Summary Of Water By Dwajra Nylska

At the start of the novel the first thing that Ruth states is that she is dead. Ruth says she’s dead because she is dead to her family. She has been dead to them for fifty years, they want no part of her and she wants no part of them. After she left home she changed her name in order to leave her old life behind. Her family mourned her like they would someone who died after she married her husband.

2. Rachel Dwajra Zylska was the Jewish name Ruth was born with. When her family came to America her name was changed to Rachel Deborah Shilsky. Ruth kept this name until she was nineteen. She considers Rachel Shilsky to now be dead because she no longer goes by that name. She felt it was necessary for Rachel to “die” in order to let the rest of her live.

3.

While Ruth was raised in a Jewish household, she is no longer a Jew. She does not like the religion because there are too many rules. She says there are too many things you can’t and must do regarding the faith. She believed following all of the prayers and customs was hard work and she was upset with the lack of “I love you”s her family exchanged. After marrying her husband she embraced Christianity.

4. Ruth’s father was named Fishel Shilsky. He was an Orthodox rabbi who escaped from the Russian army. Ruth describes her father as “…a fox, especially when it came to money.” He wore a white shirt, black pants, and a tallis on his shirt sleeves. He was short, gruff, hairy and dark and did not tolerate foolishness. Ruth calls her father Tateh and says “he was as hard as a rock.”

5. Ruth’s mother was named Hudis Shilsky. She was gentle, meek, quiet, and pretty, with dark hair and high cheekbones. Her mother also had polio, leaving her with poor health and a paralyzed left side. She was almost blind in her left eye and walked with a limp. Ruth says she was the opposite of her father and called her