In " Sweat" By Zora Hurston, is Delia right to let Sykes die at the end of the story ?

Delia Jones has been married to Sykes for fifteen years.
After two months of marriage, he gave her the first brutal beating. She works hard and
he spends her money.  He demeans her, harasses her, and now he flaunts his mistress
around town. 

This is the life of the protagonist in the
Zora Neale Hurston story "Sweat." Delia's habitual shyness and sensitivity have allowed
Sykes to dominate her for too long.  She has just about reached her limit. Her tears,
her sweat, her blood--these were what she had given to her
marriage.

Delia worked as a wash woman for the white folks
in a town nearby. Her routine began on Sunday evening after church.  Sykes would always
come in and mess up her piles of clothes or make light of her job working for the white
people.

Ah
don't keer if you neer git through. Ahyhow, Ah done promised Gawd and a couple of other
men. Ah ain't gointer have it in mah house.  Don't gimme no lipneither, else Ah'll throw
em' [the white people's clothes] out and put mah fist up side yo' head to
boot.

Delia was afraid of
snakes.  Sykes knew this, and he began his ploy to get Delia out of the house or to have
her dead.  He really did not care as long as he could move his mistress into the house.
 

• First, Sykes uses a bull whip which looks and
  feels like a snake around Delia's neck. 


• He brings a box
  in saying it is a present. Delia opens it and finds a huge
  rattlesnake. 


• Sykes leaves the snake in a box and tells
  her that it is a pet.


• The rattlesnake begins to move
  around and make noises. 

Delia tells Sykes to
get it out of the house before she gets back from church.  When she comes back, the
snake is gone from the cage.  Delia thinks he has taken the snake with him. She begins
her washing. She opens the wash basket, and there she finds the snake placed there by
Sykes to bite Delia.

Delia runs from the house and hides in
the garden.  Later, Delia sees Sykes tearing up the wire cage to get rid of the
evidence.  He peeks in the window to see if he can see or hear anything.  Slowly, he
opens the door and goes in hoping to find Delia's body; but instead, he finds an angry
rattlesnake. Delia hears some animal screams and knows that Sykes has been
bitten. 

In answer to the question, why does Delia not save
Sykes? He has treated her like a slave and worse for fifteen years.  He placed a snake
in her wash basket to bite her.  If she goes in there, Delia may be bitten herself.  It
is too late to save Sykes from the snake now. 

The reader
understands that Delia will probably not have a regret in her body when she attends
Sykes' funeral.  He went too far!