Ruiz 1

Jamie Ruiz
English 113B
Professor Ditch
20 March 2015
Turning Pages in the Midst of Madness
Being able to be happy is important in order to preserve one's sanity. It is human nature to
seek out happiness, even in the worst of circumstances. In the novel, The Guernsey Literary and
Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, a group of individuals, in the
midst of World War II, unexpectedly organize a book club. After the book club is established
friendships are developed, the characters grow as individuals, and most importantly, they find
happiness in the books that they read. Due to the restrictions of World War II, the members of the
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society turn to books as a source of happiness because
they allow the members to escape from the harsh realities of war and connect with one another
on a human level. The members utilize books to distract themselves from the dehumanizing
effects of war. The severity of these effects are emphasized by the character's motives to create
the book club in the first place.

World War II was a period of time when human rights were stripped from many people
on the Island of Guernsey in extreme ways; this was due to the German Occupation. One of
many strict enforcements during the occupation in Guernsey was a curfew, which in the novel
lead the characters to create their book club. The character Dawsey Adams, his neighbor Amelia,
a woman named Elizabeth, and the rest of their friends lost track of time during a feast that
Amelia held at her house, and this is how they pass their curfew. Dawsey emphasizes how

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"breaking curfew was a crime" and how he "heard of folks being sent to prison camp for it"(29).
After being caught and questioned by six German patrol officers, Elizabeth bravely apologies to
the officers for breaking curfew and then describes how they had "been attending a meeting of
the Guernsey Literary Society. . ."(29). The extent of these harsh regulations is demonstrated
through the efforts these characters make to avoid being caught past curfew. The members are
afraid of the German Patrol Officers and the rules the enforced, this is why they unintentionally
formed a book club, which then allows them to delve into a number of books, the very books that
provided them with their much needed escape.
Throughout a series of letters between characters, it is expressed how books allowed the
members to find happiness in a time of extreme limitation. In a letter from Amelia to Juliet,
Amelia says that she and the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
"read books, talked books, argued over books, and became dearer and dearer to one another", and
how their evenings became lively times when "[they] could almost forget, now and then, the
darkness outside"(51). This emphasizes the nourishment that books provided the members with
during the occupation. Books were the foundation of their group meetings, which were essential
for their escape from what Amelia calls, "the darkness outside". Not only did the books allow
them with a form of entertainment in a time where enjoyment was limited, but they also were a
catalyst for the formation of strong relationships with one another. Jennie Bolitho in her article
"Reading into Wellbeing: Bibliotherapy, Libraries, Health, and Social Connection", she describes
how "bibliotherapy recognizes the value of sharing good quality literature and it's potential to
improve wellbeing and social connection". Bibliotherapy is defined as an expressive therapy that
uses an individual's relationship to the content of books and poetry and other written words as
therapy. During WWII, the attribute of compassion, being concerned with the suffering of others,

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was almost nonexistent for the members outside of their group meetings, but during their group
meetings, conversing over books remind them of their humanity and the relationships they were
able to form and cherish, while relating to each other on a human level.
What the members gained from books was happiness and bonds that allowed them to
become stronger individuals for the purpose of their sanity. In the visual text Happy, by Roko
Belic, he explains that tight-knit relationships with family and friends is a common source of
happiness. His first story following a man in Kolkata Slum, India, named Manoj Singh, a
Rickshaw driver who lives in poverty with his family in a small makeshift home. Singh looks
past their living circumstances and says that he feels that he is not poor, but the richest person;
even though sometimes they eat only rice with salt, they are still happy. He explains that the fact
that he, his family, and friends stay together and that is what makes them happy. Singh's bond
with his family and friends is comparable to that of the members of the Guernsey Literary and
Potato Peel Pie Society in the sense that their bonds with those around them distract them from
their unfortunate circumstances. In both scenarios, they are able to survive with the bonds that
hold them together. For the members of the book society, these bonds are formed while they
discussed books and shared an appreciation for books.
In the article "The Secondhand Bookseller", by Marina Nemat, Nemat explains how "a
couple of times every night, [her] mother opened the door of [her] bedroom to see what [she]
was doing and smiled when she found [her] reading" and how "in a way, books had saved [them]
both"(1). Marina Nemat was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1965. They were unfortunate circumstances
for her to live with while living under the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime. She says she read books
such as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Rapunzel, etc. Her reading list was composed of books
that are fantasies, books that would allow a young girl to escalate from reality, and this was

