Question

a-Mr. Kraler informs Mr.

Frank about a worker who is attempting to blackmail him. What information does the worker have?

b-What do you think that Mr. Kraler should do about the worker?

It's terribly difficult to get them, Mr. Van Daan. But F'll try. Good-bye.
77 [She goes. Mr. Frank follows her down the steps to bolt the door after her. Mrs. Frank gives Mr. Kraler a cup of tea.]
1. Mrs. Frank. Are you sure you won't have some cake,
2. Mr. Kraler?
3. Mr. Kraler. I'd better not.
4. Mr. Van Daan. You're still feeling badly? What does your doctor say?
5. Mr. Kraler. I haven't been to him.
6. Mrs. Frank. Now, Mr. Kraler! ...
Mr. Kraler. [Sitting at the table] Oh, I tried. But you can't get near a doctor these days... they're so busy. After weeks I finally managed to get one on the telephone. I told him I'd like an appointment. I wasn't feeling very well. You know what he answers... over the telephone... Stick out your tongue! [They laugh. He turns to Mr. Frank as Mr. Frank comes back.] I have some contracts here... I wonder if you'd look over them with me ...
Mr. Frank. [Putting out his hand] Of course.
85
Mr. Kraler. [He rises) If we could go downstairs... [Mr. Frank starts ahead; Mr. Kraler speaks to the others. Will you forgive us? I won't keep him but a minute. He starts to follow Mr. Frank down the steps.]
Margot. [With sudden foreboding] What's happened?
Something's happened! Hasn't it, Mr. Kraler?
в7 [Mr. Kraler stops and comes back, trying to reassure Margot with
a pretense of casualness.]
Mr. Kraler. No, really. I want your father's advice...
Margot. Something's gone wrong! I know it!
1.
2. Mr. Frank. [Coming back, to Mr. Kraler] If it's something that concerns us here, it's better that we all hear it.
3. Mr. Kraler. [Turning to him, quietly] But... the children...?
4. Mr. Frank. What they'd imagine would be worse than any reality.
[As Mr. Kraler speaks, they all listen with intense apprehension.
Mrs. Van Daan comes down the stairs and sits on the bottom step.]

• Mr. Kraler. It's a man in the storeroom... I don't know whether or not you remember him... Carl, about fifty, heavy-set, nearsighted... He came with us just before you left.
95 Mr. Frank. He was from Utrecht?
* Mr. Kraler. That's the man. A couple of weeks ago, when I was in the storeroom, he closed the door and asked me... how's Mr. Frank? What do you hear from Mr. Frank? I told him l only knew there was a rumor that you were in Switzerland. He said he'd heard that rumor too, but he thought I might know something more. I didn't pay any attention to it ... but then a thing happened yesterday...
He'd brought some invoices to the office for me to sign. As I was going through them, I looked up. He was standing staring at the bookcase... your bookcase. He said he thought he remembered a door there... Wasn't there a door there that used to go up to the loft? Then he told me he wanted more money. Twenty guilders more a week.
9 Mr. Van Daan. Blackmail!
48 Mr. Frank. Twenty guilders? Very modest blackmail.
9 Mr. Van Daan. That's just the beginning.
100 Dussel. [Coming to Mr. Frank] You know what I think? He was the thief who was down there that night. That's how he knows we're here.
Mr. Frank. [To Mr. Kraler] How was it left? What did you tell him?
102
Mr. Kraler. I said I had to think about it. What shall I do? Pay him the money? ... Take a chance on firing him ... or what?
I don't know.
103
Dussel. [Frantic] Don't fire him! Pay him what he asks... keep him here where you can have your eye on him.
104
Mr. Frank. Is it so much that he's asking? What are they

paying nowadays?
Mr. Kraler. He could get it in a war plant. But this isn't a war plant. Mind you. I don't know if he really knows... or if he doesn't know.
06
Mr. Frank. Offer him half. Then we'll soon find out if it's blackmail or not.
Dussel. And if it is? We've got to pay it, haven't we?
Anything he asks we've got to pay!
Mr. Frank. Let's decide that when the time comes.
• Mr. Kraler. This may be all my imagination. You get to a point, these days, where you suspect everyone and

