Summary

“Sweat” (1926) began with Delia Jones beginning her laundry work for the week late on Sunday night. While wondering about her husband, Sykes’s, whereabouts, she was frightened by his whip that he dangled over her like a snake. Sykes picked a fight over Delia’s laundry work, and she stood up for her hard work and to the abuse she endured during their 15 years of marriage. She knew that Sykes was disloyal and resolved not to be run from her own home. When Delia walked by Joe Clarke’s storefront one Saturday, the men there suggested the abusive Sykes should be killed for his wrongdoings, “but the heat was melting their civic virtue,” and they asked for watermelon instead (119). Sykes paraded through the store with Bertha, his mistress, making a show of his generosity. In those three months, Delia worked and...