Maki t Taylor Maki Professor Cotri Dito English 115 t 30 October 2017 hy / f “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” is an epistolary novel written by Jadot weil Eliabtls Radicals Ly Nulane Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shatfer, The novel's setting takes place in England in the mid 1940°s after World War II, while the Germans still occupy the Island of Guernsey and its inhabitants aRer their defeat, During this ime svoman began to volunteer a tremendous amount ‘o the many branches of the military. Also, the participation of women in the work force inereased nearly 10% during this time, ‘The main protagonist ofthe story is Juliet, a published writer and London resident, and the plot follows her life and experiences. The second character, Plizaketh, ig one ofthe islanders on Guernsey who plays an important role in the text. She is a strong. outgoing woman who protects those who cannot protect themselves, Throughout the text, both Juli and Elizabeth, are radieal in their gender performance by breaking the social norms L tat, tb ha ftir expected by females. “712 Julio is the main character in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and she plays a huge role in many af the other characters lives throughout the book. She is a strong a dedicated woman who isn’t afraid to take action or go for the things she wants. She is proactive jn her own life and is not willing to let anyone change her for who she is. She may not be a lesa ts et aes offerte han lowing beret be cited by ots ln Rhetoric for Radical, the) describe leadership as “challenging societs"*as well as “putting: ‘yourself out there for the world to see”. (Ganelio 28) These actions are some of the traits. thatMaki define leadership, and throughout the book Juliet exudes these aetdans simply because it isa part ‘of her personality. For example, regardless of being raised in a more traditional way and being sent to boarding school, she doesn”t have nsany'beluivior factors that can be considered feminine, Juliet is more of an outgoing and outspoken Woman, In this case Juliet is more masculine so shi isnot acting o hee pressribsd gsnder pexformance. As sad in text Composing Gender, “you can’t always detect gender by physical evidence." (Kantrowitz and Wingert 69) Just bocause Jaliet is a female character by sex, that does not mean she will have a feminine gender, She identifies as female in the text and has some sttibutes of a feminine performance, she has very predominated masculine actions and words thoughout the text /. ¢ .-/ 4 be husband was packing up all af her books and replacing them with his trophics and awards af physical fitness and sports, Necdless to say, it did.noc Work out for them and she was once again asingle woman. This experience was shock to her and a rude awakening to her. That is why when she was questioned by a reporter who starts asking hee very personal questions on the affair she was s0 emotionally charged. He wanted to get that reaction from her to writea good ston for hit paper, Relentlesy be bombards her with questions and asumptionson a previously | failed engagement, which is « very touchy subject for her. After repeated attempts to gct him off | the topic and doing her best ta answer briefly and divert from the subject, she finally has enough and throws @ hot tea pot at him ina public venue, at the time being used as a meet and greet for her book release tour. By her not allowing this reporter to make assumptions and accusations on the subject af her ex-fiancé, she ucts with a very masculine performanse with aggressive behavior to stop the reporter and to make him leave ber alone. Women in her time perivel wereMaki 3 expected to be demure and casily emotional, Herbeing angry and physically combative is out of the norm af the so-called damsel in distress. A second example of her acting out of her social gender norms is when she chose to. ‘adopt Kit, Elizabeth's daughrer, and end her relationship is Mark Reynolds. This was later on in the novel, Elizabeth at this point and time had been killed and Kit was left officially an orphan, Juliet went to Guernsey ta visit her friends she met through corresponding letters, anel upson arrival she leams of Kits situation and spends more and more time with her, becoming more and more comfortable with becoming more emotionally attached to her. This is a more feminine performance because it is more of an emotional attachment or bond being formed between her and the litle girl. Wile at guernsey, her then love interest mark decided to ither and bring. her back from Guernsey. Mark has considered kitto be a dirty orphan who was not worth either his or Juliet’s time and dismissed her. Juliet, being very fond of Kit, was so deeply offended that he Would have no compassion for her that she sent mark away, ending her relationship with him. Juliet did not look ack or regret this decision