The Role of the Diary Anne Frank

Battle for Goodness

During the time of WWII, the lives of many Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis, but in The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the story focused on the span of two dangerous years in the lives of eight people in hiding. Those eight people hiding in the secret annex above an office building were the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel. Unfortunately, the corrupt society influenced the residents of the annex and Anne Frank herself negatively, but there were positive influences from the time as well. During the time the families spent hiding in the secret annex, there were favorable and unfavorable actions from the society, the residents, and Anne herself, but that has been a pattern repeated throughout history.

Between 1839 and 1945, during World War II, society was both negatively and positively influenced by the surrounding conditions. The text stated, Right here in Amsterdam every day hundreds of Jews disappear They surround a block and search house by house. Children come home from school to find their parents gone. Hundreds are being deported people that you and I know the Hallensteins the Wessels (506). Society in that time had some dishonorable traits, including the fact that Jewish people were taken out of their everyday lives into ghettos or concentration camps. On the other hand, many people in the European society helped Jewish people go into hiding or escape into a safer country. For the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel, the heroic people that made their hiding possible were Mr. Kraler and Miep Gies. Society during World War II had both good and evil in it, and those qualities were reflected into the lives of Anne's family and friends.

Additionally, each of the residents of the secret annex displayed some moral and immoral actions during the two-year hiding span above the office building. On the immoral side, Mr. Van Daan was driven so close to starvation that he made an almost unforgivable choice to steal extra bread from the limited food supply. The text stated, The bread! He was stealing the bread! (534). Nevertheless, positively shown through the dark times in the secret annex when the Franks let Mr. Dussel permanently stay with them in hiding. This act of kindness saved Mr. Dussel from potential dangers from the Green Police, and, most likely, it spared his life for over two years. Despite the horrible actions done by the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel, each person responded back by revealing their positive side.

Finally, Anne Frank herself bore goodness and evil in her heart, but she was well aware of that, so she did her best to look only for the good. Negatively, Anne always reacted without thinking about the situation, which caused too much conflict for the limited space. In the text, Anne wrote, When he was going on at me I thought sometime I'll give you such a smack that you'll fly right up to the ceiling! (508).

Eventually, Anne did learn how to calm down her overactive thoughts. Although Anne sometimes would not think before she acted, Anne did have a caring heart, especially for Margot, Anne's sister. Anyway the only one I worry about is you. I feel awfully guilty about you, (530). Anne spoke this to her sister because she was afraid she was making Margot upset by growing closer with Peter, which proved that Anne's heart only grew with kindness in the secret annex. This proved that, for better or for worse, Anne Frank had positive and negative actions, even though she meant well.

World War II was a devastating time for millions of people, which reflected negative actions on society and everyone involved. Nevertheless, the society and the people took a positive stance to fight back against the growing evil. Many people helped out strangers to make sure as many people as possible would survive the tragedies of the time period. From the time the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel moved into the secret annex until the time they were taken to concentration camps, the World War II society, the residents in hiding, and Anne Frank's personality developed in favorable and unfavorable ways.

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