12th June 1942 saw the beginning of a remarkable friendship between a thirteen-year-old girl, Anne Frank, and her beloved diary, Kitty. In 1945, she became a victim of the cruelest fate men have enforced on men.
The Diary of a Young Girl, or what is popularly known as Anne Frank’s Diary, is a collection of letters to Kitty, compiled together in a book. It is one of the most spontaneous, outspoken, innocent, and honest opinions on the Second World War available to us today.
The diary is mostly written from The Secret Annex, a hide-out where the Franks were forced to seek, in 1942, at the heights of Jewish persecution in Holland. Her diary pulsates with all her thoughts and emotions. It accounts for all the hardships she faces as she grows from a talkative girl of thirteen to a more mature fifteen-year-old, while the most unforgiving of wars rage on outside.
Reading the book when I was of Anne’s age was a surreal experience as if someone had given me a magical looking-glass that allowed me not only to peek into her life but also tap into her head and read her mind. Re-visiting the book a few days back, during the lockdown, I felt like I understood parts of what Anne was experiencing for the very first time.
The Holocaust, the Jewish persecution, and the World Wars should, on no accounts, be equated to the Coronavirus crisis we are facing today. However, one must admit that the book certainly helps both adults and children alike, inspiring all to be more accepting of the current confinement.
When Anne received her diary and started writing in it, she was already living under the effects of several anti-Jewish decrees. Despite wearing the yellow star marker, being banned from traveling in public transports, entering cinemas and most shops (other than the Jewish ones), and being forced to attend an exclusively Jewish school, Anne was a youth full of life.
The oppression was inhuman, but her early records only mention it all in passing, almost oblivious to the effects of these injustices. In her diary, she talked about her girlfriends and boyfriends. Snippets from when she met them, cycled with them, or gossiped with them were the highlights of her days. When she suddenly found herself in hiding, life as she knew it disappeared. The diary entries then portray a different story, a story of unimaginable, indefinite confinement.
The change from seeing bright human faces to masked, drooped ones was sudden! So were the changes- from freely roaming about, going to schools, chatting with friends, to sitting at home in front of screens and attending classes digitally, in seclusion. These changes the children had to face, many of whom are not unlike Anne.
The unbearable negativity of an ongoing pandemic must have altered the lives of young girls and boys in ways we cannot imagine. To look more closely into the psychological effects of this house arrest on children, parents should take to reading the book. What’s more, adolescent readers will find a friend in Anne, a friend whose own hardships make her understanding and kind.
Today, I am taking the liberty to list my reasons to believe that The Diary of a Young Girl is the book of the hour.
1. Paper is more patient than people
In one of her diary entries before going into hiding, Anne tells Kitty that she is primarily alone and friendless despite always writing about people. She adds that her family is kind and loving, and there are about thirty people that she should be able to call friends, even several admirers. However, they are all good for just having fun; they fail to provide her with a safe space to confide her thoughts in them. Most children feel similar loneliness. They assume that their anxieties are either too trivial for adults or incomprehensible to them. Children themselves lack the means to articulate these complicated emotions properly. They seem to be cheerful among friends and family, but that might be far from the reality.
Anne inspires all young imaginative minds to start a diary as self-expression, whether it is a daily journal or an occasional one! I had started mine in an attempt to imitate hers. Anne helps children attain a stronger self-identity, a self-hood. Readers are urged on to manifest themselves in writing, to try to leave a mark on the bosom of civilization, as Anne did.
All hope seems to have disappeared during the lockdown. When chores are many and entertainment few, writing might be a perfect hobby. It is an escape or a getaway, as Anne herself says- ‘I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.’
2. Conquering the fear
Life was playing out at its own unsurprising and regular pace. Anne had, on her mind, her term report and the graduation ceremony, but talks about the imminent hiding were afloat. An entry, three days later, confirmed that the family had to suddenly pack up and move into the Annex as Margot, Anne’s sister, received a SS call-up. They had to leave behind all their belongings. Even their pet cat Moortje could not accompany them. Once they entered their secluded hideout, on the top floor of her father’s office, coming out of the place was beyond consideration- for fear of being discovered and carted away to a concentration camp, to one’s death.
The pandemic lockdown was sudden too. Though necessary, the restriction on one’s free movement was somewhat of a tough pill to swallow, especially for school-going children and adolescents. The discontinuation of normal education and physical activities, along with a complete ban on visiting places and friends, traveling with family, has disrupted these children’s general growth and development. The four walls of their homes often start to look like a prison cell under such conditions.
Also, read: Enid Blyton – Books For Children To Read During The Lockdown
However, the fear of going out is far greater, for it is the fear of death. The fear of dying due to lack of oxygen in lungs; or worse, the fear of contaminating the loved ones, condemning them to a similar fate. Young minds perceive death with a unique poignancy and absorb the anxieties of the adults around them but lack the means to communicate the same properly. In Anne’s daily entries, they will find solace and strength.
3. Living in close quarters
Lockdown is especially difficult for children as they are forced to stay away from their peers and instead live in very close quarters with parents and elders. This definitely results in some friction, leaving the children agitated and with a growing sense of helplessness. Similarly, Anne also has several clashes with the adults in the Annex, especially with her mother and Mrs. Van Daan. She states that her mere presence exasperates everybody; however, she does not know why.
