English Classics

An Inspiration The Holocaust was one of the most horrendous and terrible eras in history. Innumerable books have been written describing the horrors of the Holocaust; but nothing beats the documentation of a family who had gone into hiding in the diary of a little girl, Anne Frank. Honest, lucid and empathetic; The Diary of A Young Girl deserves a read by everyone who has ever questioned mental strength of humans and also by those who cannot come to terms with the cruelties that could be inflicted by humans upon fellow humans. The first entry in the diary is on June 12, 1942 by Anne Frank, who had received it as a birthday present and the entries in the diary end abruptly on 1 August, 1944. The Underlying Themes Anne Frank and her family lived a peaceful life in Frankfurt, Germany but they had to escape to Amsterdam with fellow Jews and go into hiding, as the Nazis took over Europe. Anne writes in her diary the tribulations her family had to face living in hiding, because they knew if caught, they would have to suffer horribly. The sufferance of the Jews during the Holocaust is known to all; yet a thirteen year old feeling the impact of intolerance and racism makes readers realise how profound the impacts of the World War II was. What is most captivating is that amidst the terror and the fear, Anne manages to remain a cheerful girl full of life, who loved to talk and observe. Still a teenager and unaware of the horrors lurking behind their hiding space, Anne fails to realise the fear trapped within the hearts of elders initially and describes everyday events from the view of a teenager. As the story develops, Anne develops and realisation comes over her. The Nazis are getting more stringent and oppression rises; there are certain places in the book that leaves readers sad and distressed. One day, Anne’s entire family including her, gets captured and the diary ends abruptly with the promise of a new day that never comes in the life of Anne Frank. Anne’s father, Otto