The Struggles And Disrespects In The Diary Of Anne Frank

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In the story "The Diary of Anne Frank", Anne's family, along with the Van Daan family, all went into hiding when the Nazis were sending Jews to concentration camps. They hid in a secret annex and faced many issues and arguments. The main cause of tension inside the secret annex, in my opinion, is Mr. Van Daan. Some may disagree and view Anne as the problem, but Anna was only trying to prevent herself from being taken advantage of.

In scene 3 of "The Diary of Anne Frank, Act I", Mr. Van Daan disrespects Anne while she is talking and criticizes her while she defends herself. While everyone mentions wanting Miep to get them something, Anne starts talking about Miep having her own life. Mr. Van Daan interrupts her and says, "Don't you ever get tired of talking? Suppose you try keeping still for five minutes. Just five minutes." A little later, Mr. Van Daan is looking for his pipe, so he asks Anne. Anne remains silent because he told her to stay still for five minutes. Mr. Van Daan was upset by this, especially when she asked if she could talk again, and he replied, "You are the most aggravating... The trouble with you is, you've been spoiled. What you need is a good old-fashioned spanking." As you can see, Mr. Van Daan creates tension by interrupting Anna when she …show more content…

Van Daan threatens to get rid of Peter's cat, and he ignores his son's feelings when he says he wants to keep it. When Dussel starts talking about Peter's cat, Mr. Van Daan tells Peter, "What's the matter with you? Haven't you got any sense?" Get that cat out of here." Peter, however, makes a joke out of it. When Dussel starts complaining about the cat, Mr. Van Daan says, "Don't worry. You won't be bothered anymore. We're getting rid of it." He says this because he believes Peter's cat is another mouth to feed, but he fails to acknowledge Peter's feelings. Based on this, Mr. Van Daan is being selfish by threatening to get rid of Peter's cat, which will hurt his

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