Young readers will find themselves thoroughly represented in Anne’s words. She voices her contempt for scolding and bickering and illustrates several instances where the adults fail to understand her. Adult readers can’t help but laugh at some of the trivial accusations of Anne against the Annex’s authorities. Still, they also feel sympathetic towards her, impressed by the honesty of her justifications.
4. Adjustments and sacrifices
Life during a war or any calamity is difficult. The supplies are short, the food is insufficient, doctors unavailable, and what not! When the government declared a lockdown and advised the population to maintain social distance, even in one’s homes, something curial slipped off their minds- the lack of space in the average Indian household! In a country where several live without roofs on their heads, the available roofs, house many- sometimes even large families, with cousins and far-off relations, all staying together. Even families living comfortably are forced to adopt a more economical use of resources and assign to all its members, unending list of odd jobs and chores to ensure proper running of the household.
Anne, in hiding, was forced to live with the Van Daans, her father’s colleague’s family, who were much different from theirs. They even took in Mr. Dussel, after living for some time in the Annex, who, due to the lack of space, had to share the bedroom with Anne. Though it was an extraordinary breach of her privacy, Anne was happy to help. The horrors of war had taught her- ‘If we can save one of our friends, the rest doesn’t matter.’ However, once the arrangement was put in place, Anne complained far too often about it, but always to her diary alone. The adjustments and struggles were difficult but necessary, and Anne grew to understand that.
This is a very important lesson for the children growing up in the times of Corona. They must learn to count their privileges and blessings, and in turn, extend helping hands to the ones facing conditions worse than them, in absolutely any means possible.
5. Optimism in the face of death
News today blares the growing numbers of infected patients and the outrageous statistics of death. This alone is enough to break down any person’s zeal and determination to come off the crisis eventually. Doctors are constantly urging people to turn off the news and focus on positive things.
In the book, we see the Annex inhabitants glued to the radio- their only communication to the outside world. Diligently every evening, they listened, with the hope of receiving some positive news on the war. However, they sometimes took breaks from this ritual, as the news was almost always overwhelmingly depressing. Along with the food supplies and other necessities, their outside contacts also carried the world’s information to the Annex. But noticing the new anxiety it birthed inside the Annex every time, they consciously stopped bringing in sad tidings. The children focused on new hobbies and read instead.
6. Lessons and schoolwork
Though school seemed like an alien and distant prospect to the three youngsters living in Annex, they never gave up on their lessons. They worked hard at whatever was available to them, read any book they could lay their hands on, and kept up a steady study schedule. Margot took up calligraphy and read profusely. Anne learned her French lessons while Peter Van Daan struggled with his English. They all learned shorthand with the help of a correspondence curriculum brought to them by a friend. Anne was especially concerned about not lagging and looked forward to studying in a higher form once the war was over.
At present most children are losing their enthusiasm and motivation and are slowly turning away from their textbooks. The depression resulting from the endless deaths makes schoolwork appear trivial. What’s the point of struggling with lessons when life itself seems hideously ephemeral! However, there is no alternative to gaining knowledge, and it is primarily done to satisfy one’s curiosity and is a source of great pleasure. Anne advocates this very simply by saying- ‘Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.’
7. Gratitude and Hope
Young minds never miss a thing, neither did Anne’s. Some of her letters to Kitty are pages and pages on the death of their friends and acquaintances. She writes about the suffering of the Jews in general, in the hands of the Gestapo- ‘the sick, the elderly, children, babies and pregnant women- all march to their death.’ Anne’s words sound just as relevant in today’s situation; this is another march of death! Sensitive children too might feel now as Anne did- ‘I feel wicked sleeping in a warm bed…’- wicked and selfish, guilty yet helpless. The spectrum of emotions that constantly play on a child’s mind is complex and demands keen observation.
Anne’s diary becomes an inexhaustible source of hope, especially when nearing its close, for Anne is now a woman of fifteen and looks at the world more patiently.
The calm and cool understanding of human nature that she attains in the two years of confinement shocks the readers. In her humanistic approach to life, she says- ‘I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart’. To the readers, she urges- ‘Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.’
8. Life takes its own turn
While the Coronavirus crisis and the lockdown might seem to be the end of the world for many, it is not so. Life goes on, and it stops at nothing. No matter what the calamity, growth never takes a day off! So, in the Annex, the children grew; they outgrew their clothes and gloves and shoes while also outgrowing their childish nuances. Anne got her first period in the Annex. The feeling of closeness and familiarity also grew between the inhabitants, and especially between Peter and Anne.
Birthdays were celebrated; though the gifts were scanty, re-purposed, or recycled, the happiness was genuine. They even celebrated Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day, but with limited means. Receiving an extra pound of butter as a Christmas present brought them unimaginable delight. No amount of sorrow can erase the trace of life, and the living must go on. Anne Frank teaches us this invaluable lesson. She looks hopefully towards a time without war and destruction.
‘How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world’, Anne says. And this should be the motto with which we will move on toward a Covid free world. When the disease and contamination finally come under control, youngsters and adults alike should strive towards establishing a better, safer world, keeping in mind this wise realization of the “Young Girl”.