Tuesday, December 16, 2014

In Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, how would you clarify the ways in which Elli showed her solidarity with the people living in the attic?

The text makes it clear that Elli comes and visits the
Jews who are hidden often and eats with them, and then does her best to try and get them
things that they need from the "outside" where they are unable to go any more. For
example, Anne Frank reports how Mrs. Van Daan says to her,"Oh, Elli, I have only one
little wish..." and how Elli responds to this by winking at Anne. She also warns the
Jews if there is any danger of discovery through the sounds they make. In fact, if we
examine the text carefully, we can see that Elli tries to be so helpful that she
actually makes herself very stressed, as the following quote
establishes:


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Elli had a fit of nerves this week, she had been
sent out so often, time and again she had been asked to go and fetch something quickly,
which meant yet another errand or made her feel that she had done something wrong. If
you just think that she still has to finish her office work downstairs, that Koophus is
ill, Miep at home with a cold and that she herself has a sprained ankle, love worries,
and a grumbling father, then it's no wonder she's at her wit's
end.



This gives ample
evidence of the way that Elli served the Jews and did her best to identify with them and
their state. Let us remember that to hide Jews or to aid them in any way was a crime
that many people were sent to concentration camps for committing, and so Elli was
endangering her life by helping the Jews.

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