Anne Frank Analysis

By Lauren, Year 9

Written as part of Factory Feedback

Authors are able to use the textual form of novels to showcase crucial key messages. Anne Frank’s epistolary, monologic text, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ reveals the workings of her mind as she, along with her family, copes with real life events inside and outside the annexe during World War 2. Throughout the diary, Frank discusses multiple significant themes, including the futility of war and how it can lead to unnecessary, extreme destruction and devastation. She also explores how isolation amplifies the feelings of difference and disconnection from family that often accompany adolescence. Through a thorough and descriptive analysis of these key statements, the purpose of texts to display a variety of vital themes is evident.

In the book “The Diary of a Young Girl”, Frank demonstrates the significant theme of how war is futile and can lead to unnecessary, extreme destruction and devastation. As a result of the air raids and aerial warfare in Europe in WWII, many young children were injured and stripped of protection as their parents were killed due to the extreme murdering by the Nazis. This is seen through the visual imagery in “North Amsterdam was heavily bombed on Sunday…entire streets are in ruins, and it will take a while for them to dig out all the bodies” which positions readers to  imagine the tremendous amount of destruction and rubble leftover from the Allied forces’ attacks on German occupied territories. In addition to this, the extensive use of emotive language, “We’ve been told of children searching forlornly in the smouldering ruins for their dead parents” highlights how Frank uses children as a symbol of innocence to emphasise the pity of war to specifically evoke an emotional response from the readers. Anne Frank communicates to her audience the struggles many innocent children had to endure at such a young age, as they had no protection or defence in order to properly survive in such a cruel time in the aftermath of the bombing. 

Furthermore, within ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’, Anne Frank communicates the essential theme of how isolation amplifies the feelings of difference and disconnection from family that often accompany adolescence. Frank’s constant feeling of being lonely in a cramped and destitute home gives a motive for her to write to her ‘Dearest Kitty’ about the conversations and thoughts about the people in the annexe. The metaphor in the confession, “Margot’s and Mother’s personalities are so alien to me” exaggerates that their personality traits seem to be foreign, abnormal and strange, likened to that of an alien. This highlights how different Margot and Mothers’ personalities seem to be envisioned in Anne’s mind, which makes her feel distant from her family. The audience can therefore understand the struggles that Anne has to endure for her to belong and fit in as she feels different and isolated from the rest of her family. Furthermore, the situational irony in, “Still, I can’t help telling you that lately I’ve begun to feel deserted. I’m surrounded by too great a void… Now I think either about unhappy things or about myself.” demonstrates how she feels stranded and lonely regularly as she feels “deserted”. The utilisation of irony emphasises how Anne feels completely alone even though she lives in a crowded home with eight people that she can communicate with, including Peter or Anne’s father. Frank effectively communicates to the audience that growing up in isolation can affect how Anne thinks and reacts towards her family as she feels a need for care support from them, to help her have a better understanding of the world.

To sum up, by representing her deeply personal thoughts and feelings about WWII, Anne Frank’s epistolary, monologic text, “The Diary of a Young Girl’ demonstrates many crucial messages, including the futility of war as it can lead to unnecessary destruction and devastation. Not only this, but the valuable theme of how familial isolation amplifies the feelings of disconnection is conveyed through the novel. I felt extremely relieved to be living in a safe world in the 21st century. Thus, through detailed and thorough analysis, authors are able to use this textual form to communicate many important themes throughout their books.

Factory Feedback was created with, and generously supported by, the Dusseldorp Forum.

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