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Selina Castro
Professor Ditch
English 113B
23 March 2015
Happiness in Books
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a historic novel based on the
aftermath of World War II. Guernsey is occupied by the German soldiers, which lead the people
in Guernsey to change in many ways. Since the German soldiers are in control the people in
Guernsey had to obey what the soldiers would tell them to do. The people for Guernsey were not
used to being ordered around they had to change the way they lived and try to cope among with
each other. One night a couple of people from Guernsey were out late at night past their curfew
and a German soldier caught them. Ever since that night people had to adapt to a new lifestyle
that they are not used to. Since the community is managing through these new changes that are
happening, they found a way to cope with the situation which is through books. The members
from The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society found happiness through books, which
formed strong friendships that helped them escape from the hardships of the war.
When being in Guernsey the community has nothing more than to just find a way to just
be able to deal with what is going on with the war. Since they form the book club, people form
strong friendships with each other since they would communicate and see each other on a daily
basis. When reading any book people are able to connect with them, which allows them to be
happy. The reason why they become happy is because books would help them forget a bit about
the war, so in a way it was like an entertainment for them. At first the community from Guernsey
would just read because they had to fool the German soldiers, but after they would read because

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they started to enjoy it and it made them happy. It leveled up their mood wanting them to read
because they wanted to, not because they were being forced to. Each individual person in the
book club were able to relate to a certain book, it gave them a bit of comfort and increase their
mood, because they were able to space out during the moment that they were reading. Then after
they would connect with others leading to build strong friendships that would help them cope
with the war.
When Guernsey got invaded by the German Soldiers, people had to adapt to the situation
that they were in. Within themselves people found books to bring them together and be able to
form a strong connection between them. In The Secondhand Bookseller by Marina Nemat A
couple of times every night, my mother opened the door of my bedroom to see what I was doing
and smiled when she found me reading. In a way, books had saved us both. (571). In this quote
Nemat is able to connect her love for books with her mom, since it forms a strong connection
between them. In a way books kept her out of trouble and since they were experiencing some
difficulties from a war too. In Guernsey they had the same connection with each other through
books that helped them come closer and get through the harsh realities of the war. In The
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, We read books, talked books, argued over
books, and become dearer and dearer to one another. Other Islanders asked to join us, and our
evenings together became bright, lively times- we could almost forget, now and then, the
darkness outside (Shafer, Barrows 51). The Guernsey community read books together and
talked about it forming a strong bond between them as well and even helped them get through
their difficult times together. It helped them unite through common interest and escape from the
craziness of war around them.

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In Guernsey they used books as a resource of happiness to connect to one another and to
become closer with one another. When building these connections that lead to friendships it
brought them happiness that allowed them to be able to space out the hardships of the war. In the
novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society says I could write to you again, if you
want me to. I could tell you more about reading and how it perked up our spirits while the
Germans were here (Shaffer, Barrows 53). The author is explaining how with reading it cheered
up the community even though with the German Occupation happening. In the video Caines
Arcade, it shows a little boy who builds an arcade out of card board boxes and asks people to try
and play with the different variety of game he has. Even though not many people would actually
play it, he still did not give up and would still open it up every day. One day, a man came to buy
some parts he needed for his car and saw Caines arcade. The man had seen what Caine created
and actually decided to give it a chance. So the man had decided to play in his arcade and
decided to make a documentary about it, since he was so intrigued by it. Soon after the man
decided to give Caine a surprise and brought many people to come and play in his arcade. That
day made Caine the happiest boy alive even though not many people before wanted to play.
Even though not many people would show up before, it never stopped Caine. Nothing ever made
him shut down the arcade because his arcade was what made him happy, and it is something that
he was very close to. When comparing Caines Arcade with Guernsey, it shows how books made
the Guernsey community happy, and in Caines situation his arcade was what made him happy.
When being happy, it lead to being able to cope with their own individual situation.
Not only did books help bring Guernsey happiness and closeness, but also formed strong
friendships with each other that helped them get through the difficult times of the war within
these books. In The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society We clung to books and to our

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friends; they reminded us that we had another part to us (Shaffer, Barrows 64). The people in
the book club were reading with each other and sharing the same issues that they had. This lead
to helping people end up becoming friends with one another forming strong friendships that
helped them with the issues of the war. Therefore, they would use books to forget about the war,
which made them happy leading to making friends with one another and helping each other out.
In Selection, Deselection, and Socialization Processes of Happiness in Adolescent Friendship
Networks by Workum Nicole says Friendships are considered to be to be an important source of
happiness. (1). This quote shows how friendship is an important factor to being happy. In
Guernsey people made friends with each other which made them happy. Even though it was
because of books that made them happy because people were able to connect with them and with
each other as well. With the people from Guernsey forming these friendships, with each other
lead to happiness within themselves as well because that is what also helped them on their hard
times during the war.
Friendship is very important to the Guernsey community because it is what helped them
stay together. Their friendship connected with books because they shared the same interests and
the same goal which was to cope with the hardships of the war. In Friendship, Need
Satisfaction and Happiness by Meliksa Demir, Metin Ozdemir says Friendship is defined as a
voluntary interdependence between two persons over time, that is intended to facilitate socioemotional goals of the participants, and may involve varying types and degrees of
companionship, intimacy, affection and mutual assistance (2). Here, it shows how friendship is
when people have the same emotional goals. In this case they have to get through the tough times
during the war. They also shared many common affection towards each other, like for example

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companionship because they had to spend every moment together and they did that by reading
books together and having mutual things in common together.
Although some people might say that books could not have been the key on leading them
to be happy and be close to one another I would differ. People were able to find a connection
with the books and would lead to them forgetting about the war for a bit and being able to have a
good amount of happiness. Others might say that friendships had no impact on their emotion
meaning that even though people will be very close to one another does not mean that it made
them happy in any way. In I Am so Happy Cause My Best Friend Makes Me Feel Unique:
Friendship, Personal Sense of Uniqueness and Happiness says Specifically, several studies
employing various methods (e.g., longitudinal) documented that having a friend, satisfaction
with the friend, friendship intimacy and support, and overall friendship quality are positively
related to creating happiness (Demir 3). Here it shows how by simply having someone as a
friend or any type of friendship is able to create happinesss in them.
With the aftermath of World War II came a lot of changes in Guernsey. The community
of Guernsey had to adapt to these changes that were occurring in their lives. To cope with the
war they would read books which allowed them to space out the horrible things that were
happening. In the book club they would read books as well as become close to one another
creating meaningful relationships with one another. Although the people from Guernsey had
many struggles, they were still able to manage and find a source that would make them happy as
well as bringing the community closer to one another. Thus helping them be able to see what is
happening around them in a different way, yet getting to know more about them. Books had not
just only help the community from Guernsey get through the tough times of the war but be able

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to find ways to free themselves from the German soldiers. Not even the German soldiers were
able to wake away the happiness that the community had.

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Works Cited
Demir, Melikah, mer imek, and Amanda Procsal. "I Am So Happy 'Cause My Best Friend
Makes Me Feel Unique: Friendship, Personal Sense Of Uniqueness And Happiness."
Journal of Happiness Studies 14.4 (2013): 1201-1224. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2
Apr. 2015.
Workum, Nicole, et al. "Selection, Deselection, and Socialization Processes Of Happiness In
Adolescent Friendship Networks." Journal of Research On Adolescence (WileyBlackwell) 23.3 (2013): 563-573. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Demir, Melikah, and Metin zdemir. "Friendship, Need Satisfaction and Happiness." Journal
Of Happiness Studies 11.2 (2010): 243-259. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 Apr.
2015.