everything. Again and again.. on some simple look or word, I've found myself...
The telephone rings in the office below.]
111
Mrs. Van Daan. [Hurrying to Mr. Kraler] There's the telephone! What does that mean, the telephone ringing on a holiday?
112
Mr. Kraler. That's my wife. I told her I had to go over some papers in my office.. to call me there when she got out of church. (He starts out.] I'll offer him half then. Goodbye... we'll hope for the best!
[The group calls their good-byes halfheartedly. Mr. Frank follows Mr. Kraler to bolt the door below. During the following scene, Mr. Frank comes back up and stands listening, disturbed.]
Dussel. [To Mr. Van Daan] You can thank your son for this ... smashing the light! I tell you, it's just a question of time now.
115
He goes to the window at the back and stands looking out.)
116 1
Margot. Sometimes I wish the end would come ... whatever it is.
117 Mrs. Frank. [Shocked Margot!
119 [Anne goes to Margot, sitting beside her on the couch with her arms around her.)
119
Margot. Then at least we'd know where we were.
120
Mrs. Frank. You should be ashamed of yourself! Talking that way! Think how lucky we are! Think of the thousands dying in the war, every day. Think of the people in concentration camps.
121
Anne. [Interrupting] What's the good of that? What's the good of thinking of misery when you're already miserable?
That's stupid!
122 | Mrs. Frank. Anne!
23 [As Anne goes on raging at her mother, Mrs. Frank tries to break in, in an effort to quiet her.]
24 Anne. We're young, Margot and Peter and I! You grownups have had your chance! But look at us ... If we begin thinking of all the horror in the world, we're lost! We're trying to hold onto some kind of ideals... when everything... ideals, hopes... everything, are being destroyed! It isn't our fault that the world is in such a mess! We weren't around when all this started! So don't try to take it out on us! [She rushes off to her room, slamming the door after her. She picks up a brush from the chest and hurls it to the floor. Then she sits on the settee, trying to control her anger.]

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

a- The worker, Carl, is attempting to blackmail Mr. Kraler by demanding an extra twenty guilders per week in exchange for not revealing Mr. Frank's presence in the secret hiding place.

b- Mr. Kraler should not give in to the worker's blackmail demands. Instead, he should offer Carl half of what he is asking for and see how he responds. If Carl accepts the offer, it may indicate that he is truly attempting to blackmail them. In that case, they can consider other options such as keeping a close eye on him or potentially firing him. It is important to handle the situation cautiously and not give in to any unjust demands.

Answer 2

1. Dussel, in his dentist's jacket, is pacing up and down, impatient to get into his bedroom. Mr. Van Daan is upstairs working on a piece of embroidery in an embroidery frame.

2. In his room Peter is sitting before the mirror, smoothing his hair.
As the scene goes on, he puts on his tie, brushes his coat and puts it on, preparing himself meticulously for a visit from Anne. On his wall are now hung some of Anne's motion picture stars.
3. In her room Anne too is getting dressed. She stands before the mirror in her slip, trying various ways of dressing her hair. Margot is seated on the sofa, hemming a skirt for Anne to wear. s In the main room Dussel can stand it no longer. He comes over, rapping sharply on the door of his and Anne's bedroom.]
• Anne. [Calling to him] No, no, Mr. Dussel! I am not dressed yet. [Dussel walks away, furious, sitting down and burying his head in his hands. Anne turns to Margot.] How is that? How does that look?
7 Margot. [Glancing at her briefly] Fine.
* Anne. You didn't even look.
* Margot. Of course I did. It's fine.
1. Anne. Margot, tell me, am I terribly ugly?
2. Margot. Oh, stop fishing.
3. Anne. No. No. Tell me.
4. Margot. Of course you're not. You've got nice eyes... and a lot of animation, and...
5. Anne. A little vague, aren't you?
15 [She reaches over and takes a brassiere out of Margot's sewing baskel. She holds it up to herself, studying the effect in the mirror.
Outside, Mrs. Frank, feeling sorry for Dussel, comes over, knocking at the girls' door.]
16 Mrs. Frank. [Outside] May I come in?

