Murcia1

MiriamMurcia
ProfessorDitch
English113B
1April2015
BooksOverWar
Overcomingtraumaticexperienceshappentomanypeopleindifferentplaces.Inmany
casestoovercometraumaticexperiences,isdifficulttomanyindividuals.Sincethepeoplein
GuernseyhadtowitnesstheGermanOccupationatthetimemanypeoplefeelthreatenedbythe
Germansoldiers,sotheywouldcreatesecretsocialsocietiesorcommunitiestoovercometheir
beingwithinawarrelatedexperience.ThePotatoPeelPieSocietywasinmanywaysareliefor
distractionoftheGermanoccupationthroughthepowerofliterature.Inthebook"
TheGuernsey
LiteraryandPotatoPeelPieSociety
,"byMaryAnnShafferandAnnieBarrowsthepeopleof
Guernseyandspecificallythepeoplewithinthissmallcommunity,foundedinmybelieftobea
copingmechanismtodealwiththeGermanoccupation.
Tobeginwithofthecharactersthatstoodoutasahelpingmechanismtomanyofthe
peopleinthesocietyandothersshemetwasElizabeth.Throughoutthebooksheisportrayedas
astrongcharacterandfriend.Shewasthereasonthesocietywascreated,becauseduringtheir
firstbookmeetingtheyhadnotrealizedthattheywerepasttheircurfewtime.Sowhentheywere
ontheirwayhometheyhadbeenstoppedbyGermansoldiersandfeltthreatenedtobesentto
jailortoaconcentrationcamp.Butbynow,Elizabethjumpedforwardthegermansoldiertolie
tohiminorderforherandherfriendstobefreeandgohomeandnotbesenttocampbecauseof
theiractiontocreateabookclubtoeatandpasstheirtimeonbooksinsteadoftheirsocial

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situation."DawseyhastoldyouthattheSocietywasinventedasarusetokeepthegermansfrom
arrestingmydinnerguests,..."(Shaffer&Barrows48)InthisquoteAmeliamemberinthe
SocietyiswritingtoJulietexplaininghowtheincidentoccurredthatthesocietyhadbeen
created.Thisisimportantbecausethiswasthebeginningofthesocietiesmeetings,thebeginning
ofthedistractionofbeingpartofawarrelatedexperience.
Anothercharacterthathadnointerestinbooksinhisdailylifeendedupreadingbooks
andrelatingthemtothewarandinsomewayfelthecouldcopeabitbetterbecausehehad
learnedcertainquotesfromauthors,thiswashiswayofcopingmechanismandfeelingconsoled
bytheGermanoccupation."IwishI'dknownthosewordsonthedayIwatchedthoseGerman
troopsland..."(63Shaffer&Barrow)EbenRamseyiswritingaboutaquotethatWilliam
ShakespearehadoncesaidandadmireditbecausesomehowifinthemomentthattheGermans
arrivedhewouldhavesaidthemhefeltthathecouldfeelconsoledandmorecopedtothe
occupation.Thisissignificantbecauseforsomeonetochangetheirlifebecauseoftheirsocial
situationbyadistractionsuchasreadingcanhelpapersoncopeorfeelasenseofreliefduring
traumatictimes.Overcomingtraumaforsomepeopleishardbutfindingmechanismstocopeor
dealwiththesituationscandistractandenlightenapersonduringtheirexperience.
Lastly,IsolaPribbyhadalsofoundadistractioninthebookssheread.Beingamemberin
thesocietyshefounddiscoveriesthatdistractedherdailylife.IsolaPribbystartedreadingmore
sciencebookandfoundaninterestinPhrenology."I'vefoundoutmoreinthelastthreedaysthan
Iknewinmywholelifebefore."(257Barrow&Shaffer)Isolahadbeenreadingabooksentto
herbySidneyanothercharacterinthebookandfoundoutainterestanddistractiontothebigger
surroundingsthatweretheGermanoccupationatthetime.Hercopingmechanismwasthebooks

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shereadandhadsomethingknewinherlifetodistractherastimepassed.Thisisimportant
becausetheknowledgethatisheldwithinreadingandlearningfromwhatyouhavereadcan
makeyouhaveaninterestthatyouwanttofurtherseekinlife.

RhetoricForRadicals
byJasonDelGandio,explainshowreadingcanbeusefulina
personslife.Thisbookisintendedtobetterunderstandandusetheknowledgeofrhetoricbut
givesinsightonhowcommunicationcomesindifferentformsandreadingcanalteraperson's
communicationskillsandevenmakechangesinapersonslife.DelGandiomentionsinthebook
howreadingasmuchaspossiblecancontributetoapersonslifeexperiences.Forexample,
Readingexposesyoutodifferentideas,argument,styles,usesofgrammaticalrulesand
rhetoricalapproaches.(54DelGandio)Heexpressesthesignificanceofreadingandwhatyou
cantakeoutofit.CertainlythepeoplewithintheGuernseyliterarysocietyhadusedreadingin
differentwaysbutstillhadacommonground.Thesocietydidinfactmakereadingacoping
mechanismbecausewithoutthemhavingtogothroughtheirexperiencewiththeGerman
occupationtheycouldnthavetakensomethingoutofeverybooktheyhadreadandusedto
distractthemselves.Withoutthemknowingittheywerelearningandtakingtheirtimetoread
somethingknewandtrytounderstanditastonotthinkabouttheirexperience.Theyalsofound
relationshipswithinthereadingsandtheirexperiences.
Anotherexamplecouldbehowpeopletendtostartreadabookandenduplovingthe
contextofthebook.Sometimespeoplegetdistractedinfanaticalstoriesthatbookstelland
distractthemfromtheirsurroundingsastheyreadandcomprehendwhattheyarereading.For
instance,MarinaNemattheauthorof"
TheSecondhandBookseller
"findsherinterestinbooks
andendsuplovingabookshereadsthatwasgiventoherbyalocalbookstoreseller."Three

