Zaragoza 1

Dianna Zaragoza
Professor Ditch
English 113B
4 March 2015
Healing Takes Time

Overcoming Trauma is a process, it takes time to heal. Overcoming trauma is defined

when an individual gets the better of an experience that produces psychological pain or injury
(Cohen). In the novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
and Annie Barrows, the people of a small island named Guernsey are left traumatized both
physically and emotionally after the German occupation during World War II. Although the
people of Guernsey are heavily impacted by this catastrophic world event, many of those facing
oppressive times during the occupation learn to cope with it and overcome the trauma they faced
with the powerful friendships they made surrounding the book club. The members of this small
literary society create a bond, a culture, with each other which helps them cope and overcome the
trauma; thus illustrating that something as simple as a book club can be instrumental in the
process of overcoming trauma.
The members of the book club meet up every once in a while to discuss books, and most
of all to get their mind off of the war. Dawsey a man who writes the first letter to Juliet about a
book on Charles Lamb because he found her name written inside of the book. Juliet is the
narrator throughout the book who continuously writes letters to those on the island of Guernsey
and develops a friendship with those in the literary society. After the first meeting of the
Guernsey Literary Society, members of the book club are caught by German patrol soldiers while
passing curfew. Elizabeth McKenna, a brave young woman, apologizes to the officers and

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explains that they were meeting for the literary society in Guernsey and lost track of time. (29).
At this very moment Elizabeth creates a book club that would change their lives forever. The
German Patrol officer let Elizabeth and the other members of the book club go but only with the
exception they had to report to Commandant the following morning. Elizabeth showed her
bravery by standing up before the officers and confronting them of the Literary Society, at this
moment Elizabeth confronted the officers and was aware that if they caught her lying, they
would execute her. During this time, the people of Guernsey are worried for their lives but
ultimately develop relationships around the book club that kept them close as a whole. Dawsey is
a member of the book club that was forced to join in because of Elizabeth McKenna, Dawsey
says, Dinner was a rare treat, but the company was better (29) Dawsey explains that
although they didnt have much food when they would meet up for the book club, the company
they had during this time was something that brought them together as a coping mechanism for
the Wars trauma. Beginning the day that Elizabeth confronted the officers, The Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society became a book club that those a part of the book club on the
island of Guernsey cherished forever.
The members of this book club became so close that they shared a culture. A culture that
no one else accept those in the literary society felt within each other. In the article Culture and
Communication Anastacia Kurylo talks about cultural groups and how those become
recognized. Kurylo states, Cultural groups include those groups of people who are born into as
well as groups that people voluntarily or involuntarily become a part of... religion, phases of
life.. (4) What Kurylo means is that, cultural groups can be defined in any form, like phases of
life. In the Literary Society, these people in the book club created a cultural group as an
implement process to forget about the horrific experiences. This worked effectively in trying to

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overcome the wars trauma because this book society was considered another world that
separated them from the disaster they were in.
Making friendships and bonding with other people that are also facing oppressive times is
one of the ways to overcome trauma. (Lickerman). The book society created a little family within
their society of the book club. Elizabeth was optimistic about the war ending and because she
was optimistic, she became loved by those on the Guernsey Island. A year after giving birth to
her daughter Kit, Elizabeth was sentenced to prison because she helped shelter and feed an
escaped prisoner of the German Army, (82). After Elizabeth was sentenced to prison, the book
club began to take care of Kit as their own. Adelaide says, The Literary Society has raised that
child as its own toting her around from house to house in turn. (83). This quote explains that
after Kits mother was sentenced to prison, the Literary Society stood by her with love and
support. In the book, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz,
the author states that, Ultimately what determines how children survive trauma, physically,
emotionally, or psychologically, is whether the people around them.. stand by them with love,
support, and encouragement. What the authors mean is that, children surviving trauma all
depends if the child has the love, support, and encouragement from the people surrounding them.
Since Kit lost her mother, she has been raised by the people in the book club and this has made
them grow closer to each other. Friendships help overcome trauma, although Kit didnt have her
mother there, she had those in the book club to show her support and love through this time. A
book club helped those of the Island bring each other closer which helped them escape the reality
of the terrifying occupation.
While undergoing a traumatic experience, cheerful people are needed to help comfort the
soul. Without cheerful people, people will begin to lose hope of moving past this obstacle.

