Zora Neale Hurston’s, “Sweat” describes the abusive
relationship that takes place between a woman, Delia, and her husband, Sykes.
Delia sits back and just took all the pain and heartache that Sykes put her
through. She watched as he had an affair with another woman. She accepted his
taunting and tactics to scare her. In the end, karma caught up with Sykes
because he was bitten by a snake and killed which served its purpose with
helping Delia to be free from her abusive marriage.
I
connected this story to the song “Survivor” by Destiny’s child based on the
fact that through all the pain and suffering that Delia went through, she never
once gave up. She stayed strong and made it through it all in which she can now
call herself a survivor. “Survivor” is a song describing how a woman feels
after leaving a man in which she is telling him “you thought I couldn’t do this”
and “you thought I couldn’t do that” but guess what I am doing it and I am
here, I’m a survivor.
The
first verse of the song reads, “now that you’re out of my life I’m so much
better.” This statement alone connects to the story in that after her husband’s
death I think that Delia feels so much better without him, she feels free. “I’m
a survivor, I’m not gon’ give up, I’m not gon’ stop, I’m gon’ work harder, I’m
a survivor I’m gonna make it, I’m a survivor keep on surviving.” This verse
connects to the story in that Delia seemed to feel the same way throughout her
marriage. She felt that she was going to survive, make it and keep on pushing
forward. Another verse reads, “I’m not gon’ compromise my Christianity (I’m
better than that)”, which connects to the story in that Delia used her religion
as a means to be better than the person she could have been in dealing with her
husband. Instead of revolting back at him, she lent on her faith and knew she
was better than that. One of the main last verses of this song states, “after
all of the darkness and sadness, soon comes happiness, if I surround myself
with positive things, I’ll gain prosperity.” This connects to the resulting
factor of “Sweat” that Delia felt that after all she had been through, she soon
found happiness and prosperity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki97oF8LBFE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki97oF8LBFE
Mia, I truly liked the connection between the song “Survivor” and the story “Sweat”. I feel that many lyrics from the song closely relate to the emotions Delia felt after being liberated from her husband’s dominant custody. Delia is definitely a survivor. She was strong enough to endure the abuse from her husband and still managed to work outside her home to support herself. “I’m better than that” is what Delia felt when she finally started realizing that she was too good for her husband. She recognized that she worked too hard to have her husband be treat her like an animal. Again, good job with the connection you made.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I was also debating on doing this post to this same song. Have you heard Kelly Rowland’s song Dirty Laundry? When she speaks about how abusive her relationship was with her current man, and how he even turned her against her best friend Beyonce?
ReplyDeleteI think if you love this song as much as I think you do, you would definitely love it!
Beside that, you did a great job with this post analyzing the two elements. The lyrics are absolutely perfect for this setting. I actually have the lyrics stuck in my head as I type this.
“I’m a survivor” nanana.
Mia, this was a great connection you made. I like how you chose a song that showed how strong Delia really is when she decides to stand up to her husband and leaves him. I like that you picked this song as this is one of my favorites by them. I hadn’t thought of this song when doing my media outtake, but I’m glad you did because it helps me see the story in a somewhat different light. The lyrics in the song send a very empowering message to women as does the short story. Both the song and short story send a positive message to young women in their own way.
ReplyDeleteThe connection that "Survivor" and "Sweat" have is uncanny. This is one of my favorite songs as well. The song "Survivor" is like a modern day representation of the short story in a way. No matter what happens to Delia in the story she pushes through and survives. Delia is a strong woman who learns that she must stand her ground if she is going to survive her marriage and not get pushed onto the street. The fact that they both have a religious aspect in helping them survive, is another well spotted connection. You provided many clear connections and examples that left me in complete agreement with your blog post.
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