by Beth Goobie
With a deep breath, taking in space—filling herself with it—she continued on into the library.
Interview with Beth Goobie
What is intriguing about this story is that you have shown that a small detail of the high school world, such as where someone sits during home form, can lead to destructive results. How did you decide to use such a trigger to this story?
I didn’t consciously decide to use the drums as any kind of trigger. The story started for me with the image of a fifteen-year-old girl headed along a busy school hallway, intending to snag the most sought-after seat in her home form. And with this image came the understanding that this would bring her into conflict with a popular senior student who also wanted that particular seat. The rest of the story evolved from this point as I wrote—I don’t sketch out plots in advance; rather, I follow a story as it reveals itself to me. So I didn’t plan a trigger in advance—the story developed out of that initial image of one girl reaching for something she wanted—something that would be considered unexpected for someone of her social standing.
Meredith is not alone as the story begins, but in the end she really is, as she discerns that she and her friends are being “bought off,” in a sense. So there’s no happy ending. Why do you think it’s important that the story concludes in this way?
I see the ending as positive. And I don’t see Meredith as standing alone—her relationships with the Feet, Gene, and her aunt remain strong and caring. Yes, she’s the only one who sees a pattern in that they’ve all suddenly been offered plum extracurricular-activity positions; she’s also smart enough to understand that this is the kind of realization a person needs to be ready for internally in order to absorb, so she doesn’t point it out to Dean or Reb. That’s not a failure on anyone’s part—the Feet have really stood by Meredith, but they simply aren’t ready to see this aspect of the situation yet.
Meredith, however, is and I think it’s a plus for her that after everything that’s happened to her, she’s still determined to look reality in the eye and see it for what it is. The information she gains from this—that someone wants to distract her from really thinking through what has been perpetrated against her—leads to her decision to temporarily withdraw from the action-reaction flow of events and mull things over on her own, so she can understand her situation more fully. A wise choice—sometimes the power of inertia is the best way to handle an overwhelming episode of action-reaction.
So again, I don’t see the ending as negative. It may not be euphoric, but at the end of the book Meredith is strong, determined, self-aware, and surrounded by people who care about her. And she has learned to see herself as someone who acts on the flow of life events, rather than merely reacts—as an initiator rather than a receiver—a skill she will continue to fine-tune throughout her life.
The acquisition of power—asserting power and holding onto it—is one of the themes you explore in this story. Because of her family background, Meredith worries that she has somehow sought power that isn’t rightly hers. Do you think teenagers tend to seek power as they learn about how to get along in the world?
The term “power” is very loaded. It can mean anything from terrorism and armed insurrection to writing a meaningful novel. And seeking after power, both in personal relationships (the ability to express and stand up for yourself) and performance at school and in society in general is part of every teenager’s natural development. Coming into adolescence means growing into an understanding of yourself as an individual—separate from parents and family. Power is essential to that ability to stand on your own—not the power of a raised fist, but the strength to stand apart, clearly assess what is going on around you, and then act as you see fit (rather than as you’re told to act). Often the most powerful person in a room is the quietest—the individual sitting off to one side and observing what is going on, thinking her/his way through an event. It’s important to try to be conscious in everything you do—to act rather than merely react. This approach takes longer. It’s generally less dramatic and glamorous to take time to think your way through a situation to a thoughtful, balanced response—but in the end it’s more powerful, more rooted in who you are, who you want to be.
Seymour seems to be able to manipulate things to achieve his own ends, and even appears to enlist the principal in that manipulation. Do you think a teenager, no matter how accomplished, could do this?
Seymour is manipulative, certainly, but I don’t see him as controlling anyone but himself. Everyone who cooperates with his agenda does so of their own free will, generally because they hope to get something out of it—most often popularity, peer approval. But Seymour can’t manipulate everyone. Besides Gene, quite a few other students randomly assist Meredith in the halls, and Mr. Woolger certainly doesn’t fall for Seymour’s act—in the end, he blocks Seymour’s attempted rise to the throne.
I also don’t see Seymour as enlisting Mr. Sabom’s cooperation. My guess is they haven’t discussed Meredith’s allegation the morning the principal summons her to his office. Mr. Sabom is acting on information he’s received from the police, not Seymour. So I don’t think Seymour’s power to manipulate comes from himself—it’s given to him by everyone who cooperates with him. In effect, the illusion of Seymour’s “power” is created by others, in the same way that we regularly create celebrities and superstars. When you “worship” someone else, you give them part of your own power—the respect you need to give yourself.
When you are in your teenaged years, there’s a tendency to feel you can develop independence, strike out on your own, free yourself from the past, carve out a fresh identity. What do you think the chances are of totally freeing yourself from your family background, as Meredith struggles to do?
One hundred percent, but it takes decades of committed effort. Meredith has made a strong start—she’s reached for power and the hand of reaction has clunked her on the head for it, but she’s managed to come through it more or less intact. The reason she has survived the Polk “curse” when her parents and grandparents did not is because she spent so much time previous to the assault nurturing positive relationships with the Feet, Gene, and Aunt Sancy—Meredith has invested in positive, inclusive power, where her parents and grandparents actively sought out corruption. So when Meredith arrives at her moment of need, her friends come to her aid, whereas her parents and grandparents died alone.
In my own experience, freeing yourself of negative family influences—whether you see these as psychological or karmic or both—is a gradual process. Essential to this process is continual self-respect and the willingness to see your family for what it truly is—both in its failings and positive aspects. This can be a very difficult process, and a lengthy one. If you’re involved in it, be gentle with yourself. Self-tenderness is a gift you need to give yourself over and over.
You have written many books for teenagers. What is there about this audience that you find so compelling?
I’ve written twenty-two books in twenty-two years, of which seventeen are for young adults. There’s a teenager inside me that still has things to say, ideas to work out on the page. I like her; I like listening to her; we get along. So we keep on writing together.
Thank you, Beth.
Copyright © 2013 Beth Goobie
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Published in Canada by Red Deer Press
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Published in the United States by Red Deer Press
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Edited for the Press by Peter Carver
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Cover and text design by Daniel Choi
Cover photo courtesy of Elizabeth Ballantyne. Photographed with thanks at the Thornhill School of Music, www.thornhillmusic.com.
We acknowledge with thanks the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Goobie, Beth, 1959-
The throne / Beth Goobie.
eISBN 978-1-55244-316-3, print 978-0-88995-496-0
I. Title.
PS8563.O8326T47 2013 jC813›.54 C2013-901673-2
Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data (U.S.)
Goobie, Beth.
The throne / Beth Goobie.
[288] p. : cm.
Summary: A girl who decides to make her mark in school attracts unwanted attention from the school’s “kingpin of the underworld”—a smart, determined enemy capable of holding a long-term grudge. But with the help of her friends, she will have to find a way to stand up for herself and survive high school with her dignity intact.
eISBN: 9781552443163, 9780889954960 (pbk.)
1. Bullying in schools – Juvenile fiction. 3. Friendship in adolescence – Juvenile fiction. I. Title
[Fic] dc23 PZ7.G66354Th 2013