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Freddy Aguilar
Professor Ditch
English 113B
28 March 2015
Finding Happiness Through Reading and Friendships
In a time of sorrow, despair and starvation, unable to do much because of the war.
Children, elders and young people not having any food to eat and being held captive with no
where to go was extremely difficult for the Guernsey members. Being bombed, relatives and
friends dying; food shortage and supply shortage became the norm. However, even with the
German soldiers occupying their Island and being unfair to the villagers, the book club members
from the Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society are able to find their happiness through the
book club, literature and having friendships which enables them to deal with the war and survive.
Living in a time of war can be very devastating because of the rage, violence and death
that their often was. For instance, in a time like this ordinary supplies are no longer used because
of the war and people are lacking in many things. For example, ordinary supplies that were used
before such as soap was something that they no longer had, I remembered my mother making
soap from pig fat so I thought I could try it(Dawsey 80). In other words the war affected them in
every possible way. They even tried making soap out of pig fat because they were lacking
supplies used for hygiene. Even though they had shortages and ran out of many things, literature
and reading was a way of them being themselves and at the same time happy.

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Literature is portrayed throughout the novel though the members who formed the club.
Literature created a whole new world for the Guernsey members and was a way of them being
free with no one telling them what to do and how to do it. Though they were held captive,
reading also was a way for them to escape reality and entering a whole new world where there
was no death, starvation, and despair. It was a way of them finding their happiness through
entering a world of literature. Reading helped them escape reality because it created a sense of
freedom within them. In other words, reading in a time of crisis helped them maintain their
happiness. It helped them deal with the war. John Booke, a member of the literary society writes,
I came to love our book meetings-they helped to make the occupation bearable.(Shaffer
&Barrows 92). In this quote John tells Juliet that literature helped this situation become bearable.
Without reading, life would have been much more difficult but they were able to persevere
through reading. In the same way that a sport can help a person get free from all of their tensions
and sorrows, reading did the same by helping them survive the war.
Reading books not only brought happiness to the Guernsey members but also to Marina
Nemat who was born in Tehran Iran. A little girl who read books as a way of escaping the
troubles that she faced growing up such as poverty and torture. Reading brought happiness to
Marina when everything around her seemed bad. In the article, Second Hand Book Seller we
see another example of how reading becomes a way of helping a little girl named Marina who
grows up in a low income family with her single mother. A situation like this is very similar to
the Guernsey members because they both used reading books as a way of finding happiness.
When everything around Marina seemed upside down, reading helped create happiness even
though she had to skip out on ordinary drinks, I had saved all my chocolate-milk money for a

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weak and hoped it would be enough for a week (42). In order for her to purchase a book at the
second hand store she needed to save all of her money that was originally used for drinking
chocolate milk but instead she saves her money and skips out on the milk for a week and buys
the book. Also, the book was not expensive because it was being sold from a second hand store
which meant that everything in there is cheap. Nonetheless, because she grew up with a single
mother life was hard for her and is why they never had much money, not even to buy books. The
only time that she buys a book is when she goes days without drinking milk just so that she can
have enough money.To put it another way, she skipped out on her daily drink for the entire week
so that she could use that money for her new book. This does not just happen once but again we
see it throughout the article for the sake of buying a new book. For the sake of money and
wanting a new book she decides to sell a precious pencil box that she had received for christmas
and her scented eraser to her friend so that she can have enough money to buy a new book.
Making a decision such as this was not even hard for her because of the love that she has for
reading. Im here to buy the second book of the series. Do you have it? I sold my pencil box and
my scented eraser to my friend, Sarah so I have enough money this time(Marina 43). This quote
explains the passion for reading that Marina has. The second time that she purchases the book
she needed to sell her pencil box and scented eraser.
Reading to both the people from Guernsey and to Marina from the article was a way of
them both escaping from what was going on such as war, death, and poverty. By reading they
entered into a whole new world where there was no sorrows or crisis. Reading not only helped
them deal with the situation that they were in but it saved them. Marina later on mentions,In a
way, books saved us both (41). And I completely agree with her because without her love for

