The Diary of a Young Girl-Anne Frank-Saturday-July 15-1944-Continuing

Anne now changes the topic and decides to write about the chapter “Father And Mother Don’t Understand Me”.

She blames her parents for treating her so kindly and defending her against van Daans. In spite of that, she felt extremely lonely, abandoned, ignored and misunderstood. Her father tried hard to curb her rebellious nature but failed. She herself has controlled her behavior by following the right way. She writes that her father always talked to her as if she were a child going through a difficult phase. She also admits that it is her father, who has gave her a sense of confidence and made her feel that she was a sensible person. Anne thinks that she was treated like other girls, who are left to themselves to undergo the phase of adolescence. They do not guide them properly and think that they would come out successful of their own. But Anne did not want to be treated in that manner. She says that she cannot confide in others until they tell her in a great deal about them. She does not know much about her father. He always acts like an elderly father, who once had experienced the same ‘fleeting impulses’, but who is unable to relate to her those experiences to her like a friend. This is the reason why she has not shared her outlook towards lifer or her deeply thought theories to anyone except her diary; She deliberately alienated herself from him. (246)

After that, Anne writes about Peter and justifies her friendship with him. She writes that he was badly in need of friendship and love at that time. She was also in need to pour out her heart to a living person. She also needed a friend, who would help her find her way. Gradually she attracted him towards herself and very soon succeeded in that. They talked together about the most private things, but still, she could not understand Peter properly. Anne always regrets that she used intimacy to get closer to Peter. She ignored all other forms friendship while doing it. It is also true that he longed to be loved and has started beginning to like her more each day.

Anne continues that she did not find any other effective way to shake him off and to make him stand on his feet. But soon, she realized the fact that he could never be ‘a kindred spirit’, but in spite of that she tried to help him come out of his narrow world.

After that, Anne writes as to how the young people suffer twice the older ones when their ideals and dreams are shattered. It is because the older people are very much clear about their opinions and they are very much sure of themselves and their actions. But it is very difficult for the younger ones to do so because their faith in God and truth shatters as soon as the worst side of human nature predominates.

Applying this fact to the inmates of the Annex, she writes that the problems in the Annex had a far greater impact on the younger people than on the older ones. They tried to face them and find solutions, but their solutions were soon crushed by the grim reality. Anne wonders as to how she kept a tight hold on some of her ideals. Although they seem quite absurd and impracticable, yet she clings to them because she has not still abandoned believing in the essential goodness that always resides in human heart.

The gloom of hopelessness also envelopes her mind sometimes and she starts believing that it would be impossible for her to build her life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. But, when she looks up in the sky and remembers God, the gloom shatters at once and she starts believing that everything will change for the better, and the reign of cruelty will change and peace and tranquility will return once again.

But she must stick on to her ideals.

Friday, July 21, 1944

Anne feels optimistic because an attempt to kill Hitler was made by a German general; but unfortunately, he escaped. That incident nourished a hope in her mind that there might be an attempt to topple down Hitler’s reign by his own generals and they might go for peace with the Allies.

August 1. 1944

Anne skips from one topic to another and calls herself ‘a bundle of contradictions’. Then she tries to understand the meaning of the word ‘contradiction’ and wonders if it means ‘not toi accept other people’s opinions’ or if it means to reject one’s own opinion at some point of time. As we know that she has an analytical brain, she considers her own personality ‘split into two’. She notices two Annes in herself, one is full of life, cheerfulness, joy, capable to see the lighter aspects of life and who does not mind a little bit of flirtation, a kiss her or an embrace there. But the other Anne is deep, much finer and pure, and this type of Anne is unknown to others. (855)

All the eight people, who were hiding in the Annex were arrested by the security forces three days later. They did not spare even Mr. Kugler and Mr. Kleiman because they were helping them in the Annex. They were all taken to the concentration camps. Anne died in the winter of 1944-45 because of a disease typhus caused by lice-infection because the surroundings in the camps were horrible. The disease broke out in the camp and many prisoners including Margot a few days later. The only survivor was Otto Frank, Anne’s father.