This is because she is oppressed so much that she realizes that enough is enough and that she has to protect the things that she has worked to possess. Delia decides that after all the abuse and oppression that she faced she will not be denied what she deserves.
I agree with Jasbir. I feel that Delia has grown so accustomed to living with Syke that she is scared to leave him. In addition, I also believe her religious background caused her to not want a divorce. For within most religions marriage is seen as a holy sacrament, and to tear one apart is seen as a sin.
ReplyDeleteI believe Delia puts up with Sykes for so long because that is the only form of relationship she knows. She has put so much work and effort into her marriage that the thought of losing that is unheard of. She had grown accustomed to the constant beatings and put downs that she basically formed a bond with her abuser. Delia decides not to help Sykes when he gets bit by a snake because the minute Sykes threatens the one thing that means the most to Delia, her home, that once strong hold he had over her was broken.
ReplyDeleteDelia does indeed put up with Sykes mainly for physcological reasons. She has been with Sykes for so long it has become her comfort zone, even though he is abusive, that abuse has become the norm. Without Sykes Delia would be lost. This was the case this with a lot of women back in this time, they would become attached to their men, no matter how bad they were. But eventually she decides to take a stand, and in turn kills Sykes. When she refuses to hep Sykes with the snake bite, she kills him, a vendetta or vengeance you could call it.
ReplyDeleteTo Marium:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis, but I don't think Delia loves him, I think she thinks she loves him. She feels like she is forced into loving him because she has no other choice. This is evident by her complacency in Sykes death she could have prevented it. If she had really loved him, she wold have helped him. But she didn't, showing that she didn't actually love him.
Delia may have put up with Syke's abuse for several reasons, including the marriage and relationship dynamic that existed during that time period, as well as the possibility that she viewed her marriage as one of the few things she had, and she did not want to lose that, possibly remembering the times that they did love each other. When Sykes gets bitten by the snake, Delia decides not to run to his aid possibly because now, she would be free, and she would have her home to herself without Sykes oppressing and threatening her.
ReplyDeleteI think Delia has put up with Syke for so long because of normality. When something whether great or horrible is incorporated in ones daily schedule the mind becomes used to it, and it becomes a habit. Although its a horrible habit, Sykes abusive acts towards Delia seems like a usual routine that she has been used to for many years.
ReplyDeleteTo Tara : I completely agree that Delia fears losing her relationship because she put an extraordinary amount of effort into the marriage to put to waste and leave
ReplyDeleteOriginal: I think Delia put up with Syke as long as she did because the amount of hatred she might had built up inside herself for him , matched how much she thought she needed him for stability. Syke did not pose as a person who brought her any positivity in her life, nor did he add any progression to her life. He had just become as daily to her as the clothes she washed
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marium that a sense of her character comes from the idea of battered woman's syndrome. At the same time I don't think that can account for everything. But I'm sure that Delia "put up" with Syke for reasons similar to what we see as Battered Woman's Syndrome today.
ReplyDelete
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ReplyDeleteI am a private loan lender which have all take to be a genuine lender i give out the best loan to my client at a very convenient rate.The interest rate of this loan is 3%.i give out loan to public and private individuals.the maximum amount i give out in this loan is $1,000,000.00 USD why the minimum amount i give out is 5000.for more information contact us email finance2014911@gmail.com
Your Full Details:
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state:………….
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Address............
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