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(Lickerman). Remy is a woman who was in the concentration camps with Elizabeth. Remy is
taking the process of overcoming trauma slowly since she was the one who witnessed more
trauma in the camps. Dawsey says to Juliet, Remy seems stronger now than she was last month,
but she is very frail yet she must be around people cheerful people, if possible. (218).
Dawsey is explaining that although she is very weak and depressed, cheerful people are needed
during the process of overcoming a traumatic experience. Friends of Elizabeth didnt know
Remy but they created a connection with her because of their love and respect for Elizabeth. The
book club developed connections between those facing times during the war, the connections
they made were friendships and friendships bring laughter and happiness. This was essential to
the process of forgetting the wars trauma.
With overcoming a traumatic experience comes resilience. In an article by Alex
Lickerman, titled Resilience Can Be Learned Lickerman explains our capacity to suffere may
be immense, but so is our ability to endure it if weve taken effective steps to develop our
strength. What Lickerman is saying, is that resilience can be learned if we take adequate steps in
developing the strength to move past the obstacle. Just like Remy, the process of moving past
this horrible experience, is something that needs to be learned. She is learning to move past this
obstacle slowly through the support of her friends in the Literary Society of Guernsey.
The members of the book club also dealt with their experiences during World War II
through the love of literature. They bonded by reading common books and sharing stories of
books they read. In the article titled The Secondhand Bookseller by Marina Nemat, Nemat is
introduced as an individual overcame trauma dramatically. She explains how she looked to
literature during the process of dealing with the trauma she faced. During the Islamic Revolution,

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she was tortured and nearly executed in prison for speaking up about a regime she didnt agree
on. Nemat says, In a way, books had saved us both. (571). This quote explains how books were
an important factor in the process of overcoming this obstacle. Nemat agrees that literature saved
her mother and herself from the immense pain they faced during the times of the Islamic
Revolution. Facing trauma during a world war is an experience that can make you fall into deep
depression, or can also cause other dangerous mental health concerns. (Schaaf). With the love of
literature, Nemat became aware of the derangement of the revolution and began to look to books
as a coping mechanism just as did those in the book club. The book club was designed to be an
outing of the wars trauma, and so it became one; because of this the people in the Literary
Society came together as a whole and looked to literature as a coping mechanism.
Overall, trauma is defined as an experience that produces emotional and psychological
strain. (Lickerman) The trauma of a war is damaging but the members of this book club, The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, held each other in times of need and created a
bond, showing each other that a book club and friendships they make help improve their state of
mind as refugees and prisoners. This book club helped them forget about the negatives and
taught them how to become optimistic about the outcome of the war. The occupation created a
culture that only those living on the island would be able to identify themselves a part of. The
islanders of Guernsey faced this situation as best they could. They created this book club as an
outing of the trauma because the book club helped them gain the strength to develop new
friendships as a conclusion to dealing with the occupation of their island. The Literary Society of
Guernsey was created not only to make friends, but to make a family.

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Works Cited:
Cohen, Martin V. "Ten Steps to Healing From Trauma." Ten Steps to Healing From Trauma.
N.p., 2000. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
Kurylo, Anastacia. "Culture and Communication." Intro to Inter/Cultural Communication (n.d.):
3-23. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.
Lickerman, M.D. Alex. "Resilience Can Be Learned." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
Nemat, Marina. "The Secondhand Bookseller." Literacy Narratives (n.d.): 571-75. Web.
Perry, Bruce Duncan, and Maia Szalavitz. The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog. New York: Basic,
2006. Print.
Schaaf, A. Kay. "The Journal of Applied Christian Leadership." Journey Through Trauma (n.d.):
34-52. Web. Mar. 2015.
Shaffer, Mary Ann, and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
London: Bloomsbury, 2008. Print.