Narrative Analysis on Non-Fiction

I chose the Diary of Anne Frank for my non-fictional selection of a narrative analysis.

The Diary of Anne Frank has a deep narrative structure, filled to the rim with the thoughts, concerns, and analysis of a young, changing girl. The fact that it's a diary makes it more true to life, her actual thoughts and feelings are put directly down on paper. This removes the "storyteller" aspect of it, as a lot of biographies try to tell a story in a third-person format. The first person aspect is unique and useful.

However, since this is a personal diary, it must be remembered that any narrative, thematic, or plot analysis may not hold true. While some parts of the diary show signs of being for public view, the majority of the diary entries were private, personal entries of a young, troubled teenaged girl.

The Three Acts

1. Act 1
   This is where Anne Frank lives with her family and attends a Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam. She lives her with family, conflicts a little with her sister and her mom, but generally enjoys life and has a lot of friends. Her life is more concerned with the social aspects of growing up as a young girl, and isn't concerned about the state of Jews all around her.
2. Act 2
   Anne Frank and her family move into a small secret annex above Otto Frank’s office where they had stockpiled food and supplies. Friends of the family supply them with food, supplies, and more - as well as their own personal stockpiles. They live with another family, the van Daans, and an acquaintance, Mr. Dussel. However, the reflections of the diary truly revolve around Anne Frank. They are personal recollections of her feelings, thoughts, and twisting emotions. From here, Anne Frank falls into depression, and feels incredibly lonely. Her thoughts turn to love, lose, and she has difficult understanding her feelings and her body. She is unable to communication or really relate with her mom and sister, and feels incredibly desolate.
   
3. Act 3
   She begins to finally feel grown up, likely because she has taken medication for her depression. Anne is able to finally relate and communicate with her mom and sister, bringing a bit of peace into their hellish lives. She has matured incredibly, her thoughts becoming more profound, deep, and intriguing. She discusses issues such as humanity, relates news of heard on the radio, and her writing essentially matures. This may be caused by hearing a radio station that is retelling stories from other people's journals, and she feels that her journal will be read one day. One seemingly normal day, the diary comes to a sudden and abrupt end, silencing her voice forever.

The fact that is it a diary means this is less of a narrative and more of a compilation of feelings, thoughts, and petty writings means that most of the story, and how the character of Anne evolves, is done through looking at her writing. You see it become more hopeful, then more depressing. Sometime it discusses petty topics of a teenage girl, and sometimes it discusses deeper issues of the human condition.

6 Step of Narrative Development

1. Preparation
   Anne Frank and her family have escaped from Germany to the Netherlands, calling it their new home, but the impending Nazi invasion looms over their head. They prepare to move into hiding, fearing their very lives in the public. Finally, on one night, they leave their home and escape into a hidden annex. 
2. Complication
   The entire life within a hidden annex is difficult. Anne struggles to find herself while her family is constantly fighting. Her life is filled with strife and uncertainty, and her own emotions seem to weigh against her.
3. Transference
   She befriends the teenage boy, Peter, of the other family. They discuss many things, including love, life, and sex. He helps her answer her many questions, and in many ways is her only friend. He helps Anne on her journey of self-discovery, and she begins to feel better about herself because she has a friend to confide in.
   
4. Struggle
   There are many struggles, from the fear of the Nazis discovering them, to illness, to lack of food, to rationed electricity, to constant fighting and debate. Despite all these very real and very serious matters, the true struggle that Anne Frank has revolves around Peter. Her father, Mr. Frank, refuses for them to spend time together. In the end, they finally are able to spend a small amount of time together, but their relationship dwindles.
   
5. Return
   As life begins to return to normal, there has been a couple of burglaries disturbing their residence. Finally, they try to stop them by shouting "Police!" This scares the robbers off, but a few days afterwords, Anne's journal ends. We find out later that they were betrayed and turned into the Nazis.
6. Recognition
   Though the journal is over, the soul survivor of the Frank family, Otto Frank, decides to publish it after the war. The journal becomes globally known and recognized as one of the few detailed encounters of the Holocaust by a young girl. Because it is so real and grounded, it's popularity has grown exponentially. 

It is hard to have a defined, structured analysis of a narrative when the Diary of Anne Frank was so disjointed, being structured as a diary. However, you do begin to see some narrative structures poking through, though as a conclusion you can see that real life does not follow a structured narrative guideline.

Thanks for reading,

Matt Richards
COMM403