The Diary of Anne Frank

The book I have recently started, “The Diary of Anne Frank” by Anne Frank is the actual diary of a thirteen year old girl hiding in an attic from the Nazis during world war two. She describes the living conditions and everything that she hears about what is happening to her friends and family who are not hidden. One of the most common things she talks about while hiding in the “secret annex” is the fights the families have. There is Ms. Van Daan who always is picking a fight with someone or other. And then she talks about herself and how nobody seems to think that she can do anything right. But it is really nobody’s fault for the fights. It can be because of the setting or because of the anxiety of what is happening.

The setting is a major part of the reason why there is so much tension. Because the two families are living in a cramped living environment, a lot of their quarrels have to do with the setting itself. One fight that lasted a few days was over a small work desk that everyone needed to do their work. The setting made it difficult to share a working space with all dwellers. Many of the arguments have happened because of some problem with the setting. For example, the families had to store beans but could not keep them on the main floor so they had an argument about who should take them upstairs. The end result was a million beans on the floor. The setting has a large impact on the characters relationships because it makes them quarrel more often for simple things like beans or a work desk. I know that if I was stuck with the same eight people in an attic I would be angered easily. This makes me realize how hard it must be for them to be nice to each other in this environment. It must be difficult for the families to get along as much as they do which is hardly at all.

In the book, the newcomer who moves in with Anne and her family into the “secret annex” knows a lot about what is going on outside because he has been out there longer. He tells the family all of the horrors of what has been happening at concentration camps and how unfairly people are treated. I think that it is stories like these that add to the fighting between people. The anxiety of knowing that something might happen to them and what is happening to their friends is harsh and it certainly adds to the tension. This makes the families spark their anger at every little thing. I know that I would be very scared knowing that I could be caught and shot at any moment for hiding, I would be very scared and easily frightened. This is what causes some of the fight. Also, because there is hardly anything to do, there is more time for them to think about these things giving more fighting time as well as more time to build up fears. Anxiety and boredom are definitely contributing to the arguments between people in the “secret annex”.

It is obvious by the way that Anne Frank talks about the arguments that they are not what usually happen between her and her family. So, something must be different. I think that the setting itself is a contributing factor because there is hardly room and has caused many specific arguments. Boredom leads to anxiety which leaves residents more vulnerable to becoming angry at one another. There are definitely many more things, though, that cause these fights. But arguments are most often sparked in my life because of these things, so these must be the major causes of arguments in general.