Previous Next
I sometimes wonder if anyone will ever understand what I mean, if anyone will ever overlook my ingratitude and not worry about whether or not I’m Jewish and merely see me as a teenager badly in need of some good, plain fun.

In this passage from December 24, 1943, Anne reminds us that she is just a normal young girl who has been forced into extraordinary circumstances. She willingly makes sacrifices and deals with the restrictions of the annex without much complaint because she knows that she is more fortunate than her friends who have already been arrested and sent to concentration camps. This attitude demonstrates Anne’s remarkable maturity, but it clearly takes its toll on her spirit. Aside from wanting to return to the freedoms and comforts she had before the war, Anne simply wants to experience a normal childhood. She does not want to live in a world that places such significance on where she is from, what her religion is, or whether she behaves well with adults. She wants to be in a place where she does not have to worry whether she will live or whether her friends are suffering. The diary has such emotional impact because we see Anne not as a saint, but as a normal girl with real human feelings and imperfections who falls victim to the tragedy of the Holocaust.

Previous section Important Quotes Explained Page 2 Next section Important Quotes Explained Page 4

Popular pages: The Diary of Anne Frank

Take a Study Break