17 Margot. Come in, Mother.
18
Mrs. Frank. [Shutting the door behind her] Mr. Dussel's impatient to get in here.
19 1
Anne. [Still with the brassiere] Heavens, he takes the room for himself the entire day.
20
Mrs. Frank. [Gently] Anne, dear, you're not going in again tonight to see Peter?
1. Anne. [Dignified] That is my intention.
2. Mrs. Frank. But you've already spent a great deal of time in there today.
3.
4. Anne. I was in there exactly twice. Once to get the dictionary, and then three-quarters of an hour before supper.
5. Mrs. Frank. Aren't you afraid you're disturbing him?
6. Anne. Mother, I have some intuition.
26
Mrs. Frank. Then may I ask you this much, Anne. Please don't shut the door when you go in.
27 Anne. You sound like Mrs. Van Daan! [She throws the brassiere back in Margot's sewing basket and picks up her blouse, putting it on.]
Mrs. Frank. No. No. I don't mean to suggest anything wrong.
I only wish that you wouldn't expose yourself to criticism... that you wouldn't give Mrs. Van Daan the opportunity to be unpleasant.
1. Anne. Mrs. Van Daan doesn't need an opportunity to be unpleasant!
2. Mrs. Frank. Everyone's on edge, worried about Mr. Kraler.
This is one more thing ...
3. Anne. I'm sorry, Mother. I'm going to Peter's room. I'm not going to let Petronella Van Daan spoil our friendship.
32 [Mrs. Frank hesitates for a second, then goes out, closing the door after her. She gets a pack of playing cards and sits at the center table, playing solitaire. In Anne's room Margot hands the finished skirt to Anne. As Anne is putting it on, Margot takes off her high-heeled shoes and stuffs paper in the toes so that Anne can wear them.]

33
Margot. [o Anne Why don't you two talk in the main room? It'd save a lot of trouble. It's hard on Mother, having to listen to those remarks from Mrs. Van Daan and not say a word.
1. Anne. Why doesn't she say a word? I think it's ridiculous to take it and take it.
2. Margot. You don't understand Mother at all, do you? She can't talk back. She's not like you. It's just not in her nature to fight back.
36
Anne. Anyway ... the only one I worry about is you. I feel awfully guilty about you. [She sits on the stool near Margot, putting on Margot's high-heeled shoes.]
37
Margot. What about?
38
Anne. l mean, every time I go into Peter's room, I have a feeling I may be hurting you. [Margot shakes her head.] I know if it were me, I'd be wild. I'd be desperately jealous, if it were me.
39 Margot. Well, I'm not.
40
Anne. You don't feel badly? Really? Truly? You're not jealous?
41
Margot. Of course I'm jealous... jealous that you've got something to get up in the morning for.. But jealous of you and Peter? No.
42 [Anne goes back to the mirror.]
1. Anne. Maybe there's nothing to be jealous of. Maybe he doesn't really like me. Maybe I'm just taking the place of his cat... [She picks up a pair of short white gloves, putting them on.]
Wouldn't you like to come in with us?
2. Margot. I have a book.
3. The sound of the children playing outside fades out. In the main room Dussel can stand it no longer. He jumps up, going to the bedroom door and knocking sharply.
4. Dussel. Will you please let me in my room!
47
Anne. Just a minute, dear, dear Mr. Dussel. [She picks up her mother's pink stole and adjusts it elegantly over her shoulders, then gives a last look in the mirror.] Well, here I go... to run the gauntlet. 5
48
[She starts out, followed by Margot.]
1. Dussel. [As she appears sarcastic Thank you so much.
2. Dussel goes into his room. Anne goes toward Peter's room, passing Mrs. Van Daan and her parents at the center table.]

a-Mrs. Frank is frustrated about the time Anne spends with Peter. What are a few of her reasons for being frustrated?

b-Does Anne understand her mother's frustrations? Why or why not?

