The Diary of Anne Frank and Mother Night
The Diary of Anne Frank and Mother NightThe Diary of Anne Frank and Mother Night illustrate a period of time when Eastern Europe faced several issues. Some of the issues encountered in The Diary of Anne Frank and Mother Night are discrimination, persecution, and war. Moreover, both of the main characters share the ideology that “people are really good at heart.” In The Dairy of Anne Frank, Anne Frank experiences stronger discrimination and persecution than Howard, the main character of Mother Night. Furthermore, Anne Frank’s method of coping with war was better than Howard’s. In addition, Anne Frank actually lived out her ideology rather than just believing it.
In The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne’s family was forced into hiding for two years because of the fierce discrimination against Jews. Throughout her diary, Anne provides insight into a period of time when things were not so good for Jews. For example, in her diary she talks about the yellow star they had to wear, restricted hours they had to shop, places they couldn’t attend, the time they had to be in their houses, and several other humiliations that they had to suffer for being Jewish. While in hiding, Anne also writes about the treatment that Jews received throughout Europe. In addition to the strong discrimination that Jews had to encounter, they also faced a much stronger form of persecution. This form of persecution is clearly illustrated within her diary. For example, many Jews were forced to go into hiding, thrown out of their homes, placed in concentration camps, and killed in large numbers and in prison camps, gas chambers, etc. The character’s diary indicates that she directly felt both discrimination and persecution in her life.
In Mother Night, Howard didn’t face much discrimination. While assuming his role of being an American spy along with being a Nazi, throughout his radio broadcasts he sends strong messages of hatred against the Jews. Moreover, his words encouraged many people to believe that the Aryan race was the strongest and therefore superior to any other race. In addition to that, Howard actively promotes discrimination. And as a result of Howard’s words, discrimination is to a greater extent being influenced and carried out throughout the story. Even though Howard faces some sort of persecution, his persecution was not so devastating, for his persecution was in great part due to his actions during war. Unlike Anne, Howard wasn’t forced to go into to hiding since he wasn’t persecuted because of his beliefs. However, Howard goes into to hiding because he chooses to and not because he was going to be killed but trailed for promoting the Nazism.
Throughout the war, both characters took different approaches when dealing with their situations. While in hiding, Anne tries to carryout a normal life despite the circumstances. Furthermore, she turns to writing as method of coping and companionship. And as she tries to avoid war issues, she maintains her faith through Peter’s friendship. Therefore, Anne seems to deal with her situation in a more positive and yet effective way.
Howard, on the other hand, copes with war in a selfish way. He assumes the identity of both an American spy and Nazi without thinking about the consequences. Moreover, he believes it to be an opportunity to perform the role of a character form one of his plays. In addition to that, he didn’t tell his “love of two nations”, wife, about his role because he believed that his love for her would conquer it all. Howard may have not intentionally meant to be involved in the war issues but fail to do so, for his wife was killed by the Russians and because he was perceived to be active promoter of the anti-Semitic movement. Therefore, Howard’s way of coping with war seems ineffective. The main characters of The Diary of Anne Frank and Mother Night both share the same ideology, the ideological belief that “people are really good at heart.” Anne Frank’s ideology comes when she realizes that she may not be able to carry out her ideals due to the terrible circumstances. In spite of her situation, Anne believes that no matter how bad people seem to be, including the Nazis, deep down inside they really are good people. Anne lives out her ideology by telling people around her that they are good people and by mentioning it in several of her entries. For example in one of her entries, she writes about Mrs. Van Dann and says that she really is a good person. Anne also lets Peter know that he’s good friend.
In Mother Night when Howard finds out that his best friends have betrayed him, he then states his ideology, which is that “people are really good at heart”, out loud. Yet, he never mentions to any of his friends how he felt about their betrayal. Moreover, he gives the impression of not believing his own ideology. In addition, Howard only makes reference to his ideology once and yet he never places it into action, for he only states that “people are really good at heart.” From this, it is unclear as whether he believed it or not.
In conclusion, The Diary of Anne Frank and Mother Night share similar issues and a common ideology. Yet, they each portray them in different forms. Within the diary, Anne directly experiences a much stronger sense of discrimination and persecution for being a Jew. In Mother Night, however, the main character is providing motives of hatred against Jews and therefore encouraging discrimination. Even though Howard is being persecuted, he is somehow persecuted for his own actions. Because of Anne’s entries, it seems that she was able cope with war much easier by means of writing. Howard’s coping method doesn’t seem too effective since he ends up being a leading figure of the war by assuming a false identity. The ideology shared among them is also carried out in different ways. Anne lives her ideology, for she was able to tell people that she thought that they were good after all. However, Howard doesn’t live it out and furthermore it appeared that he didn’t strongly believe it. Even though both the diary and the film had various similarities, I believe that each in its own way portrayed issues from different perspectives. In Anne Frank’s Diary, she makes comments on an old truth by stating that “What one Christian does is his own responsibility, and what one Jew does is thrown back at all Jews.” I think that somehow this statement has a connection between them, for in Anne’s case she is facing discrimination and persecution through no fault of her own. However Howard promotes discrimination and yet he is being persecuted for his own fault.