What qualities and experiences described in The Diary of a Young Girl might help contemporary readers relate to Anne Frank?
Answers
When Anne Frank dreams of her old beau, Peter Schiff, on January 6, 1944, she already yearns for a friend and is beginning to feel the need for a romantic partner, too. Because Anne disclosed that she was secretly in love with Peter Schiff (July 1, 1942), it comes as no surprise that he shows up in her dream. In Peter Schiff, Anne finds an outlet that combines her desire for companionship and for romantic love. It is also possible that Anne's dreaming of Peter Schiff is actually a representation of her desire for Peter van Daan; Anne herself suggests as much when she writes on February 28, 1944, that "Peter Schiff and Peter van Daan have melted into one Peter, who's good and kind and whom I long for desperately." Anne's dreaming of Peter Schiff conveys her desire for a new level of intimacy with Peter van Daan. Anne's dream foreshadows a problem, however. Peter van Daan will have a hard time competing with Anne's idealized version of Peter Schiff. Unlike Peter van Daan, who she does not consider to be marriage material, Peter Schiff is someone she would definitely consider marrying.