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specifically important in Nemat's cause due to the circumstances that surrounded her, much like
the members of the literary society.
Some may argue that books were not a great enough source to mask the trauma the
characters faced during World War II. For example, in a letter from Isola Pribby to Juliet, Isola
says that "the only time reading didn't help was after Elizabeth was arrested by the Germans"
because "they caught her hiding one of those poor slave workers from Poland and they sent her
to prison" and how during that time "there was no book that could lift [her] heart then, nor a long
time after"(53). I agree that books could not compensate for the suffering the members faced
during WWII, but I cannot agree that they were not an important aspect of the members' solidity
that contributed to their overall happiness. E. Heather Thompson and Shannon Trice-Black in
their article, "School-Based Group Interventions for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence"
illuminate ways that school mental health professionals conducted group interventions for
children exposed to domestic violence and how this, along with a series of other methods,
allowed these children to enhance their social skills while developing a sense of strong emotional
development. Amongst other methods, "bibliotherapy, through the use of stories and videos, has
been shown to be an effective tool in helping children exposed to family violence. . ."(4). This
evidence supports the idea that books are a valid source of happiness for individuals in traumatic
situations. Books cannot make up for the loss of innocence that children exposed to domestic
violence may face, nor can they make up for the number of losses that members of the book club
faced, but it allowed them to make connections between themselves and the books that they read
while being provided with a form of entertainment. For example, Dawsey Adams says in a letter
to Juliet that "Charles Lamb made [him] laugh during the German Occupation, especially when
he wrote about the roast pig"(Shaffer and Barrows 9). Dawsey is relating the author Charles

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Lamb's roast pig story to that of his own, while also acknowledging the German Occupation that
is going on. This emphasizes the idea that the members did not completely forget the hardships
that came along with the war, but they did have the sheer enjoyment that they received through
reading books. Much like Dawsey, John Booker also describes how books were used as a form of
therapy when he says in a letter that the book meetings "helped make the Occupation bearable".
He also describes the love he obtained for the author Seneca, and how he found his work to be
comforting. This is highlighted when he says that "his letters helped to keep [him] alive in what
was to come later"(92). This conveys the idea that the book meetings shined light on the little bit
of hope the characters had while the books provided them with a sense of comfort, which
ultimately contributed to their happiness.
Because of extreme limitations during World War II, the members of the Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society found happiness in books because they provided the
members with a distraction from the war, as well as friendships that reminded them of their
humanity. The extremity of the restrictions the members faced is why they formed the Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Books provided the members with a form of entertainment
because they allowed them to converse and laugh with one another instead of constantly
worrying about the war. The friendships developed through the book club shed light on the
benevolence that each member thought they lost in the midst of the war. Books allowed the
members of the literary society to be concerned with the wellbeing of one another. While lastly,
they found comfort in the connections they make between themselves and the books they read.

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Works Cited
Bolitho, Jennie. "Reading Into Wellbeing: Bibliotherapy, Libraries, Health, and Social
Connection." APLIS24 (2011): 89-90. Academic Search Premier. Web.
Shaffer, Mary Ann., and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
New York, NY: Dial, 2008. Print.
Nemat, Gloria. "The Secondhand Bookseller." (n.d ): n. pag. Print.
Happy. Dir. Roko Belic. N. d. DVD.
Thompson, E., and Shannon Trice-Black. "School-Based Interventions for Children Exposed to
Domestic Violence." Journal of Family Violence 27.3 (2012): 233-41. Academic
Search

Premier. Web.