Anne Frank

Anne Frank, as a thirteen year old girl, received a diary which would change the way the world
looked at the lives of Jewish people during World War II. She had to endure the limitations put
upon her and other Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland. These limitations included among
other things wearing a yellow star, to mark them as Jews, not being allowed to attend the schools
of their choice, and being told who to associate with. She and her family were forced into hiding
the same year she turned thirteen. She is courageous in living in the "Secret Annex" with the
threat of exposure constantly hanging over her and the others in hiding. She is also a normal
teenage girl, who at turns feels sorry for herself, is a little too free with her opinions, and has a
crush on Peter, the son of the Van Daan's which is the other family in hiding with them. Anne, like
most teenage girls, also has difficulty getting along with her mother. She feels that her mother
does not understand her nor does her mother really love her. As she grows older Anne does grow
as a person. She learns that the world does not revolve around her and her feelings, but rather to
take the feelings of others into consideration. She endures in the "Secret Annex" food shortages,
lack of privacy and being forced to stay inside for about two years. She in the end has hope that
the war will soon be over and she will be able to resume a normal life once again.

Mr. Frank

Mr. Frank is a man who will do anything to keep his family safe. He moved them from Germany to
Holland after he realized the effect the Nazi party would have on the Jews of Germany. He had
hoped to spare them the suffering of living under Nazi rule, but unfortunately the Nazis occupied
Holland after the Franks moved there. He made the move to secure a hiding place for them along
with the Van Daan family. Mr. Frank endures the hardships of living in the "Secret Annex" with
good grace, always trying to keep the spirits of the others up. He only shows true anger after Anne
writes him the letter telling him she does not need him or his wife anymore. He tells her the letter
was one of the most hurtful things he has ever read. But, true to his compassionate self he burns
the letter and forgives Anne. He is the lone survivor of the family after the war.

Mrs. Frank

Mrs. Frank does not bear the forced seclusion well. She leaves the unpacking to Anne and Mr.
Frank because she cannot cope with being in the "Secret Annex". While she wants to show love to
Anne, she has a hard time doing so. Instead of encouraging Anne, she is always quick to criticize
her. That being said, if someone else criticizes Anne, she is always willing to come to her
daughter's defense. Mrs. Frank does show love and understanding towards Margot, Anne's sister.
She is also a hard worker and willing to fight for her family. She does not allow Mrs. Van Daan to
push her around, she instead pushes back at Mrs. Van Daan; this is sometimes entertaining to
Anne and the others.

Margot

Margot is Anne's older sister, she is about three years older than Anne. In Anne's estimation
Margot is about as perfect as a person can be. This causes some friction between the sisters, but
in general they get along very well. Margot is the more intelligent, better mannered and more
obedient of the two sisters. She also feels left out as Anne and Peter become closer friends.
Margot also longs for someone to confide in, but does not have that person in the "Secret Annex".
She does talk to her mother more than Anne does because she is able to be more amiable than
Anne.

Peter

Peter is the sixteen year old son of the Van Daan's. At first when the family joins the Franks in the
"Secret Annex", Peter seems lazy and reticent to talk to anyone. He is a loner who likes to escape
work as much as possible. Later as the diary progresses, Anne realizes he has an inferiority
complex which is why he acts so aloof. Anne seeks him out and pushes him into a friendship with
her. She decides that because he is so quiet he would be the perfect person to confide her
innermost feelings to. Peter, for his part, is grateful for the companionship. He tells her how much
he dislikes his parents and about his feelings of inadequacy. He eventually starts to develop
deeper feelings for Anne, but in the end they decide it is best to remain as friends. Peter is also
brave, he shows this by confronting burglars when they enter the building the families are hiding in
and by how he deals with the stress of living in hiding. Peter evolves into a mature person who
tries to be courageous in the face of adversity.

Mrs. Van Daan

Mrs. Van Daan is a spoiled woman who expects everyone to behave as she does. What she does
not realize is that her behavior is not exemplary. She especially does not like Anne due to Anne
being a very outspoken person. Mrs. Van Daan feels that children should not express their
opinions on any subject, because they do not have the experiences to draw upon that adults do.
This puts her in direct conflict with Anne and her parents. Mrs. Van Daan also does not get along
at all with Mrs. Frank. Their problems started after the Van Daan's moved into the "Secret Annex"
and Mrs. Van Daan began hiding some of her things. She felt that she should not have to share
items such as furniture, dishes and food with the Franks. In retaliation, Mrs. Frank did the same
with some of the Frank items. This caused a great deal of discord among the two women. Mrs.
Van Daan felt that she had sacrificed enough so when her husband told her they would have to
sell her prized fur coat for money, she was firmly against the idea. She was eventually brought
around to selling the coat. Another attribute of Mrs. Van Daan was her exaggerated sense of
courage. She was always telling the others to be like her, but when the burglaries occurred or the
bombings happened, she was always the first person crying and shaking like a scared little kitten.

