Ellie Lieberman's Blog: Dusty Shelves - Posts Tagged "coming-of-age"
Female Foundlings
Between the interview with Dot Cannon from Over Coffee (http://twomaverix.com/) at my last event and the most recent question I received on Goodreads, I’ve been recently exploring my characters more, especially the characters who are not the main four, such as Nicole Brennerman and Ophelia Cortes. What I have come to discover is a better understanding for not only these female characters, but the male characters as well and for my book as a whole.
During the interview, one of the questions asked was why the friendship with Sampson was so important to Nicole Brennerman. And like a pro, I completely froze. Somewhere between the anxiety and trying to get the character to talk to me, I think my answer was something along the line of “I’m not sure she herself knows.” While I think there is a truth to this, the answer does not provide the whole picture. It’s taken some stewing, but allow me to elaborate my understanding and interpretation of the character here.
Nicole Brennerman likes attention. She is drawn to Sampson for a similar reason that he is drawn to her, at least in the beginning. They are both so very different than what the other knows. For Sampson, however, it’s more of the life she’s been handed (the nice car, the relationship with her father, the money and the security it provides to her future). He wants what she has. For her, though, he is very different than her usual friends (Insta-friendships, just add money and stir in the drama). In a way, she craves his friendship because he is the one person who isn't wrapped around her finger. It’s so important that he cares, even just a little, because how could someone not care.
She is used to the spot light, center stage. And, Sampson is the first time the entire world does not revolve around her.
In complete contrast to Nicole Brennerman, you have Ophelia Cortes. She shows up in one short scene with Carver, a total of 574 words. A question asked on Goodreads about who my favorite character is (Yes, Ophelia is one of them) spurred some deeper exploration. To quote some of my answer, “She represents a type of freedom within the same restrictions the main characters, and even Amy Bishop, feel so fiercely. For her to achieve this type of freedom, or "more" as Carver would put it, within these same struggles, to defy the challenges each of the characters face, including herself, was sort of a breath of fresh air, if that makes sense. I think she was that for Carver, too.”
Another female character I explored a little due to that question was Math and Sampson’s mother (who is another character I like a lot). She doesn’t make an appearance in the book. However, both boys reference her. To me, she is vital to these two characters, as well as the book itself, because she is the only positive experience any of the characters have with an adult. It makes her absence in the story that much sadder. The hole she leaves in Math and Sampson and how strongly they feel it, prove what a huge influence she was to them.
Staying on the topic of positive moms, as I’m typing this I’m realizing the part Amy Bishop’s mother plays as well. She is only mentioned once, and could be easily missed. To understand the importance of her mother, one must first understand Amy Bishop. To me, she is the epitome of the pressure and expectations put on today’s young women.
During the week, she stays with her father. As Math points out, at school she dresses like a nun, compared to during the weekend where her mother is “a bit more relaxed.” Her mother offers her a chance to explore with her outward appearance and her identity in a way she can’t with her father. Her mother allows her the freedom and ability to also be heard, as Amy, too, has expressed the feeling of being voiceless and how “sometimes, it can feel like no one is listening. And sometimes all you need is someone to listen.”
At a recent event, when attempting to explain what Society's Foundlings is about, the customer said it sounded more like a book for guys. While it’s told in the perspective of the four teenage males, the female characters are as much foundlings of the society around them as Clem, Carver, Sampson, and Math, and they, too, have a story to tell.
During the interview, one of the questions asked was why the friendship with Sampson was so important to Nicole Brennerman. And like a pro, I completely froze. Somewhere between the anxiety and trying to get the character to talk to me, I think my answer was something along the line of “I’m not sure she herself knows.” While I think there is a truth to this, the answer does not provide the whole picture. It’s taken some stewing, but allow me to elaborate my understanding and interpretation of the character here.
