Delia's desire to have a peaceful home and garden and the only way to maintain them is with the help of others. The Men on Joe Clarke's Porch, including Jim Merchant, Joe Lindsay, Walter Thomas, Elijah Moseley and Old Man Anderson. These men specifically state that “there should be a law on Sykes” (Hurston 179). Thus, these men can see the supreme evil of Sykes and the damage he has inflicted on Delia, “the stoutest woman in town” (Hurston 179). The suggestion arises that something should be done. As a result, “a grunt of approval spread on the porch but the heat was melting their civic virtue” (Hurston 179). Although they are capable of taking action, these men in power do not. For this reason, they only give passing credence to Delia's situation. Any help from the law will not come, so when the man's legal practices fail, Delia must act on her own initiative. To do this, she must internalize a certain degree of male influence since power, up to this point, refers only to men. According to Powers, “Hurston determines the validity of God or gods not through the refinements of theological intuition or the consolations of meditative reflection, but through the exercise of material power represented in a particular form of masculinity” (Powers 235). Delia will finally have to answer to this God or these gods. Thus, Delia takes her last stand against Sykes. She