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Andrew L'Heureux

Professor Ditch

English 115

30 September 2017

Power Trip

In The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, written by Mary Ann Shaffer and

Annie Barrows, readers are drawn in to the book by the unique and well varied characters.

Through evaluation of the characters along with articles in Composing Gender and the book,

Rhetoric for Radicals, by Jason Del Gandio, it is evident that Juliet Ashton and Sidney Stark go

against their stereotypical gender roles crafted by society. These characters reveal that gender

roles are placed in a position of power in society. Juliet tends to be rebellious and lives in

opposition to her gender role as a woman in society. Sidney has a position of power as publisher

and acts against the aggressive male gender performance to maintain his authority. Through

assessment of the characters Juliet Ashton and Sidney Stark, it becomes apparent that Shaffer

and Barrows manipulate gender roles and their performances to reach a common goal: power.

Juliet Ashton, the main protagonist in the novel, displays a radical gender performance in

her quest for power. In Judith Lorbers Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender,

the author explains how the subordinate persons, of either gender, tend to use those considered

to be the province of women (39). Society places the subordinating character under the

masculine and aggressive one. In most cases, women are expected to live in accordance to the

submissiveness of males. Juliet, however, does not strictly adhere to this performance. She

demonstrates her opposition in multiple ways; her career as a well-respected writer is one of the

ways in which Juliet does not subscribe to the gender norm of being submissive. As a writer, she
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is able to reach a large audience with her work and receive praise from the readers as they

recover from the second world war. Even with her initial success, Juliet does not appear to be

satisfied and writes to her boss, Sidney Stark, that she no longer wants to be a light-hearted

journalist. Her current job position is not common for women to be in, yet she manages to look

forward towards her goals and strives to climb up the social ladder. Her initial writings were able

to bring joy and laughter in the hard times of World War II, but Juliet has it in her mind to create

a more impactful difference in society through her writings. She intends to use languagethat

evokes (your) desired reality (Gandio 106) by creating a rhetorical distinction between the harsh

reality of World War II and her aspiring optimistic outlook.

This quest for power is threatened multiple times by other men and their desire to marry

her. Juliets first fianc moved into her home and began to unpack his belongings: every single

shelf where my books had stood was filled with athletic trophiesall I could do was scream

(Shaffer & Barrows 25). Rob Dartry, the man in which Juliet wanted to marry at the time, began

to place more of his life into Juliets. The act of taking down the books to make room for his

athletic achievements was symbolic of the greater weight the relationship brought; by marrying

Rob, Juliet would be setting aside her drive to be a journalist in submission to her betrothed.

Rather than subscribing to a feminine gender role of compliance, she decides to be radical by

ending the relationship and pursuing her career. Later in the book, as Juliets motives change,

she still acts authoritatively with Dawsey Adams on the island of Guernsey. When she realizes

that she desires to be united with Dawsey through marriage, she does not hesitate to initiate the

question of marriage to him, a differential action to the societal norm of men initiating the

proposal of marriage. By doing this, Juliet radically performed against the passive feminine
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gender role in romantic relationships by asking a man to take her hand in marriage, further

establishing power for herself and taking control of the situation.

Juliet continues to defy societal gender norms when questioned about her relationship

with Rob Darty in an interview, where she became infuriated when being provoked by Gilly

Gilbert. Paul Poteat, in his academic article, discusses the direct associations between

masculine norms and problematic social behaviors, such as aggression (2). Her social behaviors

are seen as problematic because they place Juliet in a position of power that societal norms

directly oppose. The passionate and assertive action of violence against Gilly was far from what

was expected from Juliet and her behavior as a female. This masculine trait of obvious

aggression an example of her radical gender performance. However, the less apparent masculine

performance traits of aggressiveness are illustrated in her assertiveness throughout the novel. Her

radical gender performances lead Juliet to be in a position of power.

Just as Juliet continues to defy the societal norm of the feminine gender, it becomes

evident that Sidney Stark does that same, performing radically to preserve his position of power.

Sidney is a successful publisher and boss of Juliet. This appears to be normal according to

Lorbers findings of masculine behavior to be aggressive and dominant. However, Sidneys

inconspicuous but deliberate behaviors that do not subscribe to such a masculine role.

Throughout the novel, Juliet looks up to Sidney as a mentor rather than a boss. Juliet

consistently writes letters to him addressing her work but also her feelings and relationships

throughout the novel, and although he does not reply to every letter, he listens. Sidney even

wrote back: All that errant thought means is that youre in love with Dawsey yourself.

Surprised? I am not (Shaffer & Barrows 256). He is placed in a mentorship and caretaker

position that Juliet relies on despite her independence. By displaying any kind of response other
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than a professional and business orientated one would be entirely inappropriate as a publisher

and would be a feminine gender performance.

