4] Markarian 1 Sophia Markarian Professor Ditch tt English 115, LNovember 2018 / S Happy or Not? Everyone in the world can admit to wanting to find their inner happiness, which seems to be the motive behind each person's actions. The book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie | Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows contains the main theme of finding inner happiness in the middle of World War Il during the German occupation of the island of Guemsey and how they control the citizens with the use of fear. The literary society forms after a group of neighbors are out past curfew and need an excuse, so they claimed to have a book club. The main character Juliet Ashton is a writer living in London, who is planning to write a book about the struggles of the people of the Island of Guemsey and how the people react after the war and their stories during the war. Another character Dawsey Adams, is a citizen of Guemsey who used to be 4 pig farmer and has found an interest in books by certain authors thatthe character Juliet helps) ~~ him find to keep his mind off of the limited food and constant supervision. Juliet can be-destfibed x as a sad and lonely person who has had a disappointing and traumatic life until she manages to \y oy) find her way to Guemsey, where her future life awaits her. In contrast to Dawsey who can be yy described as a happier person because of his surroundings on the island and how he changed his 4] mind set to forget about the war. ee ee et \) by their personality, the way they react in certain situation, and the way they treat others, } Dawsey Adams is one of the mentally strongest members in the Guemsey Literary Society \ because of the way he is able to put his sadness aside and tend to his friend’s needs. The article,i oe ( ~ Markarian 2 / J “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks in the book Pursuing Happiness by Matthew Parfitt and 4 Dawn Skorozewski, explains how suffering changes people either for better or for worse, how they v ’ ; a All the people of Guemsey, including Dawsey 3 y Aas Wine tough ic shar of suring baemse othe wa Davey Ads was ig farmer who had been forced by the Germans to grow potatoes, but instead his pigs were taken t away from him. He had gone through his share of suffering because of the German occupation, ( Even though Dawsey had his pigs, he was still very lonely until he joined the literary sien UH) “Recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people don’t come out healed; they come out different.” (Shaffer 287). In the beginning, he did not want to join the club. / He just wanted to come to a meeting to have an actual meal since the Germans had cut off most of the food supply and the literary society had hidden a pig to make a roast. He eventually realized that this book club gave them hope and support and gave him the ability to forget that there was a ‘ ‘war going on and was able to recover while trying to move on with each of their lives. AR Dawsey’s character relates to the article, “How to Be Happy: 23 Ways to Be Happier” by ‘Tehiki Davis, Ph.D., in which she states that “When you imagine something- even happiness- your (/ brain acts as if its real. We can use imagination to help create happiness out of thin air and enjoy ‘our experiences more,” Dawsey, as well as the rest of the Guemsey gang, is the embodiment of {\\ _—~“this quote by the way they have changed their view of the life that they had been granted. He, and , £ the rest of the gang, have the weight of the war on his shoulders and the stress of worrying about 2 food rations and the soldiers, but he has to put that all aside and think of a happier life when there ve Xs is @ life without a war happening. In doing so their minds will, according to the article by Davis, \\ . create a happier life and make them think that they are happy and envision a normal life. This will / allow them to imagine themselves as happy in their own little world of literary sos therefore Wr