"Sweat" Response
Reading this story kind of disturbed me. I asked myself several questions. How does a man let himself become such a monster? Doesn't he feel any sense of shame or guilt? The only conclusion I could come up with is that he has some psychological disorder. As humans it is part of our nature to feel guilt, remorse and to rationalize between right or wrong. I don't feel that Syke goes through a process of guilt or rationalization. He certainly carries no morals. I also wonder what caused him to turn into this, because Delia says, " Ah hates you tuh de same degree dat ah uster love yuh." (342) Which expresses to me that at one point he wasnt a bad man and she fell in love with him. So I wonder ,what happened? I wonder why she stays with him, she makes her own money and could probably run away but she also fears him which could be a deciding factor. Delia, a usually rational and moral woman as showed in the story let her husband suffer without attempting to aid him. I presume that all the mental and physical abuse caused her to feel that he deserved what he got, it was natures way of justice and she needn't interfere. This reading although informative of their failed relationship, also left me with a ton of questions.
LIVED DOMESTICITIES
While one way to approach the conflict in this story is to think about the psychological and physical toll domestic abuse takes on the victim, do you think we should consider the setting of this story, particularly the time period and location, in order to think about whether leaving Sykes is an option for Delia. There is a passage in the story, when the town's men see Delia driving her horse and carrige with laundry,and they talk about the courtship between Delia and Sykes. Look back at that passage if you get a chance.
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesing observation- is it nature's way of justice the way Sykes dies?
Even considering the time period I feel like it is still an unjust way that Skye treats Delia. I do think it would be a very hard thing for her to accomplish leaving Skye based on the time period but not impossible.
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