Discuss Anne Frank's Diary as a literary work Or Anne Frank's diary is a commentary on war and its terrible impact on human life. Comment. ||Or|| Analyse Anne Frank's diary as a literary piece of work.

Question.
Discuss Anne Frank's Diary as a literary work Or Anne Frank's diary is a commentary on war and its terrible impact on human life. Comment. [Dec-2009, Q.No.-6 (a)
                           Or
 Analyse Anne Frank's diary as a literary piece of work. [Dec-2010, Q.No.-6 (a)]

Answer. Anne Frank's Diary is a touching and beautifully written commentary on war and its terrible impact on human life.
It was written during the years 1942-1944. These years were the toughest times of World War II in Europe.

Though,a first person narrative which describes individual and personal experiences, one can hear in it the voice of over six million people affected by the  holocaust.

As a writer and humanist, she is the spokesperson of an age, while at the same time speaking to future generations about the folly of indifference.

Thus, her diary is a social, historical and literary document. Though a diary, one can read it like a good novel because it is able to sustain tension in the reader. Anne portrays the curious mental state of transformation from a child to an adult, which is both a universal and personal experience.
Her prose style is characterised by precision, confidence and tenseness. But what is most striking is her a valid historical document by the stunning honesty which makes her diary .

Anne is a master in characterisation and is able to portray the people around her with great psychological realism.

Occasionally, she becomes shrewd and cruel in her character analyses but these can be seen as part of the mood swings of adolescence.
But she is most critical and uncompromising in her analysis of herself.
The most endearing quality of the diary is Anne's self-introspection.
The reader is able to peep into the depths of the mind of a young girl living in great stress under extraordinary conditions.
Yet her cheerfulness and optimism, her perseverance and will power, her courage in speaking the truth, make her writing unique in itself.
Her prose style is also characterised by warmth and wit, sensitivity and humanity, all combining with vivid picturisation and psychological insight.
She wrote under the threat of death but her writing has immortalised her.
Anne Frank's diary is a fitting memorial to her fine spirit and offers a rich and rewarding experience in reading.
Today, Anne Erank's diary is considered a classic and has been translated into more than thirty-one languages, including Bengali and Malayalam. It has been published in thirty countries and has sold more than one million copies in hard cover alone. It has been adopted into numerous plays and films.
Anne Frank's wish "I want to go on living even after my death", has thus come literally true. She lives on through her diary.