Becoming Women in Strenuous Circumstances and Using Writing as a Form of Comfort

1440 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women in World War II

What s a girl? A human creature? A daughter? A friend? A girl is everything. She is sensitive and assertive, she is beautiful and unique and although she is all of these wonderful qualities; in the time of World War II and the holocaust women no matter if they were German or Jewish or any other nationalities were cast into their classical gender role responsibilities. This is the case for Anne in “The Diary of A Young Girl” by Anne Frank, and Liesel in “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. They had to mature into a woman in very unusual circumstances and used writing as a form of comfort. Becoming a woman happens in every girl’s life through puberty, but for Anne and Liesel it happens in very unusual circumstances. Anne is a thirteen year old girl when she first goes into hiding in the annex; which is a secret living space, as she is Jewish in World War II. She turns fifteen just before the family is arrested. So her diary is a first hand experience on her challenges of puberty under these unusual circumstances, and the issues she struggles with which are universal for all girls going through puberty. Like any normal young girl growing up she talks about her sexuality. Only in Anne’s case, she does not have any close friends to share these experiences or feelings with as she is in hiding. So she writes in her diary about what she is learning about herself. As she grows up and starts to compare herself to her mother and to other women such as her sister, this becomes obvious when she falls for the boy named peter in the secret annex and says “I know I’m starting at a very young age. Not even fifteen and already so independent- that’s a little hard for other people to understand. I’m pretty sure Margot would never kiss a boy unless... ... middle of paper ... ...ing and books all of these experiences are true. Even though Anne is a young Jewish girl and Liesel is a young German girl in World War II they have the same basic experiences like growing up into a women or the feeling of loneliness in their adolescence. The comparison of these two characters shows that no matter where a young girl is in the world or what they are affiliated with they all go through the same gender problems. Works Cited Frank, Otto and Pressler, Marjam, Eds. The Definitive Edition: The Diary of a Young girl. New York: The Anchor Rose, 1995, Print. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Book Thief.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Diary of a Young Girl.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief. United States: Random House, 2005. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Number The Stars Annemarie Character Analysis

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    Annemarie's whole life circled around the lie about Aunt Birte, plus others. Her life changed, her relationship towards the adults changed, and last but not least, she learned the meaning and the way of

    Read More

  • Diary Of Anne Frank Analysis

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine what it would have been like to be cooped up in an attic during the Holocaust,with only very little space eight people in one little attic. For the Franks and the Van Danns it was eight people and a cat for most the time. With no one to talk to they have to keep everything in, unless they write it. In “The Diary of Anne Frank” the two families live this way. Anne and Peter were two of the characters who experienced this. Anne is a teenage girl who has a sister and lives during the Holocaust. Anne also had a lot of friends so she was popular; she loved to read and write in her journal. She was very loud and obnoxious. In Act one Scene two ,Peter says “I was always by myself, while you were in a big crowd of people.” This shows that Anne was very popular and is used to people; while Peter was not used to as much attention and people. Then in Act one Scene three, Mr.Van Dann says, “ Why can’t you be more like your sister Margot?” This proves that the Van Danns like Margot more than they like Anne ; it also proves they think Anne is obnoxious.

    Read More

  • A Look Inside the Mind of Anne Frank

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anne Frank was a young girl living in what was considered one of the darkest moments in recent history, the holocaust. Her diary, which was given to her as a gift, was started on June 12, 1942, her last entry in it was on august 1, 1944, which was when the annex was discovered, and she was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She lived in an annex in an old warehouse with her family and several other people. Throughout the time spent in the annex, Anne wrote about the life that she lived, the emotions that she went through, and the difficulties of hiding from the Gestapos. Gestapos were the Nazi secret police who were most widely known for tracking down Jewish people who were in hiding. Anne Frank gives an insight to the lifestyle of Jewish families in hiding and the mindset of an adolescent girl trapped in difficult position that threatened everything that she knew and everything that she loved. Adolescents crave freedom and those who do not have freedom can feel more stressed.

    Read More

  • The Diary Of Anne Frank Analysis

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...away with the negatives. Anne said, “We’re not the only people that’ve had to suffer. There’ve always been people that’ve have to…sometimes one race…sometimes another…and yet…” (Goodrich and Hackett 117). The reader is amused with the way that Anne keeps her composure and a positive outlook throughout one of the most horrendous times in this world’s history. Anne contained the endurance and willpower to kept striving to freedom. Anne Frank withheld a special characteristic that no one could take away from her, and that is why Anne Frank is who she is now. Anne set a standard to young women to show that they can be courageous and strong like her, and to have a bright spirit even when you are at your lowest. Anne set the example to show that whether you are a girl or boy, old or young, you can be brave, and you can push through tough times with a little help of hope.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Anne Frank and Pride and Prejudice

    515 Words  | 2 Pages

    A critical point about Anne Frank's diary is that it was written during the years of her adolescence. She struggled with many typical teenage problems- yearning for her own...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Isolation And Death

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frank, Anne. The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition. Translated by Susan Massotty, Edited by Otto Frank and Mirjam Pressler, Bantam, 1997.