Answer 3

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

a- Mrs. Frank is frustrated about the time Anne spends with Peter because she feels that Anne has already spent a great deal of time in his room and may be disturbing him. Mrs. Frank also worries that Anne's actions could expose her to criticism, particularly from Mrs. Van Daan, and wishes Anne wouldn't give anyone the opportunity to be unpleasant.

b- Anne does not seem to fully understand her mother's frustrations. She believes her intuition guides her actions and is determined not to let Mrs. Van Daan spoil her friendship with Peter. Anne may not fully comprehend the potential consequences of her actions or the impact they have on her mother's peace of mind. She appears more focused on her own feelings and relationships, rather than considering how her behavior may affect others.

Answer 4

[It is night, a few weeks later. Everyone is in bed. There is complete quiet. In the Van Daans' room a match flares up for a moment and then is quickly put out. Mr. Van Daan, in bare feet, dressed in underwear and trousers, is dimly seen coming stealthily down the stairs and into the main room, where Mr. and Mrs. Frank and Margot are sleeping. He goes to the food safe and again lights a match. Then he cautiously opens the safe, taking out a half-loaf of bread. As he closes the safe, it creaks. He stands rigid. Mrs. Frank sits up in bed. She sees him.]

2 Mrs. Frank. [Screaming] Otto! Otto! Komme schnell!*
3 [The rest of the people wake, hurriedly getting up.] = Mr. Frank. Was ist los? Was ist passiert?"
5 [Dussel, followed by Anne, comes from his room.]
1. Mrs. Frank. [As she rushes over to Mr. Van Daan] Er stiehlt das Essen! &
2. Dussel. [Grabbing Mr. Van Daan] You! You! Give me that. a Mrs. Van Daan. [Coming down the stairs] Putti... Putti...
what is it?
• Dussel. [His hands on Van Daan's neck] You dirty thief... stealing food... you good-for-nothing...

Mr. Frank. Mr. Dussel! For God's sake! Help me, Peter! •
" [Peter comes over, trying, with Mr. Frank, to separate the two
struggling men.)
12
Peter. Let him go! Let go!
13 (Dussel drops Mr. Van Daan, pushing him away. He shows them the end of a loaf of bread that he has taken from Van Daan.]
14
Dussel. You greedy, selfish...!
15 [Margot turns on the lights.)
16
Mrs. Van Daan. Putti... what is it?
17 [All of Mrs. Frank's gentleness, her self-control, is gone. She is outraged, in a frenzy of indignation.]
18 Mrs. Frank. The bread! He was stealing the bread!
Dussel. It was you, and all the time we thought it was the rats!
20
Mr. Frank. Mr. Van Daan, how could you!
1. Mr. Van Daan. I'm hungry.
2. Mrs. Frank. We're all of us hungry! I see the children getting thinner and thinner. Your own son Peter.. I've heard him moan in his sleep, he's so hungry. And you come in the night and steal food that should go to them... to the children!
Mrs. Van Daan. [Going to Mr. Van Daan protectively) He needs more food than the rest of us. He's used to more. He's a big man.
2 [Mr. Van Daan breaks away, going over and sitting on the couch.)
1. Mrs. Frank. [Turning on Mrs. Van Daan] And you... you're worse than he is! You're a mother, and yet you sacrifice your child to this man... this... this ...
2. Mr. Frank. Edith! Edith!
2 Margot picks up the pink woolen stole, putting it over her mother's shoulders.]

28
Mrs. Frank. Paying no attention, gomg on to Mrs. Van Daan) Don't think I haven't seen you! Always saving the choicest bits for him! I've watched you day after day and I've held my tongue. But not any longer! Not after this! Now I want him to go! I want him to get out of here!
(Together)
Mr. Frank. Edith!
Mr. Van Daan. Get out of here?
Mrs. Van Daan. What do you mean?

Mrs. Frank. Just that! Take your things and get out!
Mr. Frank. [To Mrs. Frank] You're speaking in anger. You cannot mean what you are saying.
Mrs. Frank. I mean exactly that!
33
[Mrs. Van Daan takes a cover from the Franks' bed, pulling it about her.]
34
Mr. Frank. For two long years we have lived here, side by side. We have respected each other's rights... we have managed to live in peace. Are we now going to throw it all away? I know this will never happen again, will it, Mr. Van Daan?
35
Mr. Van Daan. No. No.
36
Mrs. Frank. He steals once! He'll steal again!

