Silver Water 

Silver Water is a tender story about the struggle family with mental illness of their elder daughter, Rose, for ten years. Rose’s younger sister, Violet, narrates the story, aptly describing the family’s plight during the years of coping up with Rose’s schizophrenic condition. The story begins, as well as ends, with Violet’s memory of her fourteen year old sister singing splendidly in the parking lot, before anyone had the slightest idea what she was soon to suffer from. After her first psychotic break at the age of fifteen, Rose continues to behave inappropriately, causing her family to shift her between various hospitals and therapists. The family members, instead of being embarrassed by Rose’s appalling deeds (like massaging her breasts), mock the therapists to brace themselves. To the family’s respite, Dr. Throne’s treatment of Rose, unlike the other therapists, gets Rose to give up on doing ‘bad things’. She loses weight, joins the church choir and takes her medicines on time for five years under Dr. Throne’s care. This only lasts until Dr. Throne’s death, after which she has to be taken back home- giving the family the hardest time of all. By now, Violet’s living away from home working as an English teacher. One fine weekend when she visits home, Rose misbehaves with and injures her mother to feels extremely embarrassed and guilty; so much so that she ends up killing herself later in the night, uttering her last words-“Closing time”- to Violet.

The story seems to be set in a small town in the United States as there’s a mention of cities of Texas and California being near. The house, most likely, is situated in the countryside; the backyard leading to the woods. Rose’s family is a middle class educated family as the father is a psychiatrist and also relies on the insurance for Rose’s medical expenses.

Bloom has, in a sensitizing manner, attempted to illustrate how conditions like mental illness can sorely affect the person as well as everyone related and that coping with it requires immense support, strength and stamina on the part of the family members. She has also brought forth the theme of acceptance and love within familial relationships during misery and suffering, reinforcing ideas of hope and humanity. The intense, graceful and moving writing of Bloom also points to these themes, highlighting the anguish of the family and the way each one supports the others in low times. Bloom has also given a comic touch to her writing while describing certain incidents like the funeral of Dr. Throne, changing the mood of the story for a while. Despite a penetrating plot, a plain, non-dramatic tone is maintained throughout the story which gives it a realistic effect. Use of metaphorical language intensifies Violet’s description of Rose’s beauty and voice. Details added to the descriptive language of the narration are such that evoke visual images as well as strong emotions in the mind of the reader.As a reader myself, I got so engrossed in the story that I put myself in place of one of the characters and truly could sense the feeling.

Amy Bloom is an American writer who has worked as a psychotherapist for years. She is also a trained Social-Worker. Most of her stories, she has stated, are drawn from real life stories of her patients, friends or family, maintaining their privacy (Source: http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2695800024/silver-water.html#D). The New York Times, in an interview with Bloom, deduces most of her books point directly to adults; to what people do, what they say and how they say it. In the same interview, she claims her writing to be “cheerful and realistic”. Silver Water also seems to be drawn from some of her personal experiences with patients or other people she might have interacted with. It also conforms to her favourite quote, ‘Hope for the best, prepare for the worst’ (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/nyregion/writer-amy-bloom-ventures-into-the-realm-of-children.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss). Her thoughts about people are very well reflected in the story. In one of her articles, she writes, “I discovered that people in pain often lashed out at other, weaker people, unless they couldn’t bring themselves to hurt others, and then they hurt themselves” (Source: http://amybloom.com/essays-articles/lies-memories-and-other-research), which is almost what happens with Rose.

I found the characters of the story the most engaging. Each character plays a very strong role in giving the story its course. Rose, the main character of the story, is described as a pretty teenage girl with a beautiful voice before she is detected of mental illness. She is the belle of the school and a caring sister based on Violet’s label of her sister as ‘perfect’ and her ‘guide’. At the onset of her illness, she starts behaving unusually after which her character changes drastically in the story. Now she is “big”, “blonde” and “funnily dressed” and behaves eccentrically with her family members as well as the therapists. Violet, the narrator of the story, is very fond of her sister and looks up to her as her guide. After her sister’s declined mental condition, she grows up as a sensible but lonely teenager; as she finds the name “No One’s Nut” very appropriate to summarize her “sanity and loneliness”. She manages to live her life in isolation without complaining, despite not getting the love and affection she deserves from her parents. Making the guy (she meets in college) call her ‘darling’ in the night could be an attempt to fill up the emptiness because of lack of love in her life. She is also very sensitive and supports her parents in coping up with Rose’s illness in whichever way possible. Galan, Rose’s mother, is a musician and reticent by personality. She hardly expresses her pain of seeing her daughter in ailment, misbehaving with her and others. She has a strong character, is responsible and generous. Mostly she handles Rose in her bad moods very patiently and tells Violet she has raised ‘Warrior Queens’ even after Rose’s death. She also plays for the other patients at the hospital and sings for raising funds for the halfway house. Rose’s father, David, is a psychiatrist and is described as a ‘kind, sad man’ by Violet. Unlike his mother, he is friendly with those trying to manage Rose’s case, though, he gives up collegiality later in the story as he drops his serious tones and laughs along the family to mock at the psychiatrist they don’t like. He is a dependable father and a caring husband.

The part that I liked most about the story is the portrayal of Violet’s memories of her ‘sane’ sister, giving a sense of the inexpressible pain one experiences because of the permanent loss of something very close. She gravely misses the time spent with her sister before her illness, recollecting the good memories every now and then; recalling “those fingers that had braided my hair and painted tulips on my cheeks.” Violet’s expression of what she felt about her sister conveys the intensity of tenderness in the bond she shared with her sister. Something that touches me most is Violet’s fondness for her sister is beautifully portrayed in these words— “the prettiest girl in Arrandale Elementary School, the belle of Landmark Junior High. Maybe there were other pretty girls, but I didn’t see them. To me, Rose, my beautiful blond defender, my guide to Tampax and my mother’s moods, was perfect.” The account of her good memories with the feeling of not getting to experience them ever again is emotionally stirring.

All the group members interpreted the story, more or less, similarly except everyone’s likings and disliking within the story were different. One of the group members did not like how the story progresses, in that the family starts losing hope towards the end and considers Rose as a burden, which was disagreed to by the rest of the group. Also, there were various vague interpretations of the title of the story in the discussions but the group failed to draw a clear meaning. The title, Silver Water is probably a reference to Rose’s voice which has been compared to mountain water in a silver pitcher in the very opening of the story. The discussion in the group was not completely structured but all the questions to be discussed were approximately covered. Connections were drawn within the group to another book called ‘My Sister’s Keeper'. Also drawing connections to personal lives, the group members narrated similar incidents from family, friends’ or relatives’ lives. It led us to discussing a similar situation as in the story in the Indian context. Most of the group agreed that the story would have come up very differently, if set in India. Mental illness is looked at as an absolute abnormality that leads to alienation of the patient from the family as well as the rest of the society. Also, there is a tendency to marry the girls in order to get rid of the ‘responsibility’ or ‘burden’. Incidences where girls were married without informing the boy about the illness and where they were made to drop out of their degree courses came up during the group discussion, which again raises a question of social acceptance of mental illness in the country. Being a part of the literacy circle deepened my understanding of the story as some aspects that were brought up in the discussions could not have come up in isolation; most importantly deducing the theme of the story, discussing the socio-cultural context and making text-to-text connections.

About literary discussions in general, I would say they are rich platforms for children to understand, think about and critique texts, which are important for children to become good readers and writers. Some of the crucial aspects that need to be ensured during literary discussions include speaking as well as listening to every participant, responding to others’ comments and questions and asking for clarifications. Summarizing the story in the group also helps understanding different points of view.