Dear Mr. Karunanayake,
The purpose of my essay is to explain how Masterpiece Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank is a based off a historical event that represented resistance by explaining the different forms of resistance that are used in the film. The historical event that the film is based off of is The Holocaust. When we were given this assignment, I immediately knew what I wanted to write about. I chose to base my second inquiry on The Holocaust because I am Jewish and this was a very horrific event that affected many people I know, therefore affecting me. One of the main things that Holocaust survivors stress is the importance of their stories being carried on and not forgotten. For me, this paper was a way to keep their stories going, and make sure that the horrors of The Holocaust and their experiences were not forgotten. I began preparing for this paper by watching Masterpiece Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank because this film is based off of Anne Frank’s first hand account of The Holocaust. I then researched Anne’s diary, The Holocaust in general, and The Book Thief, so that I could get background information on The Holocaust as a whole, and Anne Frank and her diary. One challenge I faced was picking how I was going to portray how resistance was used in the movie. This was an issue because I could not continue on with my draft until I picked them. Once I decided upon the forms, personal, racial, and gender-based resistance, I had to re-watch the movie to try and find examples of each. I also had an extremely short rough draft, which made the whole process difficult for me. Since my rough draft was so short, I did not have that much substance to get feedback on. Also, this meant that I would have to work a lot harder on my final draft in order to try and make it longer, as well as edit the new additions by myself, since the peer editing process was over. I think that I did a good job of adding more information, like the different perspectives, but I still think that my paper should be longer. I had a lot of good information in my annotated bibliography but I unfortunately did not think that a lot of the information related to what my paper was focusing on, and therefore could not use it. I also think that my conclusion should be a little longer, but I could not think of what else to add to it. I am, however, very proud of my introduction. My research proposal was spot-on, so I got to copy and paste that as part of my introduction. I then just added more details and information, as well as my thesis, and I was done with it. One of my peer editors even wrote that I did a good job of giving a concise summary of text, which is normally very hard for me.
Ilise Green
English 112
Mr. Karunanayake
26 March 2014
The Diary of Resistance
How would you feel if one day your dad told you to put on as many pieces of clothing as you could because you were about to go into hiding for what could be a very long time? For inquiry 2, I plan to analyze the movie, Masterpiece Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank, based off of the book, The Diary of a Young Girl, written by Anne Frank. The film was produced by Jon Jones, in 2009. It is a true story about a young, Jewish girl living in Amsterdam during The Holocaust. The film is an accurate depiction of her diary that was later discovered, translated, and published. She, along with her family, another family, and a doctor hid in an annex above her dad’s factory for 25 months, until the police discovered them. The story is told from Anne’s perspective, where she goes into great detail about her daily struggles, and what it is like living in the crowded annex. It is a story about resistance because it shows Jewish people resisting the wishes of Hitler by hiding out and documenting the trauma they undergo, instead of going to the concentration camps. It also shows Anne resisting the norm that girls should not read and know more than boys; as well as Anne resisting what everyone else wants her to do, and doing what she wants instead. The movie uses historically accurate characters, which can be seen through the real people’s names being used, as well as their real stories being told. The end even states where each individual died, after they were discovered and sent to concentration camps. A lot of the information and facts used in the movie were accurate as well, but some things were changed slightly. Also the real people were not used because they all either died in the concentration camps, or from other causes. A close analysis of Masterpiece Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank reveals multiples layers of resistance such as personal, racial, and gender-based resistance that took place during The Holocaust.
The aspect of personal resistance is evident throughout the movie. Her defiance and rebellious personality inspire her to describe what she undergoes through her diary, and in the film.Throughout the movie, Anne gets into an argument with almost every single character. Mrs. Van Daan tells Anne that she reads too much and should spend her time doing more important things. Anne not only gets extremely angry but also deliberately does not listen to her, and takes her book into the other room to read it. Dr. Dussel Anne’s roommate, and herself had many conflicts as well. Anne was not delighted to room with him in the first place, and the tension grew increasingly when he would use the desk in their room, when it was her turn. They had a planned out schedule where the desk was shared equally, but he then decides that he should get more time since he is older and has an actual job that he needs to work on. Anne does not just passively allow him to take over the desk, but she instead goes against Dr. Duseel’s request and goes to her father and complains to him. She ends up getting her way, forcing Dr. Dussel to share the desk with her, once again. Anne’s personal resistance coincides with the gender-based resistance that takes place in the movie.
