Similarities Between Night And Diary Of Anne Frank

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“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” Wise words from the former President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, speak nothing but the truth when it comes to the approach of conflict by Elie Wiesel, author of Night, and Anne Frank, author of Diary of Anne Frank. Although these victims of the Holocaust may have similarities such as writing about their hardships and shutting their family out, their differences in dealing with conflict bring them far apart as well. Wiesel deals with conflict by losing faith and being pessimistic, whereas Frank deals with conflict by being hopeful and finding comfort in Peter.
When Wiesel arrives at the concentration camps the one thing on his mind is to stay …show more content…

Wiesel is inside the largest death camp of the Holocaust and it still did not affect him because “in that moment [he] was happy; [he] was near [his] father” (Wiesel 24). Throughout their time at the camp, Wiesel slowly begins to despise his father. As Elie’s father appears to become weak, Wiesel realizes that although it is his father, it must be every man for himself. The head of the block speaks to Wiesel and Elie understands that “It’s too late to save [his] old father” (Wiesel 80). Likewise, Anne Frank also deals with conflict by shutting her mother out. As she spends more time in the annex Anne begins to act out against her mom. Mrs. Frank attempts to “sit right beside [her] until [she] falls asleep (Goodrich 896). Yet, Anne pleads her mother not to, and instead asks for Mr. Frank. Additionally, Frank and Wiesel cope …show more content…

Wiesel uses pessimism and losing faith in God as ways to cope with the incarceration. As Wiesel’s time at the camps became longer, Elie began to become discouraged. Elie’s very first day already “deprives [him] of the desire to live” (Wiesel 25). Although he has only been in the camps for less than a day, he immediately knows this place causes him to lose the desire to live. However, Anne Frank is extremely optimistic as to what will happen after she comes out of the annex. Frank chooses to focus on the happy things and stays hopeful throughout her time in the annex. Anne attempts to believe that everyone in the world is just going through a rough patch. She believes that although this is happening, “people are really good at heart” (Goodrich 952). Anne is hopeful that everyone is going through a phase and soon it will be over. Despite their similarities, Anne and Elie deal with conflict in different ways as

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