37 [Mr. Van Daan, holding his stomach, starts for the bathroom.
Anne puts her arms around him, helping him up the step.]
Mr. Frank. Edith, please. Let us be calm. We'll all go to our rooms... and afterwards we'll sit down quietly and talk this out. we'll find some way ...
1. Mrs. Frank. No! No! No more talk! I want them to leave!
2. Mrs. Van Daan. You'd put us out, on the streets?
3. Mrs. Frank. There are other hiding places.
4. Mrs. Van Daan. A cellar... a closet. I know. And we have no money left even to pay for that.
5. Mrs. Frank. I'll give you money. Out of my own pocket I'll give it gladly. [She gets her purse from a shelf and comes back with it.]
6. Mrs. Van Daan. Mr. Frank, you told Putti you'd never forget what he'd done for you when you came to Amsterdam. You said you could never repay him, that you ...
Mrs. Frank. [Counting out money.] If my husband had any obligation to you, he's paid it, over and over.

Mr. Frank. Edith, I've never seen you like this before. I don't know you.
47 Mrs. Frank. I should have spoken out long ago.
4в Dussel. You can't be nice to some people.

49
Mrs. Van Daan. [Turning on Dussel] There would have been plenty for all of us, if you hadn't come in here! so Mr. Frank. We don't need the Nazis to destroy us. We're
destroying ourselves.
51 [He sits down, with his head in his hands. Mrs. Frank goes to Mrs. Van Daan.]
1. Mrs. Frank. [Giving Mrs. Van Daan some money] Give this to Miep. She'll find you a place.
2. Anne. Mother, you're not putting Peter out. Peter hasn't done anything.
3. Mrs. Frank. He'll stay, of course. When I say I must protect the children, I mean Peter too.
55 [Peter rises from the steps where he has been sitting.]
1. Peter. I'd have to go if Father goes.
2. Mr. Van Daan comes from the bathroom. Mrs. Van Daan hurries to him and takes him to the couch. Then she gets water from the sink to bathe his face.]
Mrs. Frank. [While this is going on] He's no father to you ... that man! He doesn't know what it is to be a father!
3. Peter. [Starting for his room] I wouldn't feel fight. I couldn't stay.
4. Mrs. Frank. Very well, then. I'm sorry.
5. Anne. [Rushing over to Peter] No. Peter! No! [Peter goes into his room, closing the door after him. Anne turns back to her mother, crying.] I don't care about the food. They can have mine! I don't want it! Only don't send them away. It'll be daylight soon. They'll be caught ...
6. Margot. Putting her arms comfortingly around Annel Please, Mother!
7. Mrs. Frank. They're not going now. They'll stay here until Miep finds them a place. [To Mrs. Van Daan] But one thing I insist on! He must never come down here again! He must never come to this room where the food is stored! We'll divide what we have... an equal share for each! [Dussel hurries over to get a sack of potatoes from the food safe. Mrs. Frank goes on, to Mrs. Van Daan] You can cook it here and take it up to him.
8. 6 [Dussel brings the sack of potatoes back to the center table.]
9. 65
10. Margot. Oh, no. No. We haven't sunk so far that we're going to fight over a handful of rotten potatoes.

a-What causes Mr. Van
Daan to steal food from the families?

b-What effect do his actions have on the others?

Answer 5

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

a- Mr. Van Daan steals food from the families because he is hungry. He admits that he needs more food than the others and is used to having more. The scarcity of food and the hunger he experiences lead him to make the desperate decision to steal.

b- Mr. Van Daan's actions greatly disturb and anger the other occupants of the hiding place. Mrs. Frank is outraged and feels betrayed by his selfishness, especially because the stolen food was meant for the children who are already suffering from hunger. His actions lead to a heated confrontation and almost result in him being asked to leave the hiding place. The incident causes tension and conflict among the group, highlighting the struggle they face in difficult circumstances and the impact of desperation on their relationships.