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Caprice Anderson

Prof. Ditch

English 115

28 October 2017

The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society

World war II ended in 1945 but the damage and emotional problems it caused continued

on much after that. The novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel pie society by Mary Ann

Shaffer and Annie Barrows, consists of letters shared between many characters the year after

world war II. The war had a large effect on many parts of the world and the island of Guernsey

was one of those parts. The tragic event of this world war also changed the people by having

them conform and break free from their gender norms. Some of the characters in this novel that

did so include: Juliet Ashton and Dawsey Adams. The characters in the novel The Guernsey

Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society were largely effected by world war 2 and some of those

effects were conforming and breaking free from prescribed gender roles. The way Juliet and

Dawsey conformed and broke free was through their language and actions throughout the novel.

Gender is a socially constructed norm that places you in a category of being feminine or

masculine. Some feminine traits include being polite, nurturing, and sensitive. Traits that are

associated with masculinity is confidence, less emotional, and tough. With being placed in these

categories comes gender norms. An example of one gender norm is the type of clothes someone

wears like the color, design, and the way it fits. What most fail to realize is that everyone can be

both masculine and feminine, which is breaking free from these gender norms. Throughout

composing gender the authors talk about how masculinity is known as being dominant. Judith

Lorber says in her article Night to his day, In western society man is A, woman is not A.
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(Lorber, 29) To go deeper into masculinity and males being dominant mentally and physically, in

Rhetoric for radicals Jason Del Gandio goes on to say, Masculinity is more valued than

femininity. (Gandio, 114) In my opinion women are more masculine than men and people

should be able to freely demonstrate both without one being more valued over the other.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a novel about a journalist that was

asked to write for the times and decided to write about the literary society she finds out about.

Her interest grew so much that she then took a visit to the people in Guernsey and grew a

relationship and then she ends up staying there. This well-known writers name is Juliet Ashton

and she is one of the main characters in the novel. Juliets character is appealing to everyone; she

is out-going, funny, and trustworthy. The story behind how the potato peel pie society came

about and then continued on is what made her interested in it. Especially one of the original

members which was Elizabeth McKenna who died but can never be forgotten because of her

brave and dominant character. Juliet is a great example as to how someone can break free from

gender norms and play both roles. Throughout the novel she shows masculinity in many

situations. For instance, in the letter from Juliet to Sidney she talks about the day Rob Dartry

moved in with her and why they did not marry. Mr. Dartry had removed Juliets books and

replaced them with all his medals, trophies, and rewards. She was so angry by this and then says,

all I could do is scream, how dare you! what have you done?! Put my books back! This

moment showed a lot about her character and how she broke free from prescribed gender norms.

She did not let a man come in and take over, she stood her ground and spoke up instead of

allowing him to move what was hers. women can actively challenge gender norms by refusing

to let patriarchy define how they portray and reconstruct their femininity. (Dr. Zuleyka

Zevallos, 2015) This perfectly describes Juliet, which is that she actively breaks free from gender
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norms. She also throws the teapot during an interview, shes a famous writer, she doesnt just get

with a man for his money and looks which makes her independent. Throughout the novel The

Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society, Juliet Ashton breaks free from the prescribed

gender norms and demonstrates masculinity.

To break free from a prescribed gender norm is to not act out in the gender category you

were placed in since being in the womb. Dawsey is one of the original members of the potato

peel pie society. He is also the first one from Guernsey to write to Juliet and tell her a little about

the literary society. Dawsey is a pig farmer who also loves reading books which is why he

connects so much with Juliet. He is a strong man but also very nurturing, along with being shy at

times but eventually breaks from that. One of the ways he breaks free from the genders norms is

by helping take care of Kit McKenna who is Elizabeths child, this shows a feminine trait which

is nurturing. Another way he broke free was in the letter from him to Juliet, he is telling Juliet

about the first potato peel pie societies meeting and where things went wrong because of john

booker. Dawsey was trying to help drunk john out but the German officers heard them anyway

and in that moment dawsey froze. He didnt speak up, show dominance or bravery, he says I

couldnt think of what to domy mouth was dry as chalk and my mind was blank, so I just help

on to booker and hoped. Luckily Elizabeth came and she wasnt afraid of the Germans or their

pistols, she came up with some lies to help them get out of the situation. Dawsey being the man