Mr. Van Daan

Mr. Van Daan is very helpful to the Frank's after they go into hiding. He tells the man who rents
rooms from the Franks that they have gone to Switzerland. He and his wife seem to constantly
squabble over everything, which is embarrassing to Peter and the others in the "Secret Annex".
He does however try to help during the multiple burglaries at the building. He does inadvertently
cause some trouble for everyone during one of the burglaries because he shouted "Police" at the
intruders. They left, but others looked to see the problem in the building and they did contact the
real police. This caused much anxiety for the group for several days. Mr. Van Daan's position in
the group is to control Mrs. Van Daan and to help out as needed.

Mr. Dussel
He is a dentist whose wife is in America. He was recommended to the group by Miep. Miep is a
young woman who worked for Mr. Frank and now is among the group of people who help those in
hiding survive. Mr. Dussel at first seems to be very easy going and friendly. The families feel that
he will fit in well with them. Anne has to share her room with him and this is how the problems with
him start for her. He takes it upon himself to correct every flaw he sees in her personality. He is
also a rather selfish man who dominates the room and bathroom. He also feels that his needs in
the room outweigh Anne's needs because she is, after all, only a child. After the burglaries, the
group instituted new security rules. One of these directly affected Mr. Dussel. He liked to sit in the
owner of the building's office on the weekends, when no one was working in the building. This was
considered too risky. Mr. Dussel fought with Mr. Van Daan and Mr. Frank over this and lost the
fight. Mr. Dussel was not a very good roommate because he was rude and selfish.

Anne Frank
When Anne Frank is given a diary for her thirteenth birthday, she immediately fills it with the
details of her life: descriptions of her friends, boys who like her, and her classes at school. Anne
finds comfort writing in her diary because she feels she has difficulty opening up to her friends and
therefore has no true confidants. Anne also records her perceptions of herself. She does not think
she is pretty, but she is confident that her personality and other good traits make up for it. Through
her writing, Anne comes across as playful and comical but with a serious side.
Anne’s diary entries show from the outset that she is content and optimistic despite the threats and
danger that her family faces. The tone and substance of her writing change considerably while she
is in hiding. Anne is remarkably forthright and perceptive at the beginning of the diary, but as she
leaves her normal childhood behind and enters the dire and unusual circumstances of the
Holocaust, she becomes more introspective and thoughtful.
During her first year in the annex, Anne struggles with the adults, who constantly criticize her
behavior and consider her “exasperating.” Anne feels extremely lonely and in need of kindness
and affection, which she feels her mother is incapable of providing. She also wrestles with her
inner self and considers what type of person she wants to become as she enters womanhood.
Anne tries to understand her identity in the microcosm of the annex and attempts to understand
the workings of the cruel world outside. As she matures, Anne comes to long not for female
companionship, but intimacy with a male counterpart. She becomes infatuated with Peter, the van
Daan’s teenage son, and comes to consider him a close friend, confidant, and eventually an object
of romantic desire.
In her final diary entries, Anne is particularly lucid about the changes she has undergone, her
ambitions, and how her experience is changing her. She has a clear perspective of how she has
matured during their time in the annex, from an insolent and obstinate girl to a more emotionally
independent young woman. Anne begins to think about her place in society as a woman, and her
plans for overcoming the obstacles that have defeated the ambitions of women from previous
generations, such as her mother. Anne continues to struggle with how she can be a good person
when there are so many obstacles in her world. She writes eloquently about her confusion over
her identify, raising the question of whether she will consider herself Dutch, as she hears that the
Dutch have become anti-Semitic. Anne thinks philosophically about the nature of war and
humanity and about her role as a young Jewish girl in a challenging world. From her diary, it is
clear that she had the potential to become an engaging, challenging, and sophisticated writer.

Otto Frank
In Anne’s eyes, Mr. Frank is one of the kindest, smartest, most gentle and thoughtful fathers
imaginable. He almost always supports Anne and frequently takes her side during family
arguments. He is generous, kind, and levelheaded, while the other adults in the annex can be
stingy, harsh, and emotional. Unlike Mr. Dussel, for example, Mr. Frank always tries to save the
best food for the children and takes the smallest portion for himself.
Anne feels a special closeness to her father, since she sees herself as more similar to him than to
her mother or sister. Anne continually tries to impress her father, live up to his expectations, and
obey his wishes. However, when she begins a close relationship with Peter, her father deems it
inappropriate, and he asks her to stop visiting Peter in the upstairs part of the annex. Anne is very
hurt that her father is so conservative, protective, and secretive about sexuality, and she is upset
that he does not approve of her relationship. Out of respect for her father and in an attempt to
please him, Anne begins to spend less time with Peter.
Otto was a smart, resourceful, and caring father, as well as a talented businessman. He had a
strong character and was clearly the head of the Frank household. The only resident of the annex
to survive the war, Otto remained in Auschwitz until it was liberated by Russian troops in 1945. He
returned to Holland, where he receives Anne’s diary. He remained in Holland until 1953, when he
moved to Basel, Switzerland, to join his sister’s family. He married another Auschwitz survivor and
devoted the rest of his life to promoting Anne’s diary.

