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Isaiah Rucker

Professor Ditch

ENGL 115

Oct 28, 2017

The Radicalness of Dawsey Adams and the Conformity+Radicalness of Juliet Ashton (New)

Dawsey Adams and Juliet Ashtons, characters in The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie

Society, behaviors show that ones gender doesnt necessarily define how a person should act as

their behaviors reveal that a person of either gender can switch on and off from masculine to

feminine qualities. Both characters exhibit a sense of radicalness in their gender performances,

however, Juliet exhibits more behaviors of conformity due to her more caring nature and concern

for her appearance. In contrast, Dawsey shows these same behaviors but because he is a male

who is expected to act tough and controlling, it is radical. These behaviors of Dawsey and Juliet

however shall be touched upon later. Juliet Ashton is the main character of the novel and

throughout the text she meets various characters that bring out either her feminine side or her

masculine side like how she and Markham V. Reynolds, a publisher, were dating at a certain time

and Juliet always fretted about her appearance with regards to how he would perceive her.

Dawsey Adams is one of the first members of the Potato Peel Pie Society who is particularly

quiet and antisocial and also somewhat submissive who was also put in charge of raising the

societys founders daughter, Christina or Kit for short. Dawseys antisocial behavior, he was

the first one of the Potato Peel Society to come into contact with Juliet and this sparked some
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dialogue between the two revealing that he can be open when he wishes to. However his overall

character is quiet, antisocial and somewhat submissive.

Add on the fact that Dawsey takes care of a child and he has the full set of both genders ,

but how and which performances make him radical and feminine? While one could argue that

being quiet and antisocial is more of a masculine trait rather than a feminine trait, being quiet is

undoubtedly a behavior that males have forced upon women over the course of history

Throughout history women have been subdued, silenced, and forced to stay in the shadow of

men. While men are expected to be somewhat emotionless and quiet in the first place to exhibit

strength and composure, Dawseys version of quiet and composed is one of submission and

awkwardness in social settings, both behaviors bestowed upon women over the ages. Another

behavior which combats the emotionless and composed factor of men are Dawseys feelings of

affection towards Kit. Although this comes naturally with being a parent figure for a child, a

father is supposed to exercise discipline and toughness in a child regardless of gender, in

Dawseys case he showers Kit with affection which is usually a mothers job. Dawsey had

hardly expressed any of the basic masculine archetype behaviors Toys for boys encourage

exploration, manipulation, invention, construction, competition, and aggression (Renzetti, 82),

especially in his lack of competition when Markham V. Reynolds walked up to him and Juliet in

the middle of a conversation, greeted, then kissed Juliet in which Dawsey then said his goodbyes

and walked away shortly after. However, thanks to his feminine behaviors it is much easier for

the characters to trust him such as when Elizabeth entrusted Kit to him People will like you if

you are sincere, endearing, or passionate.(Del Gandio, 44), this is the result of his rhetoric of

compassion which allows him to have a positive and upbeat effect on people.
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There are several area in the novel that reveal Juliets gender performance, most notably

when Kit, Markham, or Dawsey are involved. In the case that involves Markham, Juliet flexes

her authoritative power over him by telling to Get out of Guernsey after he insults Kit but also

showing her motherly side of wanting to protect Kit as if she were her own child. The rhetoric of

Juliets fingers gripping Kits porridge showed off her frustration at Dawsey Your posture,,

shoulders, hand gestures, fingers and the sway of your torso are all part of the delivery(Del

Gandio, 43) and the tone of her voice asserted that she was the one in control at that moment, not

the male in that situation, however this wasnt the only way she exhibited her dominance over

Markham. Prior to actually insulting Kit, Markham had followed Juliet trying to get her back,

which he also tried to do when she reached Guernsey leading to the scene described. Markham

had repeatedly impeded on Juliets personal space a behavior common with most people who see

a feminine individual as stated by Aaron Devor in his inquiry Becoming Members of Society

Other people tend also to stand closer to people they see as feminine, often invading their

personal space(Devor, 41), Juliet had cemented her dominance to Markham by breaking the

norm of femininity of letting something like this happen and actually did something about

Markham invading her personal space.

Another situation in which Juliet exhibits both feminine and masculine qualities is on

page 209 of The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society when Juliet and Dawsey were

walking together she had thoughts of wanting to initiate romantic actions with him I began to

take particular note of his wrists and hands. I was wanting to touch them, and the thought made

me light headed.(Shaffer/Barrows, 209), in this statement Juliet does thinks romantic thoughts

about a male in her company which could be evidence for her femininity, however, this statement
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mainly reveals her masculinity due to her wishing to take charge and initiate the action. This last

situation in which Juliet speaks to Sophie via letters, immediately after explaining the situation

previously mentioned she frets about her appearance despite it being 2:00 in the morning with

regards to how Markham would react if he were to see her. Her fretting over how she looks

according to how a man would perceive is a feminine behavior that relates back to the

Composing Gender piece of how girls toys reflect how a girl is supposed to act in regards to

their appearance. While behaviors can be one of the factors of femininity and masculinity, so can

occupations and other activities too and Juliet and Dawsey both have activities that reflect their

radicalness for Dawsey and both radicalness and conformity for Juliet. These activities are

reflected by their hobbies, how they interact with people, or even their occupations.

Dawsey works as a pig farmer on Guernsey, which even having a job during the 1940s

would be considered a masculine trait as 86% of males made up Great Britains workforce in

contrast to the women who had 76% of women in the workforce, but this job is relatively

domestic so it could also be fit the category of feminine all according to the . Since Dawsey also

took on the task of raising Kit and factoring his affection towards her, he takes on a very

feminine role throughout the novel. In contrast, Juliet works as a journalist which again is a

masculine thing to have a job in general but after meeting Kit, Juliet begins to take on a motherly

personality towards her. However, in reference to when Markham insulted Kit, it was Juliet and

not Dawsey that had to defend Kit. This action and also who initiated it makes Juliet both

masculine and feminine in this situation. Given all of this, I truly believe that this is

overwhelming evidence that Juliet can both be radical and is conforming in regards to her gender

and that Dawsey is extremely radical according to his own gender as well.
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Bibliography

McLaren, Elizabeth Article; Women in the Labour Market: 2013. Office for National

Statistics, 25 Sept. 2013,

www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeet

ypes/article/womeninthelabourmarket/2013-09-25

Gandio, Jason Del. How Do We Become Boys and Girls? Rhetoric for Radicals: a

Handbook for 21st Century Activists, New Society Publishers, 2008, pp. 43-44.

Devor, Aaron H. Chapter 3: Becoming Members of Society Learning the Social

Meanings of Gender. Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality, Indiana Univ.

Press, 1990, p.42

Renzetti, Claire M., et al. Chapter 3 Women, Men, and Society, Pearson, 2014, pp.

74-75