Thursday, December 27, 2007

The Behavior of Anne Frank

In the book Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank, the main character, can be described in many ways. The following will show who Anne is thought of by her family in the "Secret Annex", and herself. Is her behavior really that bad like what the others say, or is she just misunderstood?
In the view of Anne's family who lives with her in the "Secret Annex", Anne is a very dramatic, whiny, unbehaving girl who doesn't need to be taken seriously. She is very impatient, and shows too much of her feelings. If she talks, everyone thinks she is showing off. When she is silent, they think she is ridiculous. She is rude when she answers, and sly if she has a good idea. She is lazy when she is tired, selfish if she eats a mouthful more than she should. She is a queer, insufferable baby.
Anne Frank herself, thinks she knows quite well what she wants. She knows who is wrong. She has her own opinions, her own ideas and principles. She feels more as a person than as a child. She feels quite independent of anyone. She does not exaggerate so much, she is more precise. Because of this, she feels superior to her own mother over many things. She can give advice to anyone better than everyone in the "Secret Annex".
I think Anne Frank's behavior is very acceptable. Today, if anyone does as Anne did, no one would punish her, or think of it as cruel. No one would confront her and ask her to change the way she should act or how to behave. Today, standing up for what you believe in, or having your own opinion about anything is encouraged. When Anne was living, that time frame had different norms. You shouldn't be head strong and cause differences. People back then should be extremely polite at all times. Females were to be very hard working, and patient. They should hardly show their feelings, and never flare up and get into fights.
When people read this book, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, they don't realize how people should have acted back then. Now, we would have thought Anne didn't deserve to be thought of that way by the others of the "Secret Annex". If we lived in the time Anne did, we might of thought she really was what the others of the "Secret Annex" knew her to be. We wouldn't be able to draw the conclusion that Anne was the person the others said she was, or the person Anne thought herself to be, without knowing the norms back when Anne lived, and what was considered "bad", or "rude", or "lazy" at that time.
Having an idea of what things were like when Anne was alive, I would like to draw the conclusion that Anne was well behaved. She wasn't lazy, and she had many great ideas. She was very humble and modest. She didn't mean to be sly or selfish too often. She was rarely rude. She could answer for herself, and had very interesting, well thought out opinions about any matter. Her advice she wanted to give others was more intellegent than her mother's. Like any other adolescent, she had her times when she exploded, and cried about very simple arguments. I think Anne described herself well, and i agree with her. I disagree with the others in the "Secret Annex".

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