Sweat by Zoe’s Neale Hurston

In the final section, Delia sees Sykes enter the house cautiously, but she does not stop him, even though she knows that the rattlesnake is inside. As he is dying, Delia reflects, without saying so explicitly, that Sykes must know that she knew. In an example of synecdoche, she is possessed by the image of his one remaining open eye, which represents Sykes himself. It is an eye that "must, could not, fail to see the tubs. He would see the lamp" (1030): that is to say, he would see that she had returned home before him, but did not stop him from entering the house with the lethal snake. This troubles Delia, presumably because it is not generally good Christian behavior to allow someone to go to their death. But the story leaves Delia's stance unresolved, and encourages us to reach our own conclusion on Delia's choice.