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Andrew L'Heureux

Professor Ditch

English 115

30 September 2017

Power Trip

In The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, written by Mary Ann Shaffer and

Annie Barrows, readers are drawn in to the book by the unique and well varied characters.

Through evaluation of the characters along with articles in Composing Gender and the book,

Rhetoric for Radicals, by Jason Del Gandio, it is evident that these characters both go against

their stereotypical gender roles crafted by society. The characters revealed that gender roles are

placed in a position of power in society. Juliet tends to be rebellious and lives in opposition

towards her gender role as a woman in society. Sidney has a position of power as publisher and

acts against the aggressive male gender performance to maintain his authority. Through

assessment of the characters Juliet Ashton and Sidney Stark, it becomes apparent that people in

the novel by Shaffer and Barrows manipulate gender roles and their performances to reach a

common goal: power.

Juliet Ashton, the main protagonist in the novel, displays a radical gender performance in

her quest for power. In Judith Lorbers Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender,

the author explains how the subordinate persons, of either gender, tend to use those considered

to be the province of women (39). Society places the subordinating character under the

masculine and aggressive one. In most cases, women are expected to live in accordance to the

submissiveness of males. Juliet, however, does not strictly adhere to this performance. She

demonstrates her opposition in multiple ways; her career as a well-respected writer is one of the
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ways in which Juliet does not subscribe to the gender norm of being submissive. As a writer, she

is able to reach a large audience with her work and receive praise from the readers as they

recover from the second world war. Even with her initial success, Juliet does not appear to be

satisfied and writes to her boss, Sidney Stark, that she no longer wants to be a light-hearted

journalist. Her current job position is not common for women to be in, yet she manages to look

forward towards her goals and strives to climb up the social ladder. She intends to use

languagethat evokes (your) desired reality (Gandio 106). Her initial writings were able to

bring joy and laughter in the hard times of World War II, but Juliet has it in her mind to create a

more impactful difference in society through her writings. This quest for power is threatened

multiple times by other men and their desire to marry her. Juliets first fianc moved into her

home and began to unpack his belongings: every single shelf where my books had stood

was filled with athletic trophiesall I could do was scream (Shaffer & Barrows 25). Rob

Dartry, the man in which Juliet wanted to marry at the time, began to place more of his life into

Juliets. The act of taking down the books to make room for his athletic achievements was

symbolic of the greater weight the relationship brought; by marrying Rob, Juliet would be setting

aside her drive to be a journalist in submission to her betrothed. Rather than subscribing to a

feminine gender role of compliance, she decides to be radical by ending the relationship and

pursuing her career. When Juliet was questioned about this relationship in the interview, she

became infuriated attacked the provoker, Gilly Gilbert. Paul Poteat explains in his academic

article about the direct associations between masculine norms and problematic social behaviors,

such as aggression (2). The passionate and assertive action of violence against Gilly was far

from what was expected from Juliet and her behavior as a female. This masculine trait of

obvious aggression was shown through her radical gender performance. However, the less
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apparent masculine performance traits of aggressiveness show through her assertiveness

throughout the novel. Later in the book, as Juliets motives change, she still acts authoritatively

with Dawsey Adams on the island of Guernsey. When she realizes that she desires to be united

with Dawsey through marriage, she does not hesitate to initiate the question of marriage to him.

By doing this, Juliet radically performed against a feminine gender role by asking a man to take

her hand in marriage. She further established power for herself and taking control of the

situation. Her radical gender performances lead Juliet to be in a position of power.

Through evaluation of Sidney Stark, it becomes evident that he also performs radically to

preserve his position of power. Sidney is a successful publisher and boss of Juliet. This appears

to be normal according to Lorbers findings of masculine behavior to be aggressive and

dominant. However, Sidney performs inconspicuous but deliberate behaviors that do not

subscribe to such a masculine role. Throughout the novel, Juliet looks up to Sidney as a mentor

rather than a boss. Juliet consistently writes letters to him addressing her work but also her

feelings and relationships throughout the novel, and although he does not reply to every letter, he

listens. Sidney even wrote back: All that errant thought means is that youre in love with

Dawsey yourself. Surprised? I am not (Shaffer & Barrows 256). He is placed in a mentorship

and caretaker position that Juliet relies on despite her independence. By displaying any kind of

response other than a professional and business orientated one would be entirely inappropriate as

a publisher and would be a feminine gender performance. In accordance to Aaron Devors

article, Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender, the motherly

characteristics of caretaking is intertwined the feminine association in gender performance.

