Kojo GordonComposition and Literature 2Paul WrayMarch 30, 2014Zora Neale Hurston's short story "Sweat" is an interesting piece that uses literary techniques such as imagery, symbolism, and tone, which overall enhances the reading experience for the public. Zora's use of imagery allows the audience to gain a visual interpretation of the setting and climate in Florida. “The sun had burned from July to August. The heat came down like a million red-hot arrows, striking all living things on earth. The grass withered, the leaves turned brown, the snakes went blind as they lost their fur, and men and dogs went mad (Hurston 7).” This quote serves as an example of Hurston's ability to create images with her words. This quote image reminds me of watching the movie Troy, the soldiers of Athens from the fortress lit arrows into the sky killing all the Trojan soldiers who were trying to penetrate the walls. This quote is a simile: "It was a hot, hot" day in late July. The village men on Joe Clarke's veranda also listlessly chewed sugarcane. They didn't cast the rod knots as usual. They let them drip over the edge of the porch. Even the conversation had collapsed under fire (Hurston4).” This quote allows the reader to experience the heat that the characters are going through. I was able to identify with the characters because they took me back to the hot days in Jamaica, where I liked to eat sugarcane before going to the beach with friends on a hot day. You get a better sense of the intensity of the Southern summer heat when Elijah tells Joe they should get a watermelon. "A grunt of approval surrounded the porch. But the heat was melting their civic virtue, and Elijah Moseley began to torment Joe Clarke. "Come on, Joe, take out a melon... in the middle of the paper... because he wanted it his readers understood where the characters came from. The reason I responded to “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston is because the message of the story goes back to two biblical quotes: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31).” And “Live by the sword, die by the sword (Gospel of Matthew 26:52).” The point I'm trying to prove here is that Sykes would always want to scare Delia with a snake, the first time he did so with the whip. and on the last night Sykes put the snake in the soap box to scare Delia to death. Sykes didn't know that Delia had faced her fears and learned to overcome the snakes Towards the end of the story when Sykes was supposed to be the master after catching Snakes, the rattlesnake makes a transparent sound and bites Sykes. He wanted to scare Delia lifeless, but his plan backfired.