An Excerpt: My Response Journal to The Diary of a Young Girl'
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Tuesday, June 13, 1944
It's Anne's birthday, which means that it's exactly two years since Anne Frank started writing in her diary. She describes how she has received many presents from her family, the Van Daans and Mr. Dussel. Other than her birthday, she also describes how the invasion is still going well, despite the terrible rainy weather.
Multiple countries have been captured and liberated. For the other occupied countries, they need to fight with all their might to be free from oppression and suffering. For the Dutch, however, their will of not being captured by the British seems so unfair to the Jewish.
Anne writes how they should be given a good shaking ' or something to enlighten them about their state. They cannot be so selfish and not think about the freedom of the Jews. The Jews have every right of being free as much as they have.
In this diary entry, Anne also expresses how she has been self-reflecting on her attitude and behaviour towards other people. Everyone keeps complaining about how she behaves, causing her to question if she really is pushy and know-it-all. She says that Mrs. Van Daan and Mr. Dussel would never understand how she works because they are unintelligent and they don't know about the things that she knows.
REFLECTION
Personally, I think that this is because of their generation gap. As the new generation comes, the more knowledge they have in their head as compared to the older generations. This is because the world grows along with its increased knowledge. The older generations may see the generation as 'children trying to be know-it-all', but as a teenager myself, I think that we simply grow in a different time, far different from the older generations.
Sometimes, I find myself disagreeing with my parents too, just like Anne Frank, about their old fashioned philosophies of the world because I know that the world they see through their eyes is now different from the world I see. I see this difference because I'm growing with it, as it evolves.
Anne also talks about her emotions about Peter. She has come to the conclusion that Peter only likes her as a friend. Nothing more.
She begins to feel that her longing for Peter is exaggerated. Peter is a kind and decent boy, but he has trouble sharing his emotions with people. This may be because of the family he grows up with. As mentioned in some diary entries, the way the Franks and the Van Daans raise their children are entirely different. They don't express their love and affection towards each other as much as the Franks do.
REFLECTION
Reading this part has made me feel pity for Peter. He has feelings and emotions that should be validated and expressed. Furthermore, hiding one's feelings can be very unhealthy for some. Anne really wants to help Peter, but she cannot do that if he is constantly closing off his feelings.
Anne expresses her love for nature. It's been so long since she went outside and saw the sun. So long since she runs out into the field, laughing and smiling.
Even when Anne looks at the heavy rain, she looks at it with stars in her eyes, as if it's her first time seeing rain. She writes about how many people are isolated from the joys of nature, rich or poor, oppressed or liberated.
REFLECTION
Reading this section of her diary entry made me sympathize with her. She misses being free so much to the point that 'heavy rain' ' something that is usually symbolised as a bad omen or bad luck ' is considered beautiful and interesting due to how long she's confined in the Annex.
There are many things that Anne discusses as she reaches fifteen. Many things that I couldn't even imagine young, vivacious Anne talking about. The last topic she writes about is how she feels about women being oppressed in society. She describes how more and more women are constantly under men's power, an ideal that becomes entrenched in society.
This makes women less respected and constantly seen as under a man's power. From a book she read, she was surprised at how the women actually suffered so much more than the male soldiers, only to be commemorated less than their male peers. They endured all the pain only for their purpose in life to be reduced to taking care of children, her beauty long gone. The problem in society is that men don't acknowledge the greatness of a woman. She ends the diary entry with hope for the next generation of women wherein women will fight for their respect in society. As a girl myself, I cannot express how true her words are. Women are always seen as less than men. Personally, the thing that irks me most is the title we get after we get married. When we get married, we are always seen as someone else's wife: someone else's wife, as if we do not have names for ourselves. It's always the men who are praised and awarded much more than the women. They get more recognition and more glory.
Did you know that the scientist that discovered the structure of DNA was scientist Rosalind Elslie Franklin, yet she was robbed of her Nobel Prize by a man named Francis Crick? The fact that women are robbed of their achievements and glory by men so that they could stay in power really bothers me ...
... I wish that we, as future generation leaders, can abolish this system completely. We can achieve an equal society, wherein achievements and titles, and glory will cater to both males and females.
REFLECTION
Overall, I think that the diary entry reflects on subjects that we struggle with even until this day. I hope that the concepts and ideas of the past will not be brought into the present. I stand by this. I hope that sexism and gender discrimination would completely go to an end, for the betterment of our society.
By: Shanice Latysha, JC 1 Grace
