How would you describe Delia’s feelings as she watches Sykes die? What emotions does she experience? What do the “tubs” and “lamp” symbolize here? And what does Sykes’s eye “know by now that she knew”?

Reflection (Hurston, “Sweat”)

Reflection on Hurston’s story using the following prompts.

Go to the end of the story (page 1030). How would you describe Delia’s feelings as she watches Sykes die? What emotions does she experience? What do the “tubs” and “lamp” symbolize here? And what does Sykes’s eye “know by now that she knew”?