The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by

Ann Shaffer

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Part 2: 6 Jun, 1946 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Juliet writes to Sidney. She's thrilled to hear he's back in London and invites him to visit. Juliet mentions that she has a lot of notes about the occupation, but no direction for a book. Kit has been spending mornings playing quietly in the house and in the afternoon, she and Juliet play a game called Dead Bride. It's a simple game like hide-and-seek and Juliet loves it, though she wonders if it's too morbid for a four-year-old. After spending more time with Kit, Juliet has lots of questions about how to raise children. Juliet says in any case, Kit seems to be suffering no ill effects from being raised by all the Society members.
By observing Kit at close quarters, Juliet is able to come to her own conclusions about the merits of chosen family versus blood family—and as far as she can tell, people who care far outrank people who are just related by blood. Her interest in knowing whether Dead Bride is an inappropriate game shows that Juliet is taking her role as a caregiver very seriously and wants to do her best, and she's beginning to think of herself as a parent.
Themes
Family, Parenting, and Legitimacy Theme Icon
Quotes
Juliet says that Amelia recently told her a story about Elizabeth and her son, Ian. When Ian was about to go to school in England, he decided to run away. Elizabeth offered to sell him a boat. She didn't have one, but built one in three days. Ian set off, but the boat sank not far off the shore. Elizabeth swam out to save him. She returned Ian's money and Ian gave up on his plan to run away. Juliet asks Sidney to send her a book of paper dolls for Kit.
This story about Elizabeth shows that she's always had an attitude that she could do anything, and she's also always been fair about things. Juliet's request for paper dolls shows that she'd like to treat Kit as though she's more of a formal caregiver and in doing so, participate in Kit's entertainment.
Themes
Family, Parenting, and Legitimacy Theme Icon