De Paz 1

Sandra De Paz
Professor Ditch
English 113B
08 May 2015
Strong Bonds Never Brake
After World War II, people had to find many ways to overcome trauma due to the
hardships they had to go through. Although, World War II caused starvation, deaths, and
depression, the people from the novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society are
able to obtain their happiness through the book club and the power of their friendships. The book
club formed a bond within these character which led them to communicate with one another and
build strong friendships. It gave them an escape of the tragedies that they all faced and were able
to comfort one another.
Trauma can cause depression, emotional stress and can affect a person mentally or
physically. In the novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann
Shaffer and Annie Barrows implied an example in which Elizabeth McKenna helps Sally Ann
Frobisher overcome her trauma. Sally had to shave her head due to her having scabies on top of
her head which brought her self-esteem low because she had to be bald and did not like the fact
that she had a big nose, but with the help of Elizabeth she gave her compliments so she can
oversee her beauty. For example, In a little more time, Sally, youre going to be a stunner. Keep
looking in the mirror and youll see. Its bones that count, and youve got them in spades. With
that elegant nose of yours, youll be the new Nefertiti.(Shaffer,Barrows,144). Elizabeth was
showing Sally her positive physical features by comparing her nose to Nefertiti. By comparing
her nose to Nefertiti it gave Sally a positive attitude towards herself. This is an example of
friendship because Elizabeth was trying her best to help Sally overcome her traumatic situation

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by always visiting her but as well complimenting her in a very positive way. Even though they
havent known each other for many years, Elizabeth still stood by her side to make her feel better
of herself making sure she overcame her trauma.
The books in the literary society represent symbols of freedom and how people use the
space around them to get away from reality. In the face of the war and killings going on, the
society came together to find a way of overcoming their traumas. In the article Culture and
Communication by Anastacia Kurylo, it states Symbols provide a way to express cultural
experience with others. A cultural representation involves the use of symbols to reflect various
aspects of a shared group identity.(Kurylo,5). Every culture has an image of how they represent
themselves. Through books, it creates bonds, friendship, and family which shared similar
experiences and helped one another overcome their traumas. For example, in the novel The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society Kit lost her mother but with the help of the literary
society she was able to get through the tragedy. The book club all came together to raise Kit so
she wouldnt feel alone. Towards the end of the book Juliet decided to adopt her and raise her in
her own with the help of the book club.
Sometimes even the people very close to their loved ones wont be there for them through
the hard times: instead a stranger can come along and help them overcome their trauma.
Although the definition of friendship says friendship is a relationship of mutual affection
between two or more people you can also form a bond with a partner, family member, or
animals. In the documentary Happy by Roko Belic shows the audience a tragic story of a
woman name Melissa Moody. Melissa was ran over by a truck driven by her sister-in-law that
mutilated her entire face leading her to have many surgeries. The trauma of the accident gave her
bad memories of physical and sexual abuse of her father. Her husband wasnt able to deal with

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the trauma that had just happened and had to divorce her. With all these things happening to her
life she felt like giving up in life. Until the friendships of her new husband, son, and horse helped
her get through the trauma. By having these three things in her life it boosted her self-esteem and
helped her see the bright side of the tragedy because in the end of the story she felt more happier
than ever before and was thankful for the three strong bonds she had.
In addition, a psychologist name Demir et al mentions how someones friendship with
one another can cause their own happiness. He relates how friendship and happiness are similar
to one another. By having positive friendships the more happier someone will be and the closer
the friendship is the more they will open to one another and disclosed personal information.
Someone can receive this happiness due to providing and receiving emotional support by your
friend. This relates to the book The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Society because the
Literary Society got through the struggles with the bond that they had with one another. By
writing to one another it helped them get there mind off through the tragedies they faced for a
while. With Juliet writing a book after the World War II, she remembered to not write about
tragic events instead if she was going to write about tragic events then she would make a humor
out of it so when the society read it they wont have to remember about what happened. With the
characters building this friendship with one another it helped them gain their happiness once
again.
Friendship can sometimes lead to tragedies that someone wishes they wouldnt go
through. But as long as someone sticks through the hard times the other person will be glad to
have them by their side. In the novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Elizabeth went to Guernsey to close Sir Ambroses house but stood longer because she wanted to
stay with Jane till she had her baby. Elizabeth met Jane during her first summer in Guernsey at