    Read More

  • Liesel Symbolism In Death

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Liesel’s beauty is expressed through her vulnerability and courage in her life. Throughout her life, she loses a majority of the people she loves at a young age, she is cursed with nightmares that leave her “swimming in her bed, screaming, and drowning” in the late hours of the night (Zusak 36). Her courage is seen in her willingness to endure life throughout tragedies and in her bold act of reading to her neighbors to comfort them during a time of crisis. Liesel’s loyalty and love for her friends and family are an act of true beauty that causes readers to love her. Liesel’s ugliness is found in the stealing of books from Frau Hermann and her temper that caused her to “come close” to killing Ludwig Schmeikl (Zusak 79). Rosa Hubermann’s ugliness is far more apparent than Liesel’s, Rosa’s use of vulgarity and “ability to aggravate anyone she ever met,” are just a few examples (Zusak 35). Rosa’s beauty is portrayed in her willingness to risk everything to foster a Jew, in her long nights sitting “with her husband’s accordion tied to her chest” in hopes for him to come home, and in her efforts to feed and protect those she loved (Zusak 429). Hans kindness, patience, and love toward Liesel are his acts of beauty. The ugliness within Hans are seen through his impulsiveness and inability to think through his actions, such as feeding the Jew bread, making promises he cannot keep, and by putting

    Read More

  • ANNE frANK

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    A young girl forced to spend her teenage years in hiding due to the barbarity of the Holocaust has more in common with a current American teenage than some people know. Yes, the circumstances in today’s world do not merely relate to the horrid times of the Holocaust but, the adolescents in both time periods still express the difficulties of finding themselves, as well as, building themselves to the person they want to become. Obviously, Anne Frank is a different person because of what she went through during Hitler’s dictatorship. People worldwide are still reading the remarkable Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl, because her own innocent words are written revealing how ordinary she truly was. Anne is comfortably capable of partaking in an eighth grade school classroom. Her mind is just like any average teenager, which is eye opening for readers considering her innocent life was taken. In today’s world Anne Frank would naturally fit into society because she expresses personal experiences and feelings in her diary to which an average American teenager could relate.

    Read More

  • The Woman Warrior: A Tale of Identity

    1959 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...spectives that it makes it quite difficult for a reader to see the progression of the autobiography and the progression of Kingston’s growth from a child to a woman. However, growth is evident in the narrative and one could see that the many facets of Kingston – her cruelty, her teenage rebelliousness, her meekness, and her strength. She grows from a child who could not speak for herself in school to a woman who can speak her mind on paper. She grows from a child who cowered from her mother’s story telling to a woman who accepts the dark crevices of her past. Kingston grew in her book from a person who suffered under scrutiny and conflicting values and customs to a woman who has found her identity and has composed beautiful prose about her heritage.

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Anne Frank

    489 Words  | 1 Pages

    In World War II, Anne Frank and her family had to go into hiding while Adolf Hitler was ruling in Germany. While in hiding the relationship between the different families grew stronger throughout the 2 years in the annex. It was hard for them, because they had to be quiet and careful so they don't get caught. As time passed, many historical events that occurred outside the annex influenced the moods and relationships of the characters. As you will read throughout this essay I will show you how the life was for Anne and how tough it was.

    Read More

  • Coming of Age in a Wartime Environment

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Growing up in a wartime environment affects the identities, confidence and adolescence process for many people. In the books, The Diary of A Young Girl, Farewell to Manzanar, and Night, World War II accelerates Anne’s, Jeanne’s and Elie’s precious maturity and coming of age process. World War II, the Nazis and their identity of being Jewish forces Anne and Elie to grow up and mature much sooner than expected. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, World War II have a negative impact on Jeanne’s confidence and she starts to lose respect towards her Japanese heritage. All three of them are struggling to find out who they truly are. Anne Frank, Jeanne Wakatsuki and Elie Wiesel all are greatly affected by the war, but in different milieus and in different scenarios.

    Read More

  • Coming of Age in Alice Munro’s "Boys and Girls"

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls,” there is a time line in a young girl’s life when she leaves childhood and its freedoms behind to become a woman. The story depicts hardships in which the protagonist and her younger brother, Laird, experience in order to find their own rite of passage. The main character, who is nameless, faces difficulties and implications on her way to womanhood because of gender stereotyping. Initially, she tries to prevent her initiation into womanhood by resisting her parent’s efforts to make her more “lady-like”. The story ends with the girl socially positioned and accepted as a girl, which she accepts with some unease.

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Anne Frank

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    On Anne’s 13th birthday she got a few presents along with a diary that she got to pick out in the local bookstore. She wrote every day to her imaginary girlfriend that she named “Kitty,” about her experiences she had gone through. Anne wrote,

    Read More

  • What Are The Relationships In The Diary Of A Young Girl

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    So although Anne was young Jewish girl hiding her life away, and facing the difficulties she had a friend, and a lover out of the same person to spend the time in the secret annex throughout her years in there, “yours truly,

    Read More

  • From Poverty to Fame: Biography of Louisa May Alcott

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    Weisgall, Deborah. “The Mother of All Girls’ Books.” The American Prospect. n.p. 11 June 2012. Web. 29 March 2014. .

    Read More

More about Becoming Women in Strenuous Circumstances and Using Writing as a Form of Comfort

Open Document