Anne Frank vs. Bono

People are constantly driving over small bumps in the road, but it is how we maneuver over huge mountains that defines us as different kinds of people. We all know the story of Anne Frank, whose positive writing in her journal aided her throughout tough times in hiding during World War II. As rock music goes, no one us unfamiliar with Bono, the rambunctious lead singer of the famous Irish band U2. But what people may not know about this singer/songwriter is that he has a rough history of dealing with the death of a mother, and how he used songwriting as a therapy to overcome this. Through Bono and Anne, it is evident that many people create pieces of writing as a way of dealing with life-altering events.

Isolation. Tyranny. Torture. Anne Frank's short life had no traces of a regular existence. At first a normal Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, Anne's life became extremely difficult once the third reich was expedited. Anne had to go into hiding in her father's workplace to avoid ruthless mass killings to her people by Hitler's army. She was forced to live with 7 other individuals who's unique personalities took a toll on this young girl. During her confinement, Anne kept a diary, which she ejected all of her inner thoughts about this life altering event on to.

"I've only got dismal and depressing news for you today." *(Diary of Anne Frank, p. 38)

This is an example of Anne taking what is bothering her and putting it on paper. This provided Anne with certain company to help her try to maneuver over this rough patch in her life. This represents just one example of people using literature to help them through life-altering events.

On the other hand, Bono Vox has never been hand in hand with persecution, but has also been through his fair share of hardships. It is often said that the worst thing that can possibly happen to a family is the loss of a member, particularly a mother. The loss of Iris Hewson due to a brain hemorrhage had a huge impact on her son Bono's life. What made this especially difficult for the future rock star was that he was only 14 at the time. To deal with the pain of this, he wrote songs to express his feeling on this tragic subject. Some of these songs later became hits, such as "Lemon" and "Mofo".

"Music can change the world because it can change people"
(www.brainyquote.com -Bono)

What the U2 member is saying is that the whole concept of music, especially the making of it, has the power to do massive things in the world because it so greatly affects the individuals close to it. In his powerful lyrics about his passed mother, Bono has climbed an obstacle as an individual and believes he can use this to aid the world. It is now evident that Bono has used words to help him overcome a life-altering event.

Anne is similar to Bono in that they have both made literature to help themselves through rough times. On one hand, Anne wrote in a very personal, casual style because she thought no one would see her creation. Little did she know that her writings would eventually be published as one of the best selling books ever. On the other hand, Bono was interested in people seeing his work, so he had to write in a less exposed style to keep his inner thoughts slightly hidden, though they were still in his works. Something very key in understanding what our two individuals have done is that they are both artists in a sense. The creative process is really the meat of what helped these two people through their struggles. Anne and Bono would both learn something about maternity if they stepped into each other's shoes. One of Anne's main topics to write about was her mother and how she didn't understand her, while Bono's problem was that he didn't have a mother at all. If Bono were to see Anne's life, he may see that mothers don't exclusively act in ways a child would want, while if Anne were to see Bono's life, she may start appreciating her mother a lot more. This could be seen as a similarity between the two, because in both of their eyes they have some sort of maternal deprivation. This could be be Anne's intolerance for the differences she perceives between her mother and a typical "motherly" one she refers to as a "Mummsy", or Bono's complete lack of a mother. Overall, Anne and Bono may not be exactly the same, but still both use writing to deal with each of their unique life altering events.

As shown, writing is something that can help a person overcome large obstacles in their life. Anne's isolated existence was one of great public interest, as was Bono's life without a mother. I think the media fascination with their stories directly stems from their pieces of writing. Because both of them were writing from a very personal inspiration, with their life altering events in mind, very detailed, heartfelt pieces of art were produced. I certainly believe that the writings of Anne Frank and Bono Vox will live on for generations to come.