39 sub parts: the first part is Anne Frank’s responses to the conflict appearing during
the hiding. The second part is the surface meaning of Anne Frank’s responses to the conflict appearing during the hiding and the last part is the deeper meaning of
Anne Frank’s responses to the conflict appearing during the hiding. I apply the theory of motivation to analyze Anne’s motivation in giving responses to the
conflict appearing during the hiding. There were some conflicts appearing during Anne Frank’s hiding, yet this
study only presents one kind of conflicts, Anne Frank’s struggle against another person, since it is the major conflicts which are existed in The Diary of a Young
Girl. Anne Frank had some external conflicts with the people in the hiding such as; her mother, Mrs. van Daan, and Mr. Dussel. Nevertheless, Anne Frank’s main
conflict during her hiding was the conflict with her mother.
1. Anne’s conflicts Appearing during Her Hiding
Anne had some struggle again another person. It can be analyzed by using theory of conflict proposed by Holman. In this part I describe Anne’s conflicts
appearing during the hiding and her responses towards those conflicts. This part is divided into four sub parts, they are:
a. Anne’s Conflicts with Her Mother
Anne Frank experienced many conflicts in the hiding. However, I only elaborate Anne Frank’s major conflicts during the hiding. The major conflict she
40 had is her bad relationship with some other residents of the hiding place which
was called “Secret Annexe”, especially her bad relationship with her mother. Anne was not too close to her mother, Mrs. Edith Frank. Anne’s and her mother
used to have different perception on everything as she mentioned in her diary that they always take the opposite view on everything 46.
A mother plays an important role to bend her children’s attitude and character since she is the closest person to her children. Mother is the one who is
willing to risk her own life to her children. She is the one who understands her children better than anyone else in this world. However, Anne felt that her mother
never understood her as Anne said, “At moments like these I can’t stand mother. It’s obvious that I’m a stranger to her; she doesn’t even know what I think about
the most ordinary things” 56. On the other hand, Anne also felt that she could not understand her mother better than her girlfriends 57. She always wanted to
have a mother who understands her 198. Therefore, it can be concluded that Anne and her mother did not get along well.
Anne often wished she could respect her mother and had a better relationship with her mother like other girls in her age. As it was quoted from her
diary, “To love someone, I have to admire and respect the person, but I feel neither respect nor admiration for mother” 283.
Anne had her own standard of a good mother in her mind for she wished to be a good mother in the future. Anne wanted to be the kind of mum who
doesn’t take everything people say too seriously, but who does take her children
41 seriously 198. Anne often called her mother ‘Mumsie’ for giving her the feeling
of calling her mother something that sounds like ‘Mum’. However, Anne often shortened it to ‘Mums’ which means an imperfect Mum. Anne wished that she
could honour her mother by removing the ‘s’ 198. Anne viewed Edith Frank as imperfect mother, thus she never counted on
her, “She’s not a mother to me – I have to mother myself” 181. Anne always imagined another mother 237. Aside from that, Anne also felt that her mother
treated her and her sister differently. In other word, Anne’s mother was not fair in raising her children. Mrs. Frank always got angry easily to Anne whenever she
made mistakes even trivial mistakes. In the contrary, Anne’s mother would be tenderer whenever Margot made mistake. On 12 July 1942 Margot broke a
vacuum cleaner which caused the whole Secret Annexe should have no light for the rest of the day 40.
Mother said, ‘Well, Margot, it’s easy to see you’re not used to working; otherwise, you’d have known better than to yank the plug out by the cord.’
Margot made some reply, and that was the end of the story. But this afternoon, when I wanted to rewrite something on Mother’s
shopping list because her handwriting is so hard to read, she wouldn’t let me. She ticked me off again, and the whole family got involved. 40
On 5 February 1943 when Mr. van Daan brought up the fact that Margot eat so little that afternoon and he added in a mocking tone that Margot did it for
keeping her figure. Anne’s mother who always comes to Margot defense, said in a loud voice, “I can’t stand that stupid chatter of yours a minute longer” 109. In
42 contrast, her mother never came to Anne’s defense whenever the van Daans
irritated Anne with their tactless comments. Anne loved her father differently if it is compared to her mother and sister.
She loved her mother and sister only because they were her family. She regarded them just as mother and sister. She did not love them because they were the
people whom she could not cling to and ask for some help or support whenever she found problems.
Anne felt that a month ago her family was so nice to her only because that was her birthday and it was not because they really loved her. “They were all so
nice to me a month ago because of my birthday, and yet every day I feel myself drifting further away from Mother and Margot. I worked hard today and they
praised me, only to start picking on me again five minutes later” 40. Anne used to pray with her father before she went to bed every night.
However, on 2 April 1943, her mother asked Anne whether she wanted her mother to listen her prayer. Unfortunately, Anne directly rejected her mother’s
offer because she did not want to pray with someone whom she did not feel comfortable with. Even though Anne felt so bad that she had rejected her mother
cruelly and felt sorry to her mother, she could not lie to her innermost feeling. She could not find different answer, since she could not be a hypocrite and pray with
her mother when she did not feel like it 126.
43 When Anne was no longer be able to bear her mother’s behavior, she
expressed her anger in her diary: “I simply can’t stand mother, and I have to force myself not to snap at her all the time, and to stay calm, when I’d rather slap her
across the face” 68. One day on October 3, 1942, Anne’s father asked her to help her mother who was sick at that time. However, Anne did not volunteer
herself to help her mother as her father’s wish because she did not love her mother and she did not feel enjoy doing it.
From all of Anne’s responses, we assume that Anne was reactive and honest in giving responses to the conflict. It is true that Anne’s anger can lead her
to be aggressive. However, she always tried to force herself to control her emotion in giving response to the conflict she had.
b. Anne’s Conflicts with Her Father
