Anne Frank and the Adults, By Lauren Claypoole

   As we begin to read the captivating "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank, a young, Jewish, teenage girl who lives during Adolph Hitler's reign in Germany, we become acquainted with her through reading her diary she called Kitty. She began her diary entries on June 12th, 1942, her birthday. Soon she had a birthday party, and through her accounts of it and her classroom, we meet her friends, enemies, and boy admirers. She seemed to be quite popular, and not very modest about it! However, her life took an interesting twist on July 16, 1942, as she, her mother, father, and sister moved into hiding in the "Secret Annex" of Mr. Frank's office building. Soon after, the Frank family was joined by the van Daan family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. van Daan, and their son, Peter. A few months later, a dentist, Mr. Dussel, joined the two families in hiding.

    During the first several months of Anne Frank's hiding, an arguement always seemed to occur between Anne and Mrs. Frank, Mrs. van Daan, or Mr. Dussel. The three adult figures seemed to chastise, correct, or antagonize the talkative Anne constantly. In her diary entry on January 30, 1943, Anne said, "Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I am silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I am tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should, stupid, calculating, etc., etc." Even thought she didn't act as if this hurt her, it did. 

    This behavior from Mrs. Frank, Mrs. van Daan, and Mr. Dussel led Anne to be very angry in many situations.  She became very frustrated because no one, even her father whom she was very fond of, seemed to understand or listen to her.  She began to believe that she should be like her "quiet, boring" sister and change her personality.  "I'm stuck with the character I was born with, and yet I'm sure I'm not a bad person.  I do my best to please everyone," she says in her entry on January 30, 1943, referring to how hard it was for her to cope with the critical adults in her life.

    Anne Frank displayed more animated behavior than any of the other people she was hiding with in the first few months in the secret Annex.  She had her own spark, despite what the adults in her life say about it.  Hopefully as we progress in reading her diary's pages, we will learn whether she was ever suppressed.