Mrs. Van Daan's birthday is celebrated, and the members of the group, as well as the "protectors," give her presents of things to eat, as well as some food coupons. Anne remarks: "Such are the times we live in!" (September 29, 1943). The strained relations between the members of the group continue, and Anne's words, "Oh, what kind of explosion is hanging over us now? If only I wasn't mixed up so much with all these rows! If I could only get away! They'll drive us crazy before long!" (September 29, 1943), are desperate cries from her heart.
One day, Mrs. Van Daan is obliged to sell her fur coat to raise money for food, and this leads to additional quarrels. Anne remarks, ironically: ". . . and now the reconciliation period of 'Oh, darling Putti' and 'precious Kerli' has set in." Then she adds: "I am dazed by all the abusive exchanges that have taken place in this virtuous house during the past month. . . . Quite honestly, I sometimes forget who we are quarreling with and with whom we've made it up. The only way to take one's mind off it all is to study, and I do a lot of that" (October 17, 1943).
Sundays — when there is no one working in the office, and when there is no relief from the tedium of the group — are particularly depressing days for Anne. She describes them with a telling phrase: "The atmosphere is so oppressive, and sleepy and as heavy as lead" (October 29, 1943). We can feel her painful desperation at being "jailed" for over a year when she writes: "I wander from one room to another, downstairs and up again, feeling like a songbird whose wings have been clipped and who is hurling himself in utter darkness against the bars of his cage" (October 29, 1943).
