The story takes place in Flordia. Delia Jones, the main character, is a washwoman who works very hard for her money while her husband obviously neglects her and has extra marital affairs. All of the community is aware of Syke Jones' (Delia's husband) actions and also of how he physically abuses Delia.

Hurston emphasizes the word "sweat" in the beginning of this short story. The author uses it to show the extent of labor that Delia does. Delia rises early and works very hard just to help support her husband. Hurston wrote "sweat, sweat, sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat." This shows that no matter what Delia does it is a constant struggle. She works hard everyday, and sometimes it takes a toll on her, also when she tries to have time to pray it is still a struggle for her because that is the time when she must accept the things she cannot change, even though she wants

The way the story ended showed that Syke thought he had control over things in his life such as his wife and the rattlesnake but they both turned on him. The theme of this story is "what goes around comes around." Syke wronged Delia during his life and his rattlesnake, which he thought he had control over, wronged him by killing him. It showed that sometimes the only person you can count on for your strength is yourself. Delia was a strong women and that everything that she worked so hard and sweated over was for herself.

In the third part of the story it reveals the Syke has a mistress living close by, Syke pays for his mistress's rent while he does not contribute much to his wife, who works extremely hard to keep their home. The marriage was falling apart and it has now become extremely apparent. The author used the phrase "grass withered, leaves browned" she was speaking about the "dog days" of summer which is the most uncomfortable time of year. Which in their marriage this was the most uncomfortable thing she had to deal with. Then there was an introduction of a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake represent evil, and the fact that Syke is trying to tame the snake sh

Some common words found in the essay are:
Delia Delia, Delia Sykes, Delia Speaks, African American, Delia Jones, Delia Hurston, Neale Hurston, Jones' Delia's, salty stream, sweat sweat, story author, story delia, wrote sweat, hurston wrote, sweat sweat sweat, hurston wrote sweat,
Approximate Word count = 796
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)