Nicole Brennerman likes attention. She is drawn to Sampson for a similar reason that he is drawn to her, at least in the beginning. They are both so very different than what the other knows. For Sampson, however, it’s more of the life she’s been handed (the nice car, the relationship with her father, the money and the security it provides to her future). He wants what she has. For her, though, he is very different than her usual friends (Insta-friendships, just add money and stir in the drama). In a way, she craves his friendship because he is the one person who isn't wrapped around her finger. It’s so important that he cares, even just a little, because how could someone not care.
She is used to the spot light, center stage. And, Sampson is the first time the entire world does not revolve around her.
In complete contrast to Nicole Brennerman, you have Ophelia Cortes. She shows up in one short scene with Carver, a total of 574 words. A question asked on Goodreads about who my favorite character is (Yes, Ophelia is one of them) spurred some deeper exploration. To quote some of my answer, “She represents a type of freedom within the same restrictions the main characters, and even Amy Bishop, feel so fiercely. For her to achieve this type of freedom, or "more" as Carver would put it, within these same struggles, to defy the challenges each of the characters face, including herself, was sort of a breath of fresh air, if that makes sense. I think she was that for Carver, too.”
Another female character I explored a little due to that question was Math and Sampson’s mother (who is another character I like a lot). She doesn’t make an appearance in the book. However, both boys reference her. To me, she is vital to these two characters, as well as the book itself, because she is the only positive experience any of the characters have with an adult. It makes her absence in the story that much sadder. The hole she leaves in Math and Sampson and how strongly they feel it, prove what a huge influence she was to them.
Staying on the topic of positive moms, as I’m typing this I’m realizing the part Amy Bishop’s mother plays as well. She is only mentioned once, and could be easily missed. To understand the importance of her mother, one must first understand Amy Bishop. To me, she is the epitome of the pressure and expectations put on today’s young women.
During the week, she stays with her father. As Math points out, at school she dresses like a nun, compared to during the weekend where her mother is “a bit more relaxed.” Her mother offers her a chance to explore with her outward appearance and her identity in a way she can’t with her father. Her mother allows her the freedom and ability to also be heard, as Amy, too, has expressed the feeling of being voiceless and how “sometimes, it can feel like no one is listening. And sometimes all you need is someone to listen.”
At a recent event, when attempting to explain what Society's Foundlings is about, the customer said it sounded more like a book for guys. While it’s told in the perspective of the four teenage males, the female characters are as much foundlings of the society around them as Clem, Carver, Sampson, and Math, and they, too, have a story to tell.
Popcorn: More Than Just a Minor Detail
A couple days ago was National Popcorn Day. So, of course, what came to mind for some of my readers as well as myself was Society's Foundlings, since the main item of food consumed within the 90 pages is overly buttered, stale, movie theater popcorn. While this is but a simple detail, it got me thinking about what that popcorn represented to each of the characters.The popcorn is a very minor detail. It is used to illustrate the lack of food, finances, and resources offered to the character. Yet, despite this simple view of food, it has a larger meaning to Sampson, Carver, and Math in particular,
Sampson sees it as a divide between himself and others, such as Nicole Brennerman. He wonders how she could possibly understand comparing past cheap food that created a regular diet (plain spaghetti and minute rice) to the assumption of richer, more expensive foods she grew up eating (lobster). This is not only used as a dividing line, but to illustrate and represent the feeling of being an outsider.
For Carver, it remains solely a representation of things he cannot have. Lack of resources, lack of security, lack of the 'more' he's constantly searching for. It remains a barrier in not only what he can provide for himself, but what he can provide for the people he cares about, seen when he questions what else the three other main characters had to eat that day.
Math views popcorn as the complete opposite. For him, it is belonging and security. He includes it in his descriptions of Sampson and Carver's place, which in and of itself is a sanctuary. It is a sure and constant thing for him in a world that is slowly falling apart around him.
Each of these representations become even deeper when the reader recognizes nobody else would necessarily think of or even know they eat mostly popcorn. It illustrates an internal struggle, and how they view themselves and their situations.
