Modern Day Delia Dialectical Journal

The character, Delia Jones, in Sweat and the narrator in The Yellow Wallpaper are personalities that are significantly persuaded by what their societies considered to be acceptable roles and behaviors for married women. However, throughout both works, both personalities opposed these norms to overcome the obstacles in their respective lives. Delia in Sweat was a washwoman, which made her the sole financial provider of her household. Her husband, Sykes, did not work at all and also challenged the era’s social standards by carelessly spending Delia’s hard earned money. Delia wanted to wash her clothes when she came back from church on Sunday. Although it was

From the very beginning, the reader notices the psychological and verbal abuse that Sykes puts on Delia. It was a Sunday and Delia decided to get ahead on her work for the week by separating piles of clothes by color. Fear then came

     As she lies on her bed, Delia gains a moment of comfort, and a getaway from her great disdain. She is able to create a spiritual barrier from the mistreatments she receives from her unscrupulous husband. The bed is her Eden, her only resource for relaxation and a content being. Even the hamper in the bedroom is the only group of clothing that is considered neat and tidy, representing the cleanliness of the room. Everywhere else in the house, Sykes would step on and trample over the clothing Delia had to clean. He had no respect for his wife and her work. The bedroom used to be the only place that hadn’t been defiled by Sykes, until he slept with Bertha in it. Knowing of this travesty brings Delia over the edge.

“This irreligious, adulterous man, making such accusations and physically and psychologically abusing her, suddenly causes her to alter the relationship (Banks). Sykes uses his cheating with a woman named Bertha to get under Delia’s skin. He is so evil, he gets pleasure out of making his wife’s life miserable. “Just then Delia drove past on her way home, as Sykes was ordering magnificently for Bertha. It pleased him for Delia to see” (Hurston 4). This quote, along with many others in the short story, shows how truly awful Sykes is as a man and

The location of the story plays a large role in understanding the character’s interactions.  The story opens with instructions on cleaning clothes upon a “stone heap” (Kincaid 118). In 1983 America, most households would have already had washing machines or at least a wash board and bucket rather than the older form of washing clothes at the river and utilizing stones. The next

Delia suffered from mental and physical abuse from her husband. Sykes had previously beaten Delia, “He done beat huh ‘nough tuh kill three women, let ‘lone change they looks.”(Hurston 280). The story starts with Delia in the kitchen sorting clothes when Sykes scares her with his whip. “You know it would skeer me – looks just like a snake, an’ you knows how skeered Ah is of snakes.”(Hurston 277). The whip is a symbol of evil and the masculine oppression the Delia has to deal with throughout the story. “She saw that Sykes had kicked all of the clothes together again, and now stood in her way truculently, his whole manner hoping, praying for an argument.”(Hurston 278). The white clothes that Delia is washing represent her pureness and Sykes kicking them and dirtying them up signifies his abusiveness towards Delia. Sykes lives his life to torment Delia, further showing his evilness. However, Delia’s strong religious believes keep her in the abusive adultery relationship, though she is looking for a way out.

The above quote enhances the setting of 1984 because it shows how Winston and Julia, Winston’s love interest, wanted to be together. Winston's has a hard time focusing the rest of the day due to the news. When the two meets up again they well do whatever they can to be together. Winston's desires are very powering. He is adamant about Julia.

“The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience.” – Oswald Chambers

I would rather live in the World State due to life on the “savage reserve” being hazardous. On the reserve, food is not guaranteed. In 1984 it is stated that the environment of the savage reserves is so inhospitable that it is not productive to establish civilization in these areas. To me, living in the World State would mean losing my identity, so I wouldn’t miss the freedoms that I have now. On the other hand, on the savage reserve I would be aware of the missing food and absence of any luxury. Also, based on Bernard’s experience in the book, I would have a hard time fitting in on the reserve as a white person.

“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” “In fact,” said Mustapha Mond, “you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.” “All right then,” said the Savage defiantly, “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy,” This significant quote from Brave New World had moved innumerable readers’ heart, so do I. Exaggeration? No. It’s the satire to the false meaning of the universal happiness, and it’s this quote which made me had rethink what do I really want and the way of living I want to choose. Because the deep influence and rumination brought by the book, I would like to say

There are multiple details that stood out as particularly true to life in my view. One was the nariartator that it is telling the story/ his view point main character mentions what check out aisle number. It mentions how the three girls looked. The character payed attention to how the girl that seem to be the leader was walking saying “she came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didn’t walk in her bare feet much” this quote helps you picture how the person and might help picture what the girl was walking like. He gave details to where he was and what he was doing when the three girls was doing. He mentions that “I’m in the third check-out slot with my back to the door so that I didn’t see them until they had reach the bread” this helps the reader to set up an mental image of the store as they are reading.

1) “They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid the blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment” (O’Brien 20).

1. I would put myself in the place of the man on the horse he looks like he could be the leader, so the leader.

It seems very ironic, that Delia a devoted Christian, must work Sunday's to provide. For the last fifteen years, Delia Jones has been working as a wash-woman. While for the most part her clothes remained

In comparison to the short story “Sweat,” Delia’s job is making her husband Sykes appear inferior to her because she is working when he is not. One critic, Cheryl A. Wall states, “Delia’s work is a economic necessity to her husband, but it is also a psychological threat to Sykes as well. In the story Sykes seems to never work at all, so he asserts his manhood mainly by intimidating and betraying his wife” (qtd. in Akins). Wall argues that occurrences such as abuse and restrictions by men are the result of intimidation because a woman is able to gain power within the relationship by working. The kicking of the laundry symbolizes Sykes discontent with Delia’s work and the threat he feels because he is no longer the breadwinner. Her actions, like talking back; solidifies the threat he feels and only intensifies his brutality towards her.