Narrative Strategy in Hurston's Sweat Narrative strategy and point of view in "Sweat" by Zora Neale Hurston shape the reader's understanding of the story. They create the personalities of Delia and Sykes and also develop their relationship. The choice of an omniscient third-person narrator imbues the story with an honesty more brutal than any other type of narration. The scene in which the men of the village discuss Sykes and Delia has relevance as a narrative device and explores an alternative point of view to the narrator. The narrator draws character sketches of both Sykes and Delia. Hurston lets us see their thoughts which allows her to develop their personality quickly and completely. In a story of just seven and a half pages Hurston manages to create vivid and complex characters. Much of this can be attributed to his choice of narrative. Long passages of narration mixed with dialogue outline a relationship nourished by pain: a stream that had been squeezed from her heart. His Tears, His Sweat, His Blood" (1675). Because Sykes and Delia's thoughts are so different, a series of contrasts develop their relationship and personalities. Hurston's choice of narrator lends credibility to the entire story and makes Delia's plight more extreme. If Delia were the one telling the story things would be very different. The reader would not give her version of the story the same credibility that she gives to that of an external narrator the reader more sympathetic towards Delia. A combination of what Delia feels and what Sykes does to her leads the reader to feel sympathy towards her. This can be seen clearly with the addition of Bertha, the other woman in the Sykes' life. "It is now too late to hope for love, even if she were not Bertha she would be someone else" (1675). The scene in which the men of the town discuss Delia and Sykes completes the vision of the characters. In this passage can be found perhaps the most significant lines of the story: "There's a lot of men who take wives like they take a joint uh sugarcane".