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reading, life would've been even worse. She would have been bitter towards her parents and
because of how she was living, but instead reading brought her happiness. In the novel, Isola
writes to Juliet, I could write to you again, if you want me to. I could tell you more about
reading and how it perked our spirits while the Germans were here ( Shaffer&Barrows 53). This
quote explains how reading brought up their spirits. In other words, reading was like a boost.
Whenever they felt down, reading helped them stay alive. Without reading the could have
possibly died but instead they remained persistent from reading.
Happiness is essential for our every day life and without happiness life becomes boring
and meaningless and even more when you are facing a hardship. Many people think that
happiness comes through having all the money in the world to being famous or having a lot of
possessions. However, reading books became a way of seeking happiness for the people of
Guernsey. Ramsey writes, We clung to books and to our friends; they reminded us that we have
another part to us (Shaffer&Barrows 64). In other words reading not only helped them but it
reminded them that their was hope. By reading it was a way of creating happiness and even
though circumstance were tough, they were still able to see the best out of every situation
because of reading. However, another way that they were able to be happy was by being with
each other and maintaining friendships.
Friendships are an important part of they are life because by being with each other, they
realized that they were happy. Demir, Ozdemir and Weitekamp write in the, I am so Happy
Cause Today I Found My Friend: Friendship and Personality as Predictors of Happiness,
Friendship has been argued to be an important source of happiness (246). This explains how

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having friendships is extremely vital in a person being happy. Having friends is an important
source in a persons happiness. In the novel, the Guernsey members are happy through their
relationships with each other. Therefore, even though they were, Tired, scruffy, worried, ragged,
shoeless, and dirty, defeated, and looked it (Shaffer and Barrows 95). Even though the may have
felt defeated and dirty, they were still able to be happy because they had each other and because
at the end of the day they had each other which meant that they had the most important source to
happiness which was being around each other. In other words, a person can be going through a
very hard time and if he is alone it makes it even worse, but in this case even though they feel
down, they are still able to be happy because they have each other.
Friendships is important in our every day life whether, crying, rejoicing, laughing, and
also helps us to be happy. Mindy G Makant writes in The Pursuit of Happiness: The Virtue of
Consumption and the Consumption of the Virtue, Friendships require time spent together - time
spent doing everyday things like talking and eating, comforting the sad and rejoicing with the
happy (298). This quote explains how a friendship looks and what it requires. A friendship is
not a person being alienated all the time but it demands both peoples time. It requires doing
almost everything together such as eating, talking, and being around each other. A friendship is
amazing to have because it means that you have someone right next to you that is supporting and
helping you. For instance, in the novel their were many characters that felt like giving up, but
since they had a lot of friendships, other people were able to motivate them and encourage them
to continue to move on. In other words, friendships allowed them to deal with and even survive
the war.

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In spite of this novel, there are still times where they could not escape from reality. Times
that were too much for them to handle due to the German Occupation being unjust and cruel with
the Guernsey members. There were many situations that they could not handle because reality
was too much for them. Having often food shortages, curfew, and fear of the environment was
something that had to get used too. Going days without eating, watching people die and being
abandoned was something that they had to get used to. Even though their were times where they
did get through it, in these situations they had no hope whatsoever and were completely helpless.
Throughout the novel, the Guernsey members read books as a way of entering into a
whole new world that did not have any form of chaos in it. They read because it was not only
something that they loved to do but it made them happy. It made them forget about the sorrow
that they were in and enter a whole new world of freedom where it was just literature, friendships
and happiness. Even though they faced many hardships, they were able t find their happiness
through reading and having friendships and is why they were able to deal with the war. Not only
deal with the war, but most importantly, survive the war and at the same time be happy

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Works Cited
Makant M. The Pursuit of Happiness: The Virtue of Consumption and the Consumption of
Virtue. Dialog: A Journal Of Theology [serial online]. Winter2010 2010;49(4):291-299.
Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 2, 2015.
Demr M, Weitekamp L. I am so Happy Cause Today I Found My Friend: Friendship and
Personality as Predictors of Happiness. Journal Of Happiness Studies [serial online]. June
2007;8(2):181-211. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 2,
2015.
Nemat, Marina. The Second Hand Book Seller. Literacy Publisher. n. d. Web 24 Mar. 2015