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age ten. By the time Elizabeth was planning to stay, soldiers were already evacuating Guernsey
due to a war that was going on. No matter what the situation was Elizabeth wasnt leaving Janes
side until she had the baby. She refused to leave without Jane or her baby. Not even when we
could all see the smoke coming from Cherbourg, where the French were burning up their fuel
tanks, so the Germans couldnt have them. But no matter, Elizabeth wouldnt go without Jane
and the baby. (Shaffer,Barrows,78). This quote represents a strong friendship because even
when the Germans were dropping bombs Elizabeth was willing to risk her own life until she was
able to leave the hospital with Jane and her baby. Elizabeth did not care about anything else
except leaving the hospital with both of them. Although, in the end Jane and the baby pass away,
Elizabeth still stood by Janes side holding her hand tight. Even though, she heard German
planes lowering down in the harbor Elizabeth refused to leave.
Also, friendship keeps ones dead body alive such as when someone passes away not
physically but mentally, there soul lives on many minds. A novelist name Wendell Berry wrote a
novel named Hello, Hayden! and mentions how someone can be dead but yet its remarkable
that in the same time that dead person is still alive. They are alive by those who knew that dead
person and still has memories they had with the dead person. Berry also mentions how no matter
the hardships someone has to go through they should always stand up for themselves. In facing
hardships, those that were generally human and those that were peculiarly his own. Hayden was
unflinching.(644). Hayden had his daughter that passed away due to cancer and wouldnt
believe that she was fully dead. People would disagree with him because she passed away but
what they didnt understand was that he felt as she was alive in his mind. Till Hayden got upset
and stood up for those who wouldnt agree with him. This has a connection to the book The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society because as though Elizabeth passed away she was

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still alive through everybody in the Literary Society. She had great bonds with each one of them
that it was a tragic story to hear that she was dead but no matter what she will always remain in
their minds and hearts.
It could be argued that this novel cannot only be about friendship but instead it can be
about bravery. Remy Giraud a member of the Literary Society mentions she grabbed the rod
from Bintass hand and turned it upon her, hitting her over and over. Guards came running and
two of them struck Elizabeth to the ground with the rifle. They threw her into a truck and took
her again to the punishment bunker. (Shaffer,Barrows,181). Elizabeth stood up to the guard
Benita because she was beaten a girl due to just being in her menstrual. Although Elizabeth new
the danger she was putting herself into, she showed courage on defending the defensively poor
girl in camp. But despite this contradiction, the members in the Literary Society wouldnt have
known how all this happened if it werent for the friendship they had with Elizabeth. No matter
the little time Elizabeth knew someone she will always help them out to overcome their traumas.
The bond she build with one another made the other person more happier than ever, giving them
hope for a better future even if it only lasted for a while.
Friendship can overcome many battles despite the tragedies and hardships. Being on
ones side can change the whole perspective of what you might think about yourself. Friendship
is not a view upon the outside of the person instead its a view from what a person can make out
of themselves. Friendship lies between accepting someone for who they are and not what they
think they are. After the World War II the literary society helped one another overcome their
traumatic tragedies. Knowing they have lost people and going through many hardships the
literary society gave them hope.

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Work Cited

Barrows Annie, Shaffer Ann, Mary. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Imprint of The Random House Publishing Group. A division of Random House, Inc,2008.
30 March. 2015.
Belic Roko, Happy Film 2011 New York Times. 19 Feb. 2015. Inc. Web. 30 March 2015
Berry, Wendell. "Hello, Hayden!." Sewanee Review 117.4 (2009): 644-646. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Demir, Melikah, mer imek, and Amanda Procsal. "I Am So Happy 'Cause My Best Friend
Makes Me Feel Unique: Friendship, Personal Sense Of Uniqueness And Happiness."
Journal Of Happiness Studies 14.4 (2013): 1201-1224. Academic Search Premier. Web.
2 Apr. 2015.
Kurylo Anastacia, Culture and Communication Paper Article, Inc. Web. 30 March 2015