The central theme of “Sweat,” first indicated by the title and threaded throughout the narrative, is hard work. The story examines the value of work, what it means to own the products of one’s labor, and where the line falls between enough and too much—between honorable, honest work and overburdening, exploitative work.

The story sharply contrasts Delia’s consistent, diligent, and exhausting hard work with Sykes’s joblessness, freeloading, and spending. The work is physically demanding and has weathered her body, but Delia takes great pride in it. In the opening scene when Delia first defies Sykes, she does so by standing up for her work, demonstrating that it is also a source of strength. Delia’s work gives her a sense of purpose and it ensures her financial stability and independence, which in turn bolsters her voice and sense of autonomy.

Sykes’s ungrateful and freeloading behavior, however, is clearly depicted as exploitative. Despite early 20th-century ideas about the rights conferred by marriage, the story casts Sykes as having no right to take Delia’s things or even share them. His threats to end her business and turn her out of her own house form the peak of all his other abuses and thus serve as a tipping point in their balance of power.