Zora N Hurston

The Dark Side of Relationships

In the short story “Sweat” we are introduced to Delia Jones, a woman who is verbally and physically abused and cheated on by her husband of fifteen years, Sykes. In “The Gilded Six Bits” we meet Missie May and Joe a newlywed couple who seem to have a loving and happy marriage, however, that all changes with one adulterous act. “Black Death” presents us with a mother- daughter pair, Docia and Mrs. Boger, who is distraught by the fact that Beau Diddely is denying paternity of his offspring and slandering Docia’s name. In “Spunk” we are greeted with two men, Joe and Spunk, fighting over one woman, Lena, as if she is mere property. Finally, in “Uncle Monday” we encounter a tale of two Voodoo doers, Uncle Monday and Ant Jude, who are in a bitter feud, which results in the lameness of the female participant’s legs. In all these short stories all the women involved are hurt, judged, or neglected in some way. Zora Neale Hurston’s short stories “Sweat”, “Gilded Six Bit”, “Black Death”, “Spunk”, and “Uncle Monday” all show the negative portrayal of marriage and men-women relationships, as well as women being at a disadvantage compared to men.

Zora Neale Hurston was born in the city of Eatonville, Florida, a town inhibited by African Americans (Uppling). At the age of fourteen, after the death of her mother and the abandonment by her father, Hurston was forced to take jobs as a waitress and maid to put herself through school (Uppling). Throughout her struggle to fund her schooling and establish her career, Hurston was married several times, all resulting in divorce (Uppling). Whether it’s the setting, Eatonville, Florida, or her relationship woes, much of Hurston’s stories are influenced by her life; take for instance “The "Gilded Six Bits," written in 1933, was influenced by Hurston's anthropological studies and her rocky relationships in marriage” (Uppling).

“The marriage relationship and the problems that...