Sidney uses this position of femininity in an authoritative and dominant way. He cares for Juliet

and gives her guidance throughout the novel. His helpful advice and insight draws her to him
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often, thus showing a dependence to his opinion. In accordance to the research and article

formulated by Sandra Baez titled: Men, women. . .who cares? A population based study on sex

differences and gender roles in empathy and moral cognition, women tested to show more

empathy more often than men with statistically significant results. She concluded that women

portray themselves as highly empathetic, thus favoring a widespread gender stereotype (15).

Women are believed to be more nurturing, so women may feel it necessary to take upon

themselves the feminine role as a caretaker. Stark takes this feminine role over Juliet, which is

an extremely rare occurrence for a man to do because men could refrain from describing

themselves as emotional and sensitive, since this is not part of typical male stereotypes (Baez

15). If the stereotype for men to be shown as stoic figures, then Sidney is performing radically in

his gender performance. Furthermore, Sidney shows opposition to his masculine gender role by

withholding information due to fear. It takes the reader nearly the entire novel before it is

revealed that Sidney Stark is a homosexual. Isola wrote in her letter to Sidney about how Juliet

was told how lucky of a man Sidney must be to have her: Juliet blushed as red as a tomato,

and I was tempted to say he didnt know much because Mr. Stark is a homosexual (Shaffer &

Barrows 227). Sidney has not opened up and made public the fact that he is gay, even to those

closest to him such as Juliet. This hesitation to be bold in his sexuality is due to the fear of the

consequences of losing power. Sidney has already reached an authoritative position in society as

a successful publisher, but in achieving this position, the public does not know that he is a

homosexual. Lorber writes a section on a principal of separation between A and Not-A.

A pertains to the party interpreted by society as a normal and dominant group, while Not-

A is the remaining people who fail to identify in the opposing group, thus seen as deviant and

subordinate. In western society, especially in the period in which the story takes place,
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heterosexuals are considered to be A, resulting in homosexuals as Not-A. Because of

Sidneys predicament, he chooses to submit to societys views of sexuality and hide the fact that

he is a homosexual man in order protect the power he has achieved. If Stark were to be acting in

a masculine way, he might publicly embrace his sexuality. Submissiveness, being a feminine

associated character trait, is not how he is expected to perform in this scenario. Sidneys radical

gender performance maintained his existing power in society.

The appearance of the desire for authority is evident through the characters Juliet Ashton

and Sidney Stark both acting radical in their gender performance. Through these performances,

we are able to see the success that each of the characters alongside their development in the

story. Jason Del Gandio explains in his book, Rhetoric for Radicals, the idea of self-knowledge

being the understanding ones own strengths and weaknesses. He says that self-knowledge

expands with every experience (96). Juliet discovered her desire for family and love in

Guernsey. Before, she was focused on her success and independence as a writer, but as the story

progressed and relationships that she once saw as beneficial went against her aspirations failed,

Juliet began to better understand herself and her purpose with the people she met along the way.

Sidney is introduced as an authoritative figure that is a part of Juliets life as a mentor. With

every event that Juliet comes to Sidney for advice, it becomes more evident that he cares for her

and her well-being, despite being a man without a love interest for her. Gender plays a huge part

in society; it contrasts people and their roles, distributing power based on stereotypes. Juliet

Ashton and Sidney Stark, although fictional characters in a novel, play a huge part in showing

how performing radically in gender performance can stir up change in their own lives but also

for others. These changes caused by the radical nature of these characters performances of

gender created opportunities and provided positions for the assertion of authority. Thus, the
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quest for power, as demonstrated by Juliet and Sidney in Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, may call for radical actions in gender

performance.
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Works Cited

Baez, Sandra, et al. "Men, WomenWho Cares? A Population-Based Study on Sex Differences

and Gender Roles in Empathy and Moral Cognition." Plos ONE, vol. 12, no. 6, 20 June

2017, pp. 1-21. EBSCOhost

Devor, Aarron. "Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender Composing

Gender,1996, pp. 35-43.

Gandio, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists. Pomegranate

Press, 2008.

Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender Composing Gender,

1996, pp. 19-30.

Poteat, V. Paul, et al. "The Moderating Effects of Support for Violence Beliefs on Masculine

Norms, Aggression, and Homophobic Behavior during Adolescence." Journal of

Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), vol. 21, no. 2, June 2011, pp. 434-447.

EBSCOhost

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

York, N.Y. : Dial Press Trade Paperbacks, 2009. Print