Sliver Water

Oprah Winfrey's life has not been the most commentating. Glancing at her now you would never guess that she had a hard life as a child living in poverty and fought for the success she has today. Oprah took her battles in her own hands being the "Warrior Queen" of her own life and placing herself as one of the more powerful women in the world. Rose and Violet do just the same in Amy Bloom's short story, "Silver Water." Rose is Violet's sister that has strayed away from the typical girl and mind set with having constant psychotic meltdowns. Rose's mom, dad, and sister are there to take care of her the best that they know how. In the end, the mother, Galen compliments her daughters' abilities to deal with the battles life has handed them by nicknaming them "Warrior Queen[s]". The term "Warrior Queen" relates to both Rose and Violet through them being the leader of their own battles. Violet fights to grasp onto her sister for who she was rather than what she has become and Rose continuously battles against controlling what she has become in order to protect her family as well as herself.

A "Warrior Queen" is someone who controls their challenges and battles that life hands them, rather than letting the challenges control them. Violet demonstrates her control over her life battle of holding on to her loved one, Rose. She tells stories to the therapists about Rose before she had the psychotic meltdowns referring to them as the things she "like[s] to remember" (72). This is Violet's way of prevailing over her battle by reliving the stories of the past. Violet earns her name "Warrior Queen" just like Rose does. Rose is a "Warrior Queen" because she controls her struggle to control her own body and mind. Ending the battle between her and herself, Rose takes her own life for it was "Closing Time" (78) and time for the battle to be over. Taking her own life was the only way Rose could completely control her own battle and not let it dominate her and her family's life. Rose and Violet earn the nickname of "Warrior Queen" from their mother not by only fighting their own battles, but by leading the battle and not being afraid to do whatever was necessary to win the battle.

Violet controls her battle to hold on to her ordinary sister rather than the psychotic one that took her place, by recalling the memories that she has of Rose. Violet wants the world to see Rose as more than just the girl that went crazy but for whom she was and what she means to her family. To Violet, Rose was the "beautiful blond defender.... Guide to Tampax" (72) and an amazing singer that had a voice like "mountain water in a silver pitcher" (72). Violet holds on to what she can of Rose through what Rose was to her before the "psychotic breakdown[s]" (72), and she does this through the stories she tells Rose's