Coming on June 26, 2015 is a movie based on a book that tells the story of a young girl in hiding during World War II through diary entries. Anne Frank was a young girl that should have never had to experience the things she did. See her own personal diaries come to life on screen and witness the struggles and the heartache through her eyes. The story she tells will shine a new light on how people would hide, scared and alone, during the Holocaust. Every day was spent hoping it wasn’t their last.
I have recently had the opportunity to read “The Diary of a Young Girl”, Anne Frank’s diary during the time of World War II. When I first started reading Anne’s diary, my impression was that Anne was a very confident, self-conceited, young girl that could do anything or get anything she wanted. Throughout the diary, I started to realize that I was wrong about her. She poured her feelings into this simple diary, thinking that no one would ever get a hold of her secret entries. She put on an act to everyone else in the Secret Annexe, but she really was just an insecure, scared, confused young girl that had no idea what would happen the next minute. Despite the unusual life that Anne lived, she was no different than any other teenager. I feel that Anne had a very roughly short life that and learning about her makes me treasure every minute that I am living.
I don’t feel as if I can say that I understand Anne Frank because I can’t even imagine what she went through in her time. I can say that I do connect to Anne on the topic, “coming of age” in a few ways. Anne had no choice to change from a little girl to a young adult in a very short amount of time. I don’t have the same situation because I have people around me when Anne had no one she could talk to. She made it a point to isolate herself from the people around her. She also didn’t understand why her body was changing because no one was around to explain or truly care for her. As well, Anne was confused if she wanted to be independent or want her family around to comfort her. I connect with her on this topic because I want to handle things myself, but want someone to help me at other times. Anne never had much of a motherly figure, and I think that definitely contributes to the way she acted and who she was. I connect to these few things that Anne went through, but I don’t think I can ever say that I would understand her life.
This book opened my mind to a whole new light after reading every entry in Anne’s personal diary. She writes in her diary that despite everything, she still believes that people are good. A lesson I have taken from her diary is that we should learn to accept our differences and embrace diversity. She highlighted that everyone should respect each other in the way they are, but this is still going on in the world today sadly. Anne definitely emphasized the point of not judging someone by their religion or appearance. She showed me that I should be thankful for every day I am living and breathing. This book will change your way of how you see the world and other people. She may have not looked forward to waking up the next morning in the Secret Annexe, but she always thought about having a life out of hiding. Anne Frank had hope and that’s what all of us should keep in our hearts.
