The Realism of Sweat

The college I chose to work on my Bachelors of Arts in English needed official transcripts of the colleges I had previously attended. This gave me an excuse to visit my local college campus and professors. Nothing brightened my mornings more than visiting with professors and students before class. This is something I have missed. I feel sentimental over my former college the way I do when I think of the first college I attended.

Around 11:30 a.m., I sat drinking my shake in the sun-lit lobby area as I silently listened to two young students having a conversation on the subjects of English and math. Eavesdropping is not something I normally do, and I feel bad for having such ears. Much like the cruel wrath of nature in Stephen Crane’s story of brotherhood, “The Open Boat,” this fault of mine cannot be helped. This young male student liked math because there is an absolute answer to each question. The female had passed Composition I but had yet to take Composition II. The male's argument on disliking English was the lengthy possibility of answers. What interested me about these young college students were the reverse feelings I had always felt about math.

I am a poor math student. I had a strong dislike of math since birth. Nothing changed this dislike as much as teachers tried to trick me with colors and shapes. Their attempts were thoughtful, I acknowledge. I passed college math early on in my college years. I have been blessed with never having to take a math course since. I have been liberated from the bondage of math. I am not an absolute thinker. In fact, I don’t like the idea of absolute. I equate this to the idea of Romanticism in literature.

Romanticism and absolute follow a definite pattern of loyalty to the problem at hand. For example, in her story “Sweat,” Zora Neale Hurston creates the female character, Delia Jones, to be a realist and Sykes Jones a Romanticist.  Delia is able to be the responsible spouse. Delia has strong work ethics. She has bought a house. She brings work home to complete. Delia attends church each Sunday. Delia has a strong independent character that is threatening to Sykes.

Sykes, on the other hand, is not a literary character I am too fond of. One advantage Sykes has over Delia is his learned ability to drive the automobile Delia’s sweat has paid for. Sykes has had several girlfriends over the span of their marriage. Sykes married for sexual intercourse instead of real love. When Delia first married, she was a vibrant, bright young lady. When I read “Sweat,” I am able to picture Delia Jones as one of the characters from Meridel LeSeuer’s stories “Women Are Hungry” and “Women on the Breadlines.”

Domestic violence shelters and support were not offered to women during Hurston’s era. Delia Jones really had no escape from her husband. Since people in the town gossiped about her marriage, Delia felt she must change her church membership to a different town. Delia was aware Sykes brought his girlfriends to her house, but what could she do legally? At this time, African women – and women period – had no rights.  Wives like Delia could be beaten by their husbands. No spousal abuse law existed. The law was on Syke’s side.

When I read “Sweat,” I am amazed by Delia Jone’s amazing strength as an independent worker and woman. As grotesque as this may sound, I like the ending best. Hurston has an unconventional way of providing natural justice for her villain, Sykes. Readers are able to cheer for Delia’s escape. I do not feel disappointment at the ending. Rather, I do not see Delia being written as one of the vulnerable female literary characters in Meridel LeSeuer’s stories. The years of physical abuse Delia has had to suffer does not provide mercy on his life at the end. Had Sykes treated Delia as a loving black queen, there would have been a sweet submission to him for the entire fifteen years of marriage.

On Monday morning, I was inspired to write my thoughts on Romanticism and realism. With Romanticism, people live in safe bubbles that do not have a tiny hole for this dreamy, stress-free life to be popped. With realism, people realize their safety zone and comfort are in jeopardy. That big safe bubble is popped. People are vulnerable to abuse, disease, famine, oppression, and poverty.

Great famous male writers and journalists, Stephen Crane, Ambrose Bierce, and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) rejected the idea of Romanticism after being subjected to the harsh reality of war. No longer was their world a safe place. When war hit, so did the reality that death knocked on neighbor’s doors. Men were drafted. Mothers wept when their sons were killed. Wives lost husbands. Men in families felt obligated to carry on the line of serving their country. This world was no longer shaped by the Romantic image of Adam and Eve living in the heavenly Garden of Eden. Cains and Abels were shedding blood on the battlefield.

I became a victim of realism on July 23, 2010. Until this point, I never thought I would have to battle with blood clots. I had been warned plenty of times in my past. Never had I felt so much security lost than on that day of being admitted to the hospital.  My physical disability did not cause blood clots. A tiny pill did. The founder was persistent and deceitful in her ways. That was what hurt the most. I would have felt better knowing my blood clots were caused by natural causes instead of generic ingredients mixed up in a small pill. That day proved to me that I was not safe from an early death. I realize this on a daily basis. I never know when another blood clot could strike, so I try to live each day gracefully. I would like to get down to my weight goal and graduate from college with my BA in English and write my heart out.