SUMMARY
This final section in the story consisted of Anne doing a lot of reflection and thorough analysis into her personality, character, and her life in general. Although she notices that she’s often been depressed with living life confined in the Annex, she says that she has never been so depressed as to the point of desperation. On the contrary, she views it more as an interesting adventure, “ full of danger and romance” as Anne puts it. Once again, she notes that she does not want to live an ordinary life after war and just be an ordinary housewife.
On another note, Anne’s father has been unhappy lately with the way that Anne has been disobeying him and always going on to Peter’s room every evening. In response to this, an angry Anne wrote an extremely disrespectful letter to her father about her feelings toward him. Later on, when her father told her that this was the most hurtful letter that he had ever received, Anne felt absolutely terrible and totally regretted ever writing that letter. Once again, she wrote that she vowed to try and improve herself.
Later on, she writes more about her relationship with Peter, and she says that although Peter loves her, it is not as a girlfriend, but actually as a friend. The reason why she says this is because she feels that he is still hiding his innermost self from her (from pg.316-317).
In other news, Anne has been studying her head off. She says at one point, “ I’m full to bursting”.
In terms of politics, everyone in the Annex is extremely apprehensive as to the events of the war. The suspense is rising everyday as to when England will invade the German front. In addition, Anne also talks about the Jewish people, and about how anti-Semitism (the prejudice/hostility against Jews) is increasing. People are accusing the Jews of telling secrets to the Germans about helpers so that they could receive punishment as well. But Anne says that if Christians were in the Jew’s shoes, it would be impossible to remain totally silent in the face of German pressure. On Tuesday, June 6, 1944 Anne wrote that this is D Day and that the invasion has begun. It renewed a sense of hope in the Annex members. Maybe this was the beginning of the long-waited liberation for them.
After talking about politics and whatnot, begins Anne’s long period of reflection in the diary. She talks about why women are always seen as inferior to men (even though they are just as strong and have to endure much pain and suffering as well (like childbirth)). Then she goes on to talk about the necessity of hard work as opposed to taking the easy path in life. She says being lazy is tempting, but true hard work will give you the true feeling of satisfaction. Then she talks about how young people have to suffer in a way far worse than what adults have to go through. A good quote to wrap it all up is
“ Deep down, the young are lonelier than the old”, which Anne herself read in a book somewhere.
Finally, Anne ends her diary with talking about herself having two sides. One part
Is always cheerful and happy. It includes being flirty and very comical, the traits that made her popular a few years back. The other side of her, she mentions that it is more pure, deeper, and overall better (the one that is more nice, contemplative, and reflective). The difference between these two sides of her is that the first one is more of an act. At the end of the day, she will want to be her second side, the more honest Anne.
QUOTE
“ So if you’re wondering whether it’s harder for the adults here than for the children, the answer is no, it’s certainly not. Older people have an opinion about everything and are sure of themselves and their actions. It’s twice as hard for us young people to hold on to our opinions at a time when ideals are being shattered and destroyed”(Frank 332).
REACTION
Anne has got to be one of the wisest 15 year olds in the world, and I thought that I was very analytical at that age. I guess that I was proved wrong, because Anne definitely beat me to it. Remember how I mentioned that I was shocked at the amount of reading she had to do. At first it seemed as if she had very strict parents who forced her to study consistently, but most times, she really enjoyed learning. Sometimes I wonder if she and Margot would still be as studious as if they had cell phones and unlimited texting. Nevertheless, that was the 40’s, and I can’t really compare that time period with our time period. You can quickly reach the conclusion that she gained much of her wisdom through reading books on a daily basis, and her mind must have been extremely well developed and stimulated.
Now I want to talk about Anne’s honesty. Perhaps it is because she is writing in a diary that allows her to be so explicit and honest in what she is talking about. However, in 1944, a member of the Dutch government in exile announced in a radio broadcast that he wanted to collect eyewitness accounts of the suffering of Dutch people under German occupation during the war (in the form of diaries and letters). Anne said that she was particularly interested in this, and yet her style of writing remained the same. It had the same level of honesty and originality, and that’s what I admire about her. She has the honesty and courage to admit her faults and “shortcomings”(as Anne calls it) and talk about ways that she can improve herself.
Finally, I want to touch upon the quote that I think was most representative of this section. It really gives the reader insight as to the life of a teenager that is coming of age. Although adults to experience a lot of problems and hard work in life, making the transition from child to adult is extremely difficult as well, and maybe sometimes not enough attention is paid to this stage in life. Although this story is about Anne Frank’s life in hiding, throughout the story, a majority of the material is spent talking about the problems of the family. She talks a lot about her growth and about her observations of the Annex members as well as her interactions with them. Her experiences, good or bad, teach her a lot of people as a whole and help her to mature into independent women. Overall, it may be about World War 2 in some respects, but on a deeper level, it is no different than a story about a teenager finding her place in the world.
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