Another major topic portrayed in the movie is the idea of gender-based resistance. At the time, reading and writing was considered a male career, and not something that woman should have been spending their time doing. This can be seen greatly when Mrs. Van Daan tells Anne that she should not be reading books. She says that reading and writing should be left to the boys, and that girls should spend their time cooking and clean. Anne is greatly offended by this because she loves reading and writing, and it is the only thing that keeps her sane while living in the annex. Whenever anyone tells her that she is wasting her time, instead of listening to them and putting her book away, she instead escapes to the attic so she can read and write in peace. The idea that women were only good for cooking and cleaning was seen throughout The Holocaust because the women were often “deployed [to] clothing repair, cooking, laundry, and housecleaning detachments”(Women During The Holocaust).“Millions of women were persecuted and murdered during the Holocaust era,” but in the end it was their “religious and political affiliations that made them targets, not their sex” (Women During The Holocaust). This is why Anne’s diary also portrays the overlying issue of racial resistance that took place during The Holocaust.
The last major theme of resistance seen in the movie and throughout The Holocaust is racial resistance. Racial resistance is the main issue and reason for The Holocaust. Hitler felt that the “Jews were an inferior race, an alien threat to German racial purity and community,” and that was why they needed to be eliminated (The Holocaust). He tried to get rid of the Jews by putting them in concentration camps, but many resisted by going into hiding. Anne’s family is a perfect example of this because they hide in her father’s attack for over two years. Racial resistance can also be seen in The Holocaust be the Germans who hid Jews in their basements, cellars, etc. Here the Germans were resisting their own race and what they were being told was right. Just like there were many different races involved in The Holocaust, there were many different perspectives.
Although there were many different forms of resistance seen in the movie, there was only one perspective seen, Anne’s. The entire movie is based off of Anne Frank’s perspective, as it is a movie directly based off of her personal diary. The movie shows the horrors and trauma of being a Jew during The Holocaust, but only for those Jews hiding out in the cities. Not very many Jews, however, were fortunate enough to have hiding spots, and escape the concentration camps. “The sick, old and weak and the very young” were considered the least useful people, and were therefore the first to be sent to the concentration camps where they were killed in gas chambers (The Holocaust). “A large population of Jewish and non-Jewish inmates worked in” labor camps, where the “Jews were gassed, [and] thousands of others died of starvation or disease” (The Holocaust). Their perspective on The Holocaust was clearly different than Anne’s, before she was discovered. Anne oftentimes had trouble coping with her situation and having to hide out in the annex, but she was lucky compared to some of the Jews that were forced to work in the fields for days, only to be “herded into gas chambers and killed” days later (Rosenberg). There are also people that do not believe that The Holocaust even happened, so their perspective on The Holocaust is that it is made up, and was not a real thing. There is plenty of evidence, however, like first hand accounts, concentration camp sites, and so much more, that The Holocaust, unfortunately, did in fact happen.
Anne Frank was an inspiring, young girl with a rebellious mind. Her diary, which was later adapted into many movies and TV shows, narrates her testimony, and explains what it’s like to be a Jew-in-hiding during The Holocaust. Even though it is narrated from her childhood perspective, her text can be considered an outlet for many of the Jews that had to endure The Holocaust. The movie, Masterpiece Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank, portrays the themes of personal, gender-based, and racial resistance, all which were present during The Holocaust.
Works Cited
Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Holocaust Facts.” About.com 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014. <http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/a/holocaustfacts.htm>.
“The Holocaust.” History. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust>
“Women During The Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedoa. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 06 May 2014. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005176>.
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