SILVER WATER
The short story “Silver Water,” authored by Amy Bloom, is about a small family dealing with a mentally challenged daughter known as Rose. I Will be talking about Rose, who is just a teenager battling Schizophrenia, her quest for medical treatment, and her fight with mental illness.
Rose is born in a small family and has a sister by the name violet, Violet is slightly younger than rose, but from the text, we see that Violet loves her sister too much. She praises her sister, “she was the prettiest girl in Arrandale Elementary School” before her mental illness battle came in. We see that Rose was a normal young girl who went to school normally with her sister, but later on, when Rose was about fifteen, her condition worsened. It began with few unnoticeable symptoms like “being moody,” as described by Violet. (Cicero, et al., pp.7) Her sister described roses voice as a ” voice like mountain water in a silver pitcher” as she was a great singer. (Erdrich 6) Galen first noticed her condition, when she realized that Rose would go to the woods and not come home until she went after her. Her father, Mr.David, who was a psychiatrist, acknowledged her condition, citing that ” she was going off.” He meant that rose was getting worse day in day out.
“ Rose was in hospitals, great and small for the next ten years.” Her dad was a professional and knew that Rose needed a doctor. They went out of their way to see several therapists. They met too many therapists to the extent that they had “ Favourite therapist Dr. Throne” and “ worst therapist Mr. Walker.” From this, we can see that the family indeed suffered from many therapists. Others were good, not many of them, though. Rose, on the other hand, was going “ nuts.” Schizophrenia controlled her life, as stated in the context, and took over the family’s life.
As Adam Ada said, “ there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The family finally found a doctor who had chemistry with Rose. She liked Dr. Throne, who turned out to be the best therapist. Rose called him “big nut” because he was about three hundred pounds of a guy from Texas who would wear boots.
“Rose would still go off from time to time, and the voices would tell her to do bad things, but Dr. Thorne or Addle to my mother could usually bring her back” We see that this mental condition was making Rose hallucinate from time to time. She Lived in a life of fantasy, and she was unable to control herself and behaved abnormally. Dr. Thrones’ office was like a club to the family. They would walk in and out several times because he was the only one Rose accommodated. Of course, the medication she was given was acting effectively, and that’s why they had hope in Dr. Throne.
“After five good years, Big Nut died, Stuffing his face with a chili dog, sitting in his un-air-conditioned office in the middle of July, he had one big, Texas-sized aneurysm and died.” Dr. Throne died just as Rose was recovering. She was taking her medication well and even began to go for the choir practice. But as it was said; When the cat is away, the mice will play. Rose’s condition began to get out of hand once again. Dr. Throne was no more, and things got out of hand. (Ahmed, et al. 9) She throws someone downstairs, breaks furniture, and even bangs her head against the floor. Violet stops her by throwing herself to the floor though it had now become tough for the whole family.
, “Rosie, Rosie—” Her breathing was very slow, and her lips were not as pink as they usually were. Her eyelids fluttered. “Closing time,” she whispered. Rose was gone and never to come back. She had committed suicide by taking an overdose of medication. Sister Violet knew that was her end. She approved of her suicide by stating,” I sat with her, uncovering the bottle of white pills by her hand, and watched the stars fade. Rose died. She fought her fight, but Schizophrenia was just too strong for her. She battled but eventually lost.
In conclusion, I find it competent to say that Schizophrenia is not only a dangerous disease to an individual but also the people around them. A person who has Schizophrenia is an epitome of menace and destruction. He or she should be treated well. From the story, we find that Rose was just a normal girl before her mental disorder. It shows us that nobody is immune to Schizophrenia, and it can affect anyone. The best way to deal with it is by treating those affected in the best way possible. As Joni Payne said, “Be careful who you shun today. They may be your only source of hope tomorrow.”I strongly believe that if Rose were well taken off before the demise of Dr. Throne, then it wouldn’t have ended in suicide. Schizophrenia is manageable!
Works Cited
Ahmed, Anthony O., et al. “Schizophrenia heterogeneity revisited: Clinical, cognitive, and psychosocial correlates of statistically-derived negative symptoms subgroups.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 97, 2018, pp. 8-15.
Cicero, David C., et al. “Common Taxonomy of Traits and Symptoms: Linking Schizophrenia Symptoms, Schizotypy, and Normal Personality.” Schizophrenia Bulletin, vol. 45, no. 6, 2019, pp. 1336-1348.
Erdrich, Louise. The Best American Short Stories 1993. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1993.