As Anne goes through puberty, we see her becoming more mature,
thoughtful, and more aware of her body. Her confinement forces her
to struggle with many of the questions of adolescence by herself,
since there are no other girls her age with whom she could share
her experiences. Thus, the diary becomes an important tool for Anne’s
self-discovery and maturity. She starts to feel disconnected from
“the Anne of last year” as she looks over past diary entries about
her mother, which she now considers the product of her immaturity
and girlish moods. Anne has a record of all of her private yet indignant
temper tantrums, which allows her to see how much she has changed
in such a short time. Writing in the diary allows Anne to express
her unkind and indulgent emotions and explore her own personal desires
in a way that will not hurt anyone else. Anne’s candor caused Otto
Frank to cut many parts of the diary in its original publication.
Anne’s judgments, though at times cruel, are an important aspect
of her personality and her experiences. Anne’s written outbursts
provide a full sense of who she is and how she changes while she
is in the annex.
With her diary as her only confidant, Anne misses both
her female and male friends, and she thinks often of her love, Peter Schiff.
She is drawn to Peter van Daan, since he is the only young man sharing
her experience. Anne is naturally curious about Peter because he
is a teenage male, and as a girl in puberty, she is fascinated by
his body. Anne’s discussion of the cat’s genitalia represents an
important moment for her, since it allows her to confront sexuality
openly and with a male for the first time. Without female friends to
discuss her innermost secrets, Anne learns about herself the only way
she can, through introspection and through interactions with her
limited environment.