Edith Frank

Anne’s mother Edith Hollander Frank was a housewife whose family came from Aachen , a town
on Germany’s western border , near Belgium. Like her husband , she came from the comfortable
middle classes and was accustomed to a life of relative ease , with most of the work in the house
being done by servants. Her husband was eleven years older than she was , being thirty-six to her
twenty-five when they were married in 1925.Anne has very little sympathy for her mother during
their tumultuous years in the annex, and she has few kind words to say about her, particularly in
the earlier entries. Anne feels that her mother is cold, critical, and uncaring, that they have very
little in common, and that her mother does not know how to show love to her children. Like Margot,
Mrs. Frank is mentioned almost exclusively in instances when she is the source of Anne’s anger
and frustration. Anne rarely comments on her mother’s positive traits.

Later in her diary, however, Anne attempts to look at her mother’s life as a wife and mother from a
more objective viewpoint. As Anne gets older and gains a clearer perspective, she begins to regret
her quick, petty judgments of her mother. Anne has more sympathetic feelings for Mrs. Frank and
begins to realize how Mrs. Frank’s gender and entrapment in the annex have created many
obstacles for her. Despite her new perspective, Anne continues to feel estranged from her
sentimental, critical mother and irrevocably deems her unfit. It seems that Mrs. Frank’s inability to
provide emotional support for her daughter stems in part from the stress and pain of the
persecution and forced confinement. Because the diary consists of only Anne’s thoughts and
perspectives, we are never able to gain much insight into Mrs. Frank’s own personal thoughts or
feelings. After her arrest , Mrs. Frank was taken with her family to Gestapo headquarters in
Amsterdam and the Westerbork reception camp. There, according to an eyewitness , she was
very quiet. Like other members of the group , Mrs. Frank was included in the last shipment of the
people to be sent to Auschwitz , she was still with Anne and Margot, though separated from Mr.
Frank.The events which Mrs. Frank had been through , the hunger , the privation , had unhinged
her mind and she refused to eat. She was forty-five years old when she died in her bed before the
SS guards fled from the camp. Because the diary consists of only Anne’s thoughts and
perspectives, we are never able to gain much insight into Mrs. Frank’s own personal thoughts or
feelings

MR VAN DAAN-The father of the family that hides in the annex along with the Franks and who
had worked with Otto Frank as an herbal specialist in Amsterdam. Mr. van Daan’s actual name is
Hermann van Pels, but Anne calls him Mr. van Daan in the diary. According to Anne, he is
intelligent, opinionated, pragmatic, and somewhat egotistical. Mr. van Daan is temperamental,
speaks his mind openly, and is not afraid to cause friction, especially with his wife, with whom he
fights frequently and openly. He dies in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in October or November
of 1944.
Mrs. Van Daan  - Mr. van Daan’s wife. Her actual name is Auguste van Pels, but Anne calls her
Petronella van Daan in her diary. Anne initially describes Mrs. van Daan as a friendly, teasing
woman, but later calls her an instigator. She is a fatalist and can be petty, egotistical, flirtatious,
stingy, and disagreeable. Mrs. van Daan frequently complains about the family’s situation—
criticism that Anne does not admire or respect. Mrs. van Daan does not survive the war, but the
exact date of her death is unknown.
Peter Van Daan  -  The teenage son of the van Daans, whose real name is Peter van Pels. Anne
first sees Peter as obnoxious, lazy, and hypersensitive, but later they become close friends. Peter
is quiet, timid, honest, and sweet to Anne, but he does not share her strong convictions. During
their time in the annex, Anne and Peter develop a romantic attraction, which Mr. Frank
discourages. Peter is Anne’s first kiss, and he is her one confidant and source of affection and
attention in the annex. Peter dies on May 5, 1945, at the concentration camp at Mauthausen, only
three days before the camp was liberated.
Albert Dussel -  A dentist and an acquaintance of the Franks who hides with them in the annex.
His real name is Fritz Pfeffer, but Anne calls him Mr. Dussel in the diary. Anne finds Mr. Dussel
particularly difficult to deal with because he shares a room with her, and she suffers the brunt of
his odd personal hygiene habits, pedantic lectures, and controlling tendencies. Mr. Dussel’s wife is
a Christian, so she does not go into hiding, and he is separated from her. He dies on
December 20, 1944, at the Neuengamme concentration camp.