Compare and contrast Delia from Hurston's "Sweat" and Emily from Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"
The effects of love are at some point thought to be positive. However, the case is different in "A Rose for Emily" and “Sweat.” As portrayed by Emily and Delia, the effects of love can be deadly especially when people strive to fit in a certain group or to be appreciated or recognized by their spouse. Emily’s love forces her to kill in order to keep while in “Sweat” Delia kills to let go. Delia grew up in a society with strict laws. The comparison and contrast of Emily and Delia is discussed below.
Emily and Delia are as a result of male influence in the short stories “A Rose by Emily” by Faulkner and “Sweat” by Zora Neale. Their anger and hatred is due to male chauvinism and how men strive to be better than women. Emily and Delia’s trouble is caused by men’s control. Even if they are protected at some point and their anger reduced, they end up in isolation and despair and they are unable to control their lives. They develop a negative attitude and hatred towards men. The two characters are torn between hatred and adoration. They dislike the influence that men have had in their lives. In both stories, it is difficult to determine the two character’s emotions within any level of certainty.
Although the two characters hate men, they are deeply in love with men and they require them in one way or another. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily has a lot of love for her father and she gets depressed when her father dies. She later dates Mr Homer and promises to love him and never to let go. She says that Mr Homer resembles his father. In “Sweat,” Delia also falls in love with Sykes. The difference between the two is that Emily dates Mr Homer happily while Delia is in an intoxicating love life. Sykes cheats on her and even uses her money to but her mistresses’ property and even paying for a hotel. Delia is deeply in love that she cannot find the way out.
Despite the oppression and struggle experienced by both characters, they try to take control of any situation. Things fall apart when Sykes brings a snake home as a pet. Delia asks Sykes to kill it but he disagrees. One day, the snake escapes but Delia manages to escape from home. When Sykes comes home, the snake bites him but Delia does not help to save his life. She watches him groaning waiting for him to die. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily was used to controlling men but she is unable to control Homer. She later decides to kill him in order to acquire power.
Delia and Emily are contradicting characters who take any type of action in order to acquire control or gain recognition. They are both victims of love but their love lives are compromising since they are married to stubborn and complicated men who cannot comply with what they want. Emily loved her father that she cannot let it go after her father died. She needed a person who resembled her father. Delia is a fool in love because she is unable to let Sykes go even if he treats her bad. The two characters find men as a strength and weakness at some point. Their lives are surrounded by strong desires of overcoming men’s strength and proving that they can also have the same power as men. Emily knows what is right and she acts accordingly when her husband disrespect her. On the other side, Delia is a slave who tolerates her husband's behaviour for a long time in the name of love.