according to society was supposed to play the hero role and demonstrate dominance. This

situation applies to rhetoric for radicals where Gandio says masculine women are more

acceptable than feminine men. (Gandio, 113) Dawsey is more judged for his feminine actions

when all he was trying to do was help Jason and sadly got caught. He is a sweet, caring, and shy

man which is why he broke free from the prescribed gender roles plenty of times.
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If a man or a woman act differently from how their gender is assumed to behave, then

they don't conform to the norm. (nobullying.com, 2016) Although Juliet and Dawsey broke free

from their gender norms they also conformed to them at times. One way dawsey conformed to

his gender norm and showed masculinity is his leadership quality. He took it upon himself to

write to Juliet then got the other members to tell her more from their perspective. Without Juliet

would know nothing about the potato peel pie society. And through his writing he is more

outgoing and out spoken which is masculine. from the letter to Juliet from Amelia, she says

about dawsey he was so busy convincing me to write to you by the next post he forgot to be

shydawsey has a rare gift of persuasion. As the novel goes on he continues to show his

masculinity especially because of his love for Juliet. Dawsey has helped raise kit since before

Juliet arrived. Although taking care of a child makes you nurturing which is a quality associated

with femininity, stepping up to the plate like that was more masculine than ever. It takes a lot of

courage to take care of and raise a child especially one that isnt yours. Dawsey conformed to the

prescribed genders as much as he broke free from them.

Juliet seems to show a lot more masculinity than femininity but she still has her moments

where she conforms. She first conforms in the beginning of the novel when Susan gets her all

dressed up and she felt more lively and beautiful because of her new looks, But Juliet is even

more beautiful in the inside. Juliet also conformed when it came to Markham Reynolds, in a way

she fell for his ways. The flowers, all the nice gestures, and his looks got to her. In a letter to

Sophie from Juliet about Juliet leaving to go to Guernsey she says talking about mark, it was

only as the boat pulled away, and I saw him standing on the pier, tall and scowling-and somehow

wanting to marry me-that I began to think maybe he was right. Markham wasnt the one for her

but she still questioned it. Soon after she found the one which is dawsey. In becoming members
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of society by Aaron Devor, he says femininity, according to this traditional formulation,

would result in warm and continued relationships with men, a sense of maternity, interest in

caring for children, and the capacity to work productively and continuously in female

occupations. (Devor, 40) Juliet came pretty close to marriage from two men who werent for

her and thats possibly because the feminine side of her was looking for comfort and care from a

masculine man. Juliet is capable of being independent and masculine which is why she didnt

stay with Rob or Mark. Both Juliet and Dawsey conform to the prescribed gender roles by

demonstrating the gender associated with their sex (female- feminine and male-masculine).

The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society is a novel that consists of letters

between many characters post world war II. Juliet Ashton and Dawsey Adams are two of the

main characters with great traits and throughout the letters in the novel these traits were revealed.

World war II made a huge impact on all the characters and shaped them differently. Although

they went through something tragic something good came from it, which was the creation of the

potato peel pie society. Gender norms are the rules that society created for the sexes that they

are expected to do and look like. These norms usually fall into the two categories which is

feminine and masculine, with masculine being dominant. Juliet and Dawsey are examples of

how a person can break free from and at times conform to these prescribed gender norms. But

there is nothing wrong with being masculine and feminine, that helps society move forward

towards a genderless future. Other characters in the novel also did the same as Juliet and

dawsey. WWII had large effects that made the characters conform and break free from

prescribed gender norms and the way Juliet and Dawsey conformed and broke free was through

their language and actions throughout the novel.

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Works cited

Gender Stereotypes: Definition, Examples and Analysis. NoBullying - Bullying &

CyberBullying Resources, 9 Sept. 2016, nobullying.com/gender-stereotypes/.

Zevallos, Zuleyka. Sociology of Gender. The Other Sociologist, 3 Jan. 2016,

othersociologist.com/sociology-of-gender/.

Lorber, Judith. Night to his day: The Social Construction of gender. Composing Gender. New

York, 2013. 28-29

Devor, Aaron. Becoming members of society: The social meanings of Gender.

Composing Gender. New York, 2013. 40-41

Shaffer, Mary Ann, and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.

Gandio, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: a Handbook for 21st Century Activists. New Society

Publishers, 2008.