Motif in Diary of a Young Girl

I think the a large motif in Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl is maturity. It astounding to see the growth and maturity that Anne attains over the course of the novel from age 13 to 15, though going through an experience such as hers will cause anyone to grow up quickly. At the beginning of the novel, many adults in Anne’s life consider her spoiled and petulant, and try to lecture her into maturity by giving her “sermons.”

In the beginning, Anne’s concerns mostly encircle that of the common middle class European girl: which boys admire her, whether she will pass her exams, and  In the beginning of her diary, Anne’s view of maturity is very different from what it is at the end of the novel. Most of her ideas about maturity have to do with womanhood. Anne has frequent admirers at school, but only “loves” one mostly uninterested boy, Peter. In the Annex, she is frustrated at her lack of identification with her mother and sister, and is often chided for not being more proper or lady like, such as when she lies down in the bed next to Mr. Van Daan, “at her age!” though Anne never thinks of the situation in such a way. She states “oh, how I long to get my period - then I’ll really be grown up,” so Anne initially sees much of her maturity as being tied to puberty and femininity. After a passage describing in detail what she can “hardly wait” for when she gets her period, Anne adds a year and a half later “I am surprised by my childish innocence. Deep down I know I could never be that innocent again, however much I’d like to be.” This addition offers tremendous insight into Anne’s beliefs about maturity, as she looks back on her early writings.

Throughout the course of the war, hearing so much discouraging news, and losing friends to concentration camps, Anne loses her innocence. She achieves maturity, not as much through her rise to womanhood, but through the deepening of her understanding of humanity and the brokenness of the world. As Anne matures, she increasingly searches and clings to hope, offering that to her readers, she talks of all of the beauty left in the world, in nature and in connection to God. She gives the advice to “think of all the beauty left around you and be happy.” Moreover, “in spite of everything” Anne firmly holds to her belief that people are still good at heart.

Despite these changes in Anne’s outlook on her maturity, throughout the novel, the reader may note a longing for authenticity, true connection, and meaningful relationships as a lasting desire for Anne throughout the diary. From the beginning she laments that she does not have friendships with classmates that demonstrate mutual understanding, in the Annex she expresses sentiments of alienation from her mother and sister, and by the end, she hopes for her writing to reach a wide audience and affect others for good.