Sara Pascoe answers “In the opening chapters Raya senses the...”

DuckyEGG asked this question about Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For:

In the opening chapters Raya senses the colour orange for Angie and hears church bells before big changes, then plans to meet Tony at the petrol station with fake IDs and go to Bristol. What details on the page show her choosing her path with agency rather than only running from fear. See Chapters 1 to 3?

Sara Pascoe I felt Raya's agency is present in a number of ways. First, when we meet her, she is launching herself on her long-planned and organised running away …moreI felt Raya's agency is present in a number of ways. First, when we meet her, she is launching herself on her long-planned and organised running away with Tony. She's been saving up, she'd arranged with Tony's cousins in Brighton, she'd figured out an alibi, and packed her rucksack. She's actively choosing to go and have some life while she still can, as she's dead scared that she's coming down with schizophrenia like her mum has. During the story, she chooses not to give in to the tug to stay when Jake, the new foster kid at Angie's, implores her. And then again, she actively chooses not to heed Bryony's warning not to go, as she leaves to meet Tony (but pretends to the adults that she's going to a friend's house to study). After the plans with Tony go wrong, she regroups, but decides she must continue on her path of an independent life while 'she still can' (again through worries she's developing severe mental illness because of her paranormal experiences) and goes for her plan B. So, the way I see it, she is actively going toward the independent life she craves, which she believes will be yards better than living in foster care as she believes her time to live a 'normal' life is limited. Is that too vague a goal to be considered an active choice?(less)

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Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For

by Sara Pascoe (Goodreads Author)

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