Compare and Contrast

br Delia by openly having an affair with another woman . His excuse for cheating on Delia is really very trivial : Aw , she 's fat , thass how come . He 's allus been crazy 'bout fat women (Hurston . He parades the streets tugging Bertha in his arm as Delia watches the indecency before her eyes . As a strong woman , Delia refuses to be trampled on by her spineless husband . She gathers her strength to retaliate : she was on her feet her poor little body , her bare knuckly hands bravely defying the strapping hulk before her

(Hurston

Sykes plays a prank on her by bringing in a rattle snake inside the house as he goes out with Bertha , but little did he know that he will be the victim of his own joke . When the rattle snake bits Sykes , Delia refuses to help him , reasoning that medical help is too far and would be useless anyway . She allows him to die because she has had enough of putting up with his abuses and disrespect . Hurston effectively builds up the story in to justify Delia 's actions . The chains which have enslaved her to work and marital abuse gives her the right to seek freedom even at the cost of her husband 's life

Both women in these two short stories are captive women , imprisoned by their society and the prevailing negative attitude towards them . Because of what they have gone through , their crimes , if they in fact may be called as such , offers them a way to escape and to reclaim what was taken away from them

References

Faulkner , W (1995 . A Rose for Emily . In Ann Charters (Ed ) The Story and Its Writer : An

Introduction to Short Fiction . Boston : Bedford

Hurston , Z .N (2007 ) Sweat . Granada Teachers : Changing the Face of Education . Retrieved...