It's like when we read The Diary of Anne Frank in seventh grade, and I had the sneaking suspicion that I would have been a Nazi back then because I wouldn't have had the guts to be anything else. Because I would have been too scared to not go along with the majority. Like, I would have been a passive sort of Nazi, but I still would have been a Nazi. I never said anything out loud, of course, but I remember reading that book in Ms. Peterson's class and everyone was all, Oh, I would've helped Anne. I would have rebelled. I don't understand how people could have allowed this to happen, blah blah blah. I mean
The narrator reflects on reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" during seventh grade and grapples with the unsettling thought that, if faced with the same situation, they might have succumbed to the prevalent ideology of the time, identifying as a passive participant in Nazi atrocities. Instead of feeling courageous and defiant, they recognize a fear of standing against the majority, highlighting a deep self-awareness about human nature and complicity.
While classmates expressed a desire to be heroic and supportive of Anne, the narrator acknowledges a more uncomfortable truth—acknowledging the potential for cowardice in themselves. This inner conflict opens a dialogue about the moral complexities of standing up to injustice and the often harsh reality of societal pressures that can lead to complicity in wrongdoing, as discussed in Jennifer Mathieu's "The Truth About Alice."