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dayslater,IhadreadTheLion,theWitchandtheWardrobetwiceandhadfalleninlovewith.I
wantedmore."(ch.54Nemat)InthisquoteNemathadfoundaconnectionwithbooksandfelt
theneedtoreadmoreandmore.Sometimeswhenpeopleneedadrivetoforgetordistracttheir
surroundings,theyfindthingsthathelpthembetterdealwithsituations,sometimesthatcoping
mechanismcouldbethetextofabook.
Furthermore,overcomingtraumacanbedifficultbutbuildingsmallcommunitiesor
gatheringsocialgroupssuchastheGuernseyLiteraryandPotatoPeelSociety,arebuilttohelp
copeandeasetheideaoftraumatictimes.Inthetext,TraumaticLossandMajorDisaster:
StrengtheningFamilyandCommunityResiliencebyFromaWalsh,heexplainsthedifficulties
andwaysofcopingwithlossinmajordisasters.Heexplainshowpeopleformcommunitiesand
relationshipswithothersasaformofguidancetooverlooksituationsoutofanindividual's
controlsuchastheGermanoccupationinGuernsey.Withmajortraumaandloss,itiscrucialto
mobilizeinstitutionalservicesaswellaskin,social,andcommunitynetworksforemotionaland
practicalsupport.(214Walsh,F)Walshisstatingthatcreatingcommunitiesorsocialgroups
canhelpandevendistractindividualswithtraumaticexperiences,thatinasenseitisimportant
andcanbuildaformofsupport.Thisissignificantbecausehavingtochangeyourlifeto
conformtoatraumaticchangecannotbeeasytodealwithbutfindingormakingsocial
connectionscaneasetheexperience.IbelievethateveryindividualinthePotatoPeelSociety
hadadistractionwhentheyreadbecause,inmyopinion,enteringtheworldofabookcan
changeyourperspectiveofyourownlifeandevencreatechangesormakenewdiscoveriesthat
canrelatetoanyindividual.InthecaseoftheGuernseyliterarysociety,memberssuchasEben
Ramsey,IsolaPribbyorElizabethreadbooksthatcaughttheirinterestandchangedtheirviewof

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theirstateofbeing.Theycametobuildasocietythatwoulddistractaswellasinterestthe
memberstoknewthingsandultimatelycreateatypeofchangeintheireverydaylives.
Inaddition,somescholarscouldarguethattraumaticexperiencesmayonlyaffectthe
bodybutinmyopiniontoovercometraumaordealwiththreateningortraumaticexperiencesits
beginswiththementalcontrolorfeelingthatcoexistswiththeideaofbeingtraumatizedorin
thecaseofGuernsey,threatenedbytheGermanOccupation.InthetextTraumaandthe
symbolicfunctionofthemindbyCarloBonomi,hearguesthattraumaticexperiencesdoinfact
affectthemindpsychologicallywithintheoccurrence.ThatiswhyKardinerrejectedthe
standpointofapureideogenesis,suggestingthatthenucleusofthetraumaticneurosiswas
somethingwhichconcerned

thebodyandnotthemind
.(46BonomiC)Heisrefutingacolleges
argumentbecauseinhisideologicalworldtraumaticeventsdocausedamageinthemind,
trauma...ratherdestroysthecapacityofmentalization.(46)Inmyopinion,hehasapoint,how
canthebodyhavethefeelingandnotionofthetraumaticeventwithoutthemindrespondingtoa
person'ssurroundings.Sincetraumacanexistandevendisruptyourmind,booksandliterature
alsoafoundationorcommunitycanhelpyoucopewithtraumaticexperiences.Thiswasthe
PotatoPeelPieSocietyswayofdealingwiththesituationandthethreat.
Inconclusion,overcomingtraumaticexperiencescouldbedifficulttopeoplewhogivein
totheeventssurroundingssuchastheGermanOccupationbutitcanalsobuildcommunitiesor
smallsocialgroupssuchasTheGuernseyLiteraryandPotatoPeelPieSocietytodealwithsuch
historicalevent.Readingandliterature,canbettersituatethefeelingofbeinginacountryor
occupation(German)thatpeoplecouldexperience.Literatureisandcanbeusedasacoping

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mechanismbecauseitdrivesyoutoafanaticalworld,fictionalbookornot,readingandliterature
candistractthemind.

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Barrows,AnnieandShaffer,MaryAnn,
TheGuernseyLiteraryandPotatoPeelPieSociety

2009byRandomHouseInc
Bonomi,Carlo."TraumaAndTheSymbolicFunctionOfTheMind."
InternationalForumOf
Psychoanalysis
13.1/2(2004):4550.
DelGandio,Jason
RhetoricforRadicals
Canada

JasonDelGandio2008

Nemat,MarinaH.
TheSecondHandbookSeller
TheNortonFieldGuidetoWriting.

New

York:W.W.Norton,2009.57175.Print
Walsh,Froma.TraumaticLossandMajorDisasters:StrengtheningFamilyandCommunity
Resilience.FamilyProcess,

200746:207227.

doi:10.1111/j.15455300.2007.00205.x