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Selina Castro
Professor Ditch
English 113B
23 March 2015
Finding Happiness through 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 of 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 war which is through books. The members from
The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society find happiness through books, and also form
strong friendships both of which help them escape from the hardships of the war.
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 they

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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 Marina Nemat states 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 might 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 the community 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. Books 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 forget the hardships of the war for a
moment. 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 authors
are 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 games that
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 that he needed for his car and
saw Caines arcade. The man had seen what Caine created and actually decided to give it a
chance and play. So the man had decided to play in his arcade and then after 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. We clung to books and to our friends; they reminded us that we had another part to

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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
companionship because they had to spend every moment together and they did that by reading
books together and having mutual things in common together.

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Although some people might say that books are not have been the key in leading the
community from Guernsey to be happy and be close to one another I would disagree. People
were able to find a connection with the books and would lead 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 happiness 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
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
Annie Barrows, Mary Ann Shafer. The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society. United
States: Dial Press Trade Paperback Edition, 2009. Print.
Caines Arcade. Published April 9, 2015. Video.
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.
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.
Nemat Marina. The Secondhand Bookseller. Print.
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.