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How and why does Delia Jones change throughout the story, "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston?

In Zora Neale Hurston's story, "Sweat," Delia experiences a transformation from a scared, passive woman to a strong, defiant one. At the start of the story, she keeps her head down and works hard; she is terribly afraid when her husband, Sykes, drops his whip on her shoulder, pretending it is a snake. The first sign that Delia is changing is when she holds up an iron skillet as if she will strike her husband....

In Zora Neale Hurston's story, "Sweat," Delia experiences a transformation from a scared, passive woman to a strong, defiant one. At the start of the story, she keeps her head down and works hard; she is terribly afraid when her husband, Sykes, drops his whip on her shoulder, pretending it is a snake. The first sign that Delia is changing is when she holds up an iron skillet as if she will strike her husband. She does this because he dirties the clothes she just cleaned. As the story progresses, Sykes becomes meaner and meaner, hurling insults at Delia and parading his mistress around town. When he finally brings home a live snake, this crosses the line for Delia. She realizes he will never change and when he is bitten by the snake, she becomes defiant and decides not to help him. In her newly-found strength, she fights back by allowing him to die. The reason she changes is in large part because of Sykes' increasing cruelty to her, and the continual threat of the thing she is most afraid of--snakes. 

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