This play is a living tribute to the dignity, courage, and perseverance of the human spirit. It shows how the Franks and the Van Daans lived trying to keep these things alive. They did until the very end.
This play starts off with a very courageous act, the Franks are leaving their home. Leaving everything that is dear to them, they only brought what they could wear. They went to the building where they were going to hide from the Nazis. They didnt know how long they were going to be there.
Meip and Mr. Kraler who would have suffered the same fate as the Franks if they got caught harboring the two families also showed great courage in hiding the Franks and the Vann Daans. Another courageous act came when they decided to let Mr. Dussle come and stay with them. The two families showed dignity throughout most of the play.
They were together for two years without any major fights or difficulties except for one. It was when Mr. Vann Daan got caught stealing food. Mr. Frank told him that this would never happen again, while Mrs. Frank told him to get out.
They also had a small dispute over Peters cat Mouschi. Mr. Vann Daan wanted the cat out, claiming that the cat ate better than the rest of them. In the end the cat stayed after Peter threatened to go if the cat went.
The perseverance of the human spirit is shown in full in this play. The two families tried to keep their daily routine as normal as possible. They had a real Hanukkah ( mostly because of Anne ). They sung songs and danced with the joy of Hanukkah.
They stayed in the building for two years doing everything they could to keep the human spirit alive. Anne kept a diary and hung up here photos of famous movie stars, while Peter brought his cat. They did this to keep there lives as normal as possibleThey lived that way for two years, being silent when the workmen came. But in the end they got caught.
The people in the building did a good job at keeping the human spirit alive, or Anne probably wouldnt have wrote this in her diary “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” .
