The Diary of a Young Girl | June 16–July 6, 1944 | Summary

Summary

June 16–June 30, 1944

The tide of the war is finally starting to turn, but battles of all kinds are raging in the Secret Annex. Mrs. van Daan's hysterics now rage all day. The residents are almost out of potatoes, their main staple. "Peter's becoming insolent, Mr. van Daan irritable and Mother cynical," says Anne Frank on June 16. Anne suffers through some dental root-canal work that's so painful she almost faints. And in the three weeks since the British invasion, it has rained every single day. On the other hand, in her entry for June 23, her father and Mr. van Daan feel that "we're sure to be liberated before October 10." More positive news comes in. On June 27, Anne notes that Cherbourg in France has fallen to the British.

July 6, 1944

Anne's entry for July 6 begins with the startling statement, "My blood runs cold when Peter talks about becoming a criminal or a speculator." Though she knows Peter is joking, she suspects "he's afraid of his own weakness ... To be honest, I can't imagine how anyone could say 'I'm weak' and then stay that way." She also feels that he has begun "to lean on" her, which she does not like, especially as her independence and sense of self continue to grow.

Analysis

How can Anne Frank, who believes that we earn our happiness by "doing good and working," ever understand a boy who wants to follow the path of least resistance? She's baffled by Peter van Daan's lack of self-confidence and by the fact that he doesn't set goals for himself. He's not even religious, another thing that perplexes her and makes her pity him. Not everyone is lucky enough to be a believer, but she thinks that "religion itself, any religion, keeps a person on the right path." Anne may care for Peter, but she can't help comparing him to herself. She knows that he doesn't meet her standards.

Anne wrote every word of her diary, but her father was the one who compiled the entries for publication. It's known that by this point in her life, Anne was crafting the B Version of her diary—a version written on individual sheets of paper rather than in a journal or notebook. Possibly that accounts for the almost essay-like quality of the June 13 and July 6 entries, which seem as if they could stand alone.