The Diary of Anne Frank: Writings about Survival, Resistance, and Courage

The story of Anne Frank conveys the meaning of power and resistance through Anne Frank and the members of the annexe who are forced into hiding by the Nazi regime. Through this extraordinary situation, the members of the annexe still manage to survive, retain hope, educate themselves and experience self-growth despite their difficult circumstances. It is through these accounts that the audience experiences the many forms of resistance which the Jewish people undertook during the war. Anne's journal starts on her thirteenth birthday celebration, June 12, 1942, and closes not long after her fifteenth. Towards the beginning of her journal, Anne depicts a typical rundown of her girlhood encounters, discussing her kinships with different young ladies, she pulverizes on young men and her scholastic execution at school. These are some of the many reasons why Anne Franks diary is so popular nowadays because it shows how normal she was before all the conflict started.

Through education people are able to free themselves from poverty, Anne knows and utilises this recognising that her education will be needed for her future when the war ends. Anne is hopeful about the future because she is studying for her upcoming life and hopes that one day she will become a journalist. “I finally realised that I must do my schoolwork to keep from being ignorant to get on in my life to become a journalist because that’s what I want!”. Anne’s optimistic tone conveys her dedication to her education and her ability to remain hopeful in regard to survival and her dreams for the future. In the face of such an evil power like the Nazi regime, Anne resists oppression by focusing on her education, a privilege which was taken from her. Education provided an escape and hope as Anne was able to use education to take her away from their bleak lives. “But I want to achieve more than that. I can't imagine having to live like mother, Mrs van Daan and all the women who go about their work and are then forgotten. I need to have something besides a husband and children to devote myself to!” Anne's tone in this quote makes the reader hear that what she is saying is not a joke and how dedicated she is for education so she doesn’t end up like her mother. Anne is inspired by her mum and Mrs van Daan as she realises that she doesn’t want to live a life like theirs. She would much prefer to become a journalist and to spend her time focusing on something that will make her father proud and something that she can enjoy other than praising her husband-to-be.

Throughout the novel the reader sees Anne growth as a character, she goes from a sometimes petty and inconsiderate teenager to a mature and thoughtful young woman. This character growth is highlighted at the end of the novel when Anne professes “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart” these poignant words exemplify the internal resistance that Anne shows in her diary. Anne's optimistic tone conveys her resilience as she is being a humble human being and resisting the thought that the Germans are killing her people and that inside they are really good people. 'This morning, when I had nothing to do, I leafed through the pages of my diary and came across so many letters dealing with the subject of 'mother' in such strong terms that I was shocked. I said to myself, 'Anne, is that really you talking about hate? Oh, Anne, how could you?' Anne is using multiple rhetorical questions to persuade or subtly influence the audience. It's a question asked not for the answer, but for the effect and gets the audience thinking. Anne was so astounded with herself that she had really written things about her mother in a manner that no one should do. After reading some of her old pages Anne confronts herself of being someone so ignorant and immature and by doing this, Anne is showing self-growth.

Throughout the diary, you see that Anne has a strong faith and bond towards her God. She believes that he will make everything better and make the war end. She believes in God and faith that the Jews will survive because why would God ever let them suffer? “God has never deserted our people. Through the ages, Jews have had to suffer, but through the ages, they’ve gone on living, and the centuries of suffering have only made them stronger. The weak shall fall and the strong shall survive and not be defeated!” Her tone in this quote makes her sound powerful and determined to keep on believing in God because she believes that he will never let her down. Annes resisting the fact that God can’t actually help her but od course she doesn’t want to believe it. “The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God”. Through Anne’s insightful tone the audience witnesses her retained hope amongst the atrocities of war. Anne is saying that going outside is good for those who are frightened and believes that being alone can allow you to talk to God and let your worries out with him.

Through studying The Diary of Anne frank the reader learns that power and resistance go hand in hand, you cannot have one without the other. Anne Frank shows the power of resistance and that we must always work to retain hope and humanity even in the darkest places. Despite the cruelty she has seen and been exposed to, Anne manages to rise above the horrors of war to still see the goodness in mankind, which is the most empowering source of resistance. ‘Where there is power there is resistance’, The diary of Anne Frank shows inspirational ways in which resistance occurred in response to the atrocities of war.