In accordance to Aaron Devors article, Becoming Members of Society: The Social

Meanings of Gender, the motherly characteristics of caretaking is intertwined the feminine

association in gender performance. Sidney uses this position of femininity in an authoritative

and dominant way. He cares for Juliet and gives her guidance throughout the novel. His helpful

advice and insight draws her to him often, thus showing a dependence to his opinion. In

accordance to the research and article formulated by Sandra Baez titled: Men, women. . .who

cares? A population based study on sex differences and gender roles in empathy and moral

cognition, women tested to show more empathy more often than men with statistically

significant results. She concluded that women portray themselves as highly empathetic, thus

favoring a widespread gender stereotype (15). Women are believed to be more nurturing, so

women may feel it necessary to take upon themselves the feminine role as a caretaker. Stark

takes this feminine role over Juliet, which is an extremely rare occurrence for a man to do

because men could refrain from describing themselves as emotional and sensitive, since this is

not part of typical male stereotypes (Baez 15). If the stereotype for men is to be shown as stoic

figures, then Sidney is performing radically in his gender performance.

Furthermore, Sidney shows opposition to his masculine gender role by withholding

information due to fear. It takes the reader nearly the entire novel before it is revealed that

Sidney Stark is a homosexual. Isola wrote in her letter to Sidney about how Juliet was told how

lucky of a man Sidney must be to have her: Juliet blushed as red as a tomato, and I was

tempted to say he didnt know much because Mr. Stark is a homosexual (Shaffer & Barrows

227). Sidney has not opened up and made public the fact that he is gay, even to those closest to
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him such as Juliet. This hesitation to be bold in his sexuality may be due to the fear of the

consequences of losing power. Sidney has already reached an authoritative position in society as

a successful publisher, but in achieving this position, the public does not know that he is a

homosexual. Lorber writes a section on a principal of separation between A and Not-A.

A pertains to the party interpreted by society as a normal and dominant group, while Not-

A is the remaining people who fail to identify in the opposing group, thus seen as deviant and

subordinate. In western society, especially in the period in which the story takes place,

heterosexuals are considered to be A, resulting in homosexuals as Not-A. Because of

Sidneys predicament, he chooses to submit to societys views of sexuality and hide the fact that

he is a homosexual man in order protect the power he has achieved. If Stark were to be acting in

a masculine way, he might publicly embrace his sexuality. Submissiveness, being a feminine

associated character trait, is not how he is expected to perform in this scenario. Sidneys radical

gender performance maintained his existing power in society.

The appearance of the desire for authority is evident through the characters Juliet Ashton

and Sidney Stark both acting radical in their gender performance. Through these performances,

we are able to see the success that each of the characters alongside their development in the

story. Jason Del Gandio explains in his book, Rhetoric for Radicals, the idea of self-knowledge

being the understanding ones own strengths and weaknesses. He says that self-knowledge

expands with every experience (96). Juliet discovered her desire for family and love in

Guernsey. Before, she was focused on her success and independence as a writer, but as the story

progressed and relationships that she once saw as beneficial went against her aspirations failed,

Juliet began to better understand herself and her purpose with the people she met along the way.

Sidney is introduced as an authoritative figure that is a part of Juliets life as a mentor. With
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every event that Juliet comes to Sidney for advice, it becomes more evident that he cares for her

and her well-being, despite being a man without a love interest for her. Gender plays a huge part

in society; it contrasts people and their roles, distributing power based on stereotypes. Juliet

Ashton and Sidney Stark, although fictional characters in a novel, play a huge part in showing

how performing radically in gender performance can stir up change in their own lives but also

for others. These changes caused by the radical nature of these characters performances of

gender created opportunities and provided positions for the assertion of authority. Thus, in the

quest for power perform for radical actions in their gender performances.
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Works Cited

Baez, Sandra, et al. "Men, WomenWho Cares? A Population-Based Study on Sex Differences

and Gender Roles in Empathy and Moral Cognition." Plos ONE, vol. 12, no. 6, 20 June

2017, pp. 1-21. EBSCOhost

Devor, Aarron. "Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender Composing

Gender,1996, pp. 35-43.

Gandio, Jason Del. Rhetoric for Radicals: A Handbook for 21st Century Activists. Pomegranate

Press, 2008.

Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender Composing Gender,

1996, pp. 19-30.

Poteat, V. Paul, et al. "The Moderating Effects of Support for Violence Beliefs on Masculine

Norms, Aggression, and Homophobic Behavior during Adolescence." Journal of

Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), vol. 21, no. 2, June 2011, pp. 434-447.

EBSCOhost

Shaffer, Mary Ann. Barrows, Annie. The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society. New

York, N.Y. : Dial Press Trade Paperbacks, 2009. Print