Renteria 1

MarkAnthony Renteria
English 113B
Professor Ditch
25 March, 2015

Gender Performance

Bravery is defined by how much spirit or courage a person has when it comes to
dangerous situations. In the book, The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary
Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, many of the female characters such as Elizabeth & Juliet adopt
the masculine performance in terms of gender roles and began to show bravery. It was odd to see
a women take the trait of being a masculine human instead of the gentlemen. In other words its
known that men are the dominate sex and the ones to have more power in traditional gender
roles. During this time women were seen more as housewifes than the dominate sex. Men were
the ones who had to show bravery and strength in regards to work hard labor to provide for the
women and families. Women were identified as housewives, where they would stay home to
clean and keep the house organized as the men go work hard labor to provide for their families.
Juliet & Elizabeth changed the way the gender role was looked upon when it came to men and
women. They per-trade the way women were see as and how men were supposed to act. They
were able to express the masculine trait when it came to situations where there were no men
around to protect them. Gender performance was such a big part of this book because the
women were categorized to carry the traditional norm of being a housewife. Other than Juliet &
Elizabeth, there are also gender performances when it comes to men as well. Men who dont

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usually embrace the masculine trait are most likely to perform in a feminism way. For this, it
would classify men do to what women are supposed to do such as clean the house, cook, etc. As
forth the traditional gender role where men act like the men and the women act like the women.
The men are the ones who contain the strength and bravery when it comes to a situation.
Men are tend to protect what is there weather its family or just protecting themselves. Men are
considered to be the dominant ones when it comes to a man and a women. On the other hand,
women are tend to be seen as weak and submissive. For this, women are the ones that need to be
protected and the ones that look weak to the worlds society. For an ,example, when it comes to a
job men are the ones with power and authority while the women work for the men and do what
they are told. Now a days, women have broken the traditional norm and now there are women
who have power instead of the usual men roles. In the book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato
Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, characters such as Juliet & Elizabeth brake
the traditional gender role because these women adapt the masculine trait to protect their family
in friends.
As a novel protagonist who had been an orphaned since the age of 12 and was taken in by
her uncle who nearly didnt pay as much attention to her as he should have, Juliet broke the
traditional norm of gender performance when it came to her to stand up for what she believed in.
Despite her childhood she stayed strong to become the young women she was. Attending
boarding school as a young girl, which made her be on her own as a little girl and learn how to
be a semi-adult. For this it shows how she was developing the masculine trait at a young age.
Juliets bravery had originated to her when she was a child because even though she was an
alone child for some time, she still didnt give up on herself not knowing if she would ever
belong to a family.

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A wealthy gentlemen named Markham V. Reynolds Jr. liked Juliet and wanted to marry
her but Juliet had expressed that she never wanted to marry him or anyone else. So I explained.
Feeling better by the minute, I told him that I would never marry him or anyone else who didnt
love Kit & Guernsey and Charles Lamb (Shaffer & Barrow, 213). This quote shows and
explains how Juliet was able to stand up and explain to Markham that she wasnt interested in
him and that she doesnt need a man support. Juliet falls in love with a man named Dawsey
Adams in which she proposed to him for marriage. This provides the traditional gender role
norm because men are the ones that propose to the women but in this case Juliet had took it upon
herself to do this and show her masculine performance.
As a mother of a four-year old child Kit McKenna, Elizabeth was distant from the
Guernsey Island for the reason that she helped a Polish slave worker. On behalf of this action,
word eventually reaches the islanders and Elizabeth was then killed at the Concentration Camp.
Elizabeth had a connection with a lot of islanders, most often looked as a close friend. Elizabeth
was a kind soul where she would bring the fun out of every bad situation. Juliet heard stories
about Elizabeth from the islanders, in which where she learned how even though there were bad
times Elizabeth always had a warm heart. Elizabeth was showed to be brave in her decision as a
women. Elizabeth broke out of our line fast-so fast. She grabbed the rod from Bintas hand and
turned it upon her, hitting her over & over. (Shaffer & Barrows, 181). This quote explains how
Elizabeth wasnt scared of the consequences of her actions caused her death. Elizabeth and her
friends had there societys first dinner together. So once they all left Amelias house it was past
curfew so they had to make it home without being caught by the six German soldiers. Their luck
seem to be short when Booker was to drunk, he yell out and that brought the attention to some
German soldiers around the area. Not just scared for there lives, they didnt know what to expect

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once they were stopped by the soldiers. So once they were spotted by the soldiers, Elizabeth
quickly stood up to them so that they were able to go home. It was unusual to see a women stand
up for her friends because at that time women were seen to be nothing more than a housewife.
She [Elizabeth] acted like she didnt see any pistols at all. She walked up to the officer in
charged and started talking (Shaffer & Barrows, 29). This quote explains that Elizabeth had
stood up to a German officer when they were stopped when Booker yelled out loud late at night.
It was unusual when a women would stood up to a German officer in regards to their awful
situation they were in towards to WWII. In this situation the author gives us an image where it
demonstrates Elizabeth the dominant women because she was the one that had walked up to the
soldiers to be able to go home safely with herself and her friends.

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Works Cited
Shaffer, Mary Ann., and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
New York, NY. Print
Anzaldua, Gloria. How to Tame a Wild Tongue.
Paper copy.