The short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is a snap shot of domestic violence. The main character Delia is in many ways the classic domestic abuse victim. She allows Sykes to run her life in all respects. He accomplishes this by using different forms of abuse, mental/emotional, psychological and physical, to control her. Sykes mentally abuses Delia with his marital infidelity. He has stepped out on her from the start of the marriage. Over time he has done less and less to hide his actions. By the point that we see the relationship he is openly flaunting his new girlfriend in public. He has established her in the local bordering house and the women is brazen enough to visit Sykes at the family home. With this openness about his
