I read “The Diary of a Young Girl” at a rapid speed because
it took me by my roots and stems. I have always been a fanatic of history and
its gripping tales. And the bitter life of Anne Frank captured me deeply. I
first heard about Anne Frank when I was in school and since then she has
resided curiously in my mind. I won’t be talking about her life, and how it
went. But I am more willing to talk about the strength of character of Anne
Frank. How she held herself and held her emotions while being in hiding or more
famously known as “Secret Annex”.
Anne loved to write and read. In her diary, she frequently
mentions how much writing helped her to overcome her thoughts. She has
been raw and brutally honest when it came to jotting down the events going
around in Secret Annex. One thing I couldn’t help but notice was how mature she
was. For someone who has just entered teenage i.e. 14, she was incredibly
bright and understandable. Not once did she complain about her life, which so
many of us do these days, even though there isn’t a price for our heads. She
did mention the war being over and joining the school. She mentioned her admiration for nature and how beautiful it was. And after all, was over, she
could rejoice at the beauty of her life again, but she wasn’t whining. She was
hopeful for the better in the future. And as it was, the year was 1944, and the
war was on the verge of being over. Her optimism was strikingly tragic, even
though her life turned out beyond her imagination, she was optimistic.
She believed everything had its own reasons. She disliked Mrs. Van Daan, but knew there was a reason for her behaving that way. She fell in love with Mrs. Van Daan's son, Peter, who she mentions gave her so much comfort. She adored her father, not as much she adored her mother, she often said her mother didn’t understand her, and Margot (her older sister) had her own things going on and didn’t care much. Once, she mentions that she had to eat nothing but strawberries for days and yet reflects no remorse on it. She kept herself from whining. On an entry from April 14, 1944, she wrote
“My work, my hope, my
love, my courage, all these things keep my head above water and keep me from
complaining.”
“If the truth is told, things are
just as bad as you yourself care to make them.”
She matured a lot over time. I noticed, maybe as a writer, that in the beginning, her writing was ordinary like a typical 14-year-old. But her later entries, she has used big words and a lot of literature. Her beliefs and her thoughts were simply the driving factors of the Anne Frank we know now. On an entry from 11 April 1944, she wrote:
“If God lets me live, I shall attain
more than Mummy ever has done, I shall not remain insignificant. I shall work
in the world and for mankind. And now I know that first and foremost I shall
require courage and cheerfulness.”
She describes her hobbies from an entry on April 6, 1944, she
makes a list of 5 hobbies, and they are:
1) Writing
2) Family Trees
3) History
4) Greek and Roman mythology
5) Film Stars and Family Photos
If only she had known that her diary would sell 30 million copies worldwide. When she said this, I felt like the shadow of her figure in
the darkroom. I was in her words. I
found myself on the nib of her pen. It felt like she was speaking about me. She
described my dream. She described the essence of my life.
The world is wicked and did not deserve you. But Anne, this world
needed you. Rest in Peace.
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