The Diary of a Young Girl-Anne Frank-Thursday-July 6-1944-Onwards

Anne writes that Peter talks of becoming either a criminal or a speculator after going out of the Annex.

Anne writes that she becomes frightened when he talks about such non-sense. Margot and Peter appreciate Anne’s courage and her quality of not being able to be influenced by anyone.

Anne does not like that Peter should be dependable on her or on others. He should stand on his feet and come out of his laziness. She hates and knows that true happiness is earned. We can earn it by being good and working rather than being passive and speculative. Laziness can be attractive, but it is work that gives satisfaction and true happiness. She also adds that she does not understand as to why people do not like to work. Peter’s problem is that he has no goal in life and he thinks himself inferior to others. Another reason of his frustration is that he is not religious and disrespects even Jesus Christ. Anne believes that she herself is not orthodox, but she is not irreligious at all and does not like Peter to be so.

Anne further expresses her views on the concept of religion. She says that people, who are religious, are fortunate and they should be glad because everyone is not blessed with the ability to have unflinching faith in the higher order. She also says that we should neither be afraid of external punishments nor do we believe in the concept of purgatory, heaven and hell. It may be very difficult for some to believe in all these concepts.

But religion keeps us on the right path. It is not the fear of God, that makes us religious, but it is our sense of honor and following our conscience. She wonders to think as to how everyone will become good if we all do introspection at the end of each day and weigh our right and wrong actions. If it is done each day, there will be a remarkable change in all of us to pursue on the good deed and we will experience that ‘a quiet conscience’ gives us strength. 363

Saturday, July 8, 1944

In this diary entry, Anne writes that Mr. Brok managed to get twenty-four crates of strawberries for the inmates of the Secret Annex and the office employees. The canned the first six jars and made eight jars of jam that evening. Miep started making jam for the office the next morning.

The outside door was locked at 12:30 and Peter, Anne’s father, Mr. van Daan picked up the crates and took them to the kitcen upstairs. Anne got hot water from the water heater and Margot went to bring bucket. Miep, Bep, Mr. Kleiman, Jan, Father, Peter and even some of the office employees were all mixed together. All od a sudden, the doorbell rang twice. Peter ran upstairs and shut the book case behind him. Jan reported that it was a mailman. All of them again got busy in rinsing the strawberries, but again, the door bell rang. It was accountant and Peter had to go upstairs at once. Mr. Kugler came upstairs at one-thirty. Anne had strawberries for breakfast, Jan for lunch, Kleiman was eating them as snack. Miep is boiling them; Bep is hulling them. The rest of the strawberries were canned. In this way, for two days, they remained busy with strawberries.

On Saturday, Anne writes that their biggest enamel pan was placed on the table. It was filled with peas to the brim. They started shelling peas at nine-thirty and carried the job for several hours.  At twelve thirty, they ate breakfast. After 12:30 to 1:15. They had to strip the pods again.

Saturday, July 15, 1944

Anne begins this diary entry by writing that they received a book from the library with a challenging title: ‘What Do You Think of the Modern Young Girl?’

The writer of this book seems to criticize ‘today’s youth’, but at the same time, she believes that they occupy immense power to build ‘a bigger and more beautiful world’. But they keep themselves busy in superficial things. While reading this book, Anne picks up the feeling that, in some passages, the writer is directing the criticism to her. So Anne thinks of writing something about herself as a defence.

She writes that she has a great deal of self knowledge. She has the ability to watch herself as a stranger; she can make herself quite different from the everyday-Anne; she can become her observer without being biased in any way and this is all possible because of her analytical mind. Anne writes that parents can guide their children and tell them that this is the right approach to life. But it is up to the children as to how they imbibe (inculcate) in them the good ideas given to them by their parents. It is up to the children as to how they shape their characters. Anne believes and already understands that she has inculcated the good things which her father has taught to her. So she is able to face even the strong blows of life. (862)