however, She soon applied to adapt Kit and to luke Kit on as her own daughter, Juliet was not afisid to stand up to Mark because she started losing her feelings for him once he began to be more aggressive, demanding and rude to her in their relationship. She steps again, out of her gender norm in order to stand up for the litle girl ‘who she is coming to lave. Juliet is performing masculinly in the sense that she is defending and protecting Kit, but also challenging to take her on as her ownand accepting the zesponsibility of child. Even though she was tentative at first when bonding with Kit, she ends up having her ‘owe family in the end ina very nontraditional way. Elizabeth, another female character in the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Societys was Kit’s mother, Elizabeth was an islander in Guernsey and was one of the correspondents toMaki 4 Juliet in the novel. She had one chile which was Kit, but by 8 German soldier. Even though the [Nazi's occupied the area, her friends did not judge her bat aided her when she needed it most Elizabeth is also a very strong woman who does not typically actin her gender norm, In fac, she even doss so even more than Juliet Elizabeth is outspoken like her and is even bolder inher ‘actions thank Juliet is, The biggest nerfommances in the whole book were done by Elizabeth because of how powerful they were. The first instance where she takes charge is when she and her fiends were returning from the very fits meeting of their new society and they were stopped ; by the Nazi soldiers in the area, They were out walking home past curfew and that is what drew the soldiers to them, When questioned about their late-night departure from home Elizabeth the only ene wha stood up to speak to the Nazi's, Being out late could have warranted sever ¢ punishment for the islanders but Elizabeth told them what they wanted 10 hear. She made up a \\ ~~ reality that would warrant their peaceful release to walls home without punishinent, Elizabeth in ‘sense “used language that evoked her desired reality”, « masculine and very authoritative trait (Gandio 106) IF Elizabeth hadn't assumed a masculine perfismance and stood wpto speak with J the Nazi solliers they group would have suffered dire consequences, Z ay Another time when she exuded bravery and performed very muscularly was when she hid polish slave in her home even though she knew the repercussions, When the Nazi's came to investigate her house, they discovered the polish slave, took them and took Elizabeth and she vas sent to @ concentration eamp, lenving Kit behind alone. At the camp she was shipped to, Elizabeth was malnourished, worked to the bone, and suffered brutal beatings daily in punishment. Her final act of bravery and strength was when she stood up against a Nazi's soldier who was beating another woman in the camp simply because she was menstruating, Elizabeth ‘would not stand for this and once again she usted, striking the soldier. This final act ofMaki 5 “aggression and defiance towards the soldiers resulted in her death, Elizabeth's refusal to let innocence be punished or harmed is an example of masculine a performance. Protecting the ‘weak and innocent és 2 masculine trait in behavior and has been considered masculine for ssonturies, The “knight in shining armor” is usually depicted as aman coming to a woman in need’s rescue, In this case it was Elizabeth standing up for another woman, Peminine psrformanes is characterized by “a sense of matemity,” and affection as well asa more subordinate aititude towards men. (Devor 40) If she had performed to her prescribed ferninine ender performance, she would have been able to return home to her daughter Kit as well as her friends at the Guernsey Island, Her standing up against the Nazi movement and soldiers shows she had! no fear in what happened to her, as long as she was able 10 protect those who needed it, she did, Both Juliet and Elizabeth did immensely important things throughout the book that went against their prescribed gender performance as well as the social norms at the time for women. ‘They both lived for themselves and for others, unwitléng ta let the social expectations of women prevent them from doing what they fell was right and just, By them breaking their prescribed gender performances, they were able to live out thei true personalities and live as who they ‘were, not as who society expected them to be. Because of this, they both did great things that broke out of their specific assigned gender performances.Maki 6 Works Cited Shatfer, Mary Ann, and Annie Barrows. The Gueresey Literary and Potaia Peet Pie Society, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, Gandia, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: a Handbook for 2st Century Activists. New Society ‘Publishers, 2008 rp Groner, Rachel, and John F. 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