Sweat

Christianity and Christian faith are essential themes to the story. Delia is a woman of strong faith whose belief in a Christian God helps her significantly to endure the very hard life that she leads. Allusions to Christianity appear constantly. Sykes accuses Delia of being a hypocritical Christian because she works for white people on the Sabbath, which raises the question of how important it is to follow religion to the letter under difficult circumstances. During the time that Bertha is in town, Delia's suffering is compared to that of Jesus in Gethsemane, the garden where he prayed the night before he was crucified. Delia sings a song on the way back from church about the River Jordan, which in the Bible symbolizes deliverance. The presence of the snake in the story is also very meaningful, as snakes often symbolize the devil. In fact, the snake is literally referred to by Delia as "ol' satan." In this way, the story can be read as an allegory for the consequences of Sykes bringing evil and sin into the house he shares with Delia.