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Tess Castanon
Professor Ditch
English 113B
25 February 2014
Dont underestimate womens abilities
Women in the early 1900s were looked at to do one thing, to be a wife and
mother. Women were mistreated around this time and were not respected subsequently
leading to lose of jobs when the men came home from the WW2. Women were being
belittled of their true potential and not given a chance to show what they can really
achieve, in the book, The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society, the main
character Juliet shows through her actions throughout that led a change and showed
people that not only men can write or be successful. Juliet is looked at as a writer and not
a wife, through time Juliets actions helped women look at education and the work force
differently although Juliet does later becomes a wife she is proving that change was and
is possible if you put your mind to it no matter what ethnicity or gender.
There are many situations in The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society
where the main character Juliet is struggling to achieve her goals. This book is placed in
World War 2, during that time women were not well educated and did not have jobs, until
the men went off to war. Once the men arrived back from war the women were out of
luck and out of jobs. Families were being sent to concentration camps and people were
dying. Within all this madness, Juliet dove into something to keep her mind off reality
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along with the others. Writing was her passion and she submitted a book under a different
name and it was published. By using a different name she was able to show people that
not only is her book a well written book, but also a women wrote it. Juliet was a rebel
with a cause. Women back then women were supposed to do one thing, take care of the
home. Juliet went against this and did what she loved. Once she had accomplished some
major writing projects she eventually fell in love and became a wife, not by force but by
choice. She took pride in her independence and that eventually rubbed off on others.
In the journal article The 'Good War by Neil Wynn, The Second World War
and Postwar American Society. It talks about womens movements in WW2 and how
much women really were such a big part of that time and how things began to develop.
The article says, World War II had radically transformed the economic outlook of
women, and that in its long-term effects the war and represented a pivotal
moment'.(475.) In the previous paragraph there was mentioned that in The Guernsey
Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society Juliet took pride and she started a change or in other
words a movement. This related to the article The 'Good War because it is talking
about how women played a big role and developed a long-term effect. It also talks about
how women percentages in the working forces raised and how they were significant in
that time. The
proportion
of women in the labor force rose from 25 percent to 36 percent
during the war
. 75 percent
of new women workers were married and 60 percent were
older.(475.) This just shows how so many women saw opportunities that wouldnt have
possible without the
men leaving and took them and just excelled in everything that they did.
Several states
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now removed the laws prohibiting employment of married women as teachers.(475.)
Women are really capable of achieving whatever they put their minds to. Eventually the
government began to allow women to be evolved in the working force and gave women
more rights.
In the article Voices of our past: Flight nurse training in World War II it is
talking about how women began to fly during WW2 as well as explaining the process
that the women had to go through. In the article it says, Because nurses accepted for
flight training were volunteers who met rigid standards, the rate of attrition was
remarkably low. Applicants were required to be members of the Army Nurse Corps, 21 to
36 years old, between 105 and 135 pounds and 62 to 72 inches tall. Applicants had to
certify their willingness to participate in regular and frequent flights and to indicate any
previous flying experience. Former supervisors were required to verify the applicant's
professional qualifications, personality, and judgment. Women had to go through so
much just to fly, the women had to know how to fly previous to taking the test and
enrolling into the Corps. Not only did women have to have previous experience but they
also had to meet a certain standard. If they did not meet the standards then there was no
flying for them. Women had to go through so much just to fly a plane and have a job for
a short amount of time. One thing about this article that is uplifting is that there is nothing
but good words about the women and how they portrayed themselves in their jobs. There
is nothing really bad to say and a lot of praise to them, which makes it difficult when the
men came back and all the womens hard work was pointless and they were out of jobs.
In The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society there eventually was
change. Juliet led the change slowly but surely. Womens empowerment began to spread
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and society slowly started to accept the change, not completely but a little bit of
empowerment was a lot to work with.
In the article Go Carolina by David Sedaris, the main character is a young boy
who is struggling with a lisp and tries to cover up what he cannot change. He is
embarrassed and changes every word with a s to another word. He is struggling
throughout his childhood and is trying to overcome the fact that he is different and he is
not normal, just like Juliet in The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society is
trying to overcome the fact that she is one of the first female authors and how she needs
to hide her identity if she wants publishers to even think about her book. Sedaris talks
about how he hated sports especially football, yet he still lied to everyone to make people
think he was into sports so he can feel normal and equal to others. Sedaris felt out of
place because society tells people that if you look or talk different you are automatically
not accepted into the norm of whatever society says. The character Juliet from The
Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society is similar in the way that she just wanted
equal opportunities no matter what gender. She was hardheaded and cleaver but fought
for what she believed in, similar to Sedaris story and how he was clever in hiding his
lisp. Not only was he hiding something that was a part of him but convincing people that
that was who he was. Both stories are from different times but this just shows that no
matter what people still struggle with similar issues.
In the article Mother tongue by Amy Tan, there is an American Chinese mother
and daughter living in the U.S. The daughter Amy is a writer and usually tends to
translates for her mother that doesnt speak English very well but is not terrible at the
same time. Amy is an English major, which in her case is somewhat strange because she
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is Chinese and society would encourage her to pursue something more on the math or
engineering side. Throughout the story Amy begins to become frustrated at a point with
her mother for not speaking correct English because she becomes embarrassed, but then
realizes how it is not her mothers fault, it is society fault for what people think of her and
her mother. The fact that her mothers English is not well and she is a woman, people
would not give her the time of day. Similar to The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie
Society, women in that time had little to no rights. If you were women in the time of
WW2 you were not helpful and were almost close to nothing. The only thing women
were supposed to do was to be a good wife and mother; women were supposed to have
children and raise them and take care of the household. Women were maids for their
husbands and could not complain because they were again, simply nothing. In Amy
Tans article, Amy witnesses her mother being mistreated for the way she spoke and not
for what she had to say. For example, in the story there is a part where Amy and her
mother are just trying to receive some assistance, but when Amy Tans mother asked for
some help from the workers, they either ignored her or laughed at her accent and made
fun of the fact that her English was not perfect. After that, Amy asked for some assistance
from the workers with her proper English, the workers quickly assisted her with no
problem or hesitation. Both of these stories have situations where women in particular are
being mistreated and society has put a label on what women should and shouldnt do.
Women have been labeled since birth, what they should do is not what society wants and
not what they want. In these stories these women are making a change.
Women in WW2 like Juliet from The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie
Society, were not respected and people didnt give women a chance. Women were being
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belittled of their true potential. Through time things have changed and have gotten better
for women themselves. In the work force gender shouldnt play a role in the jobs being
done but how efficient the person is in their job. Change is possible and women are
changing the future one step at a time.













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Works Cited
Ford, Beverly. "Voices of Our Past." Air Medical Journal, 23.5 (2004): 18-23. Sedaris,
David. Go Carolina Back Bay Books: Little, Brown and Company Boston,
New York, London.
Shaffer, Mary A., Annie Barrows The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society,
2008. Print.
Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue
Wynn, Neil. "The 'Good War': The Second World War and Postwar American Society."
Journal of Contemporary History, 31.3 (1996): 463-482.