From Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne speaks about what she feels is the truth about her relationship with her mother in the entry dated Friday, 2 April, 1943. Anne starts the entry by saying that she has acquired another "black mark" against her. When it was time for bed, Anne's mother goes to tuck her daughter in and asks, ". . . shall I say your prayers with you tonight?" (77). When Anne refuses her, her mother reveals that Anne's behavior towards her really hurts. Frustrated, Anne writes in her diary the following:

"It is hard to speak the truth, and yet it is the truth; she herself has pushed me away, her tactless remarks and her crude jokes, which I don't find at all funny, have now made me insensitive to any love from her side" (77).

When taken in its full context, Anne's truth is that she feels as though she does not love her mother. The truth is that Anne doesn't want anything to do with her mother as far as affection or bonding are concerned. When her father asks how she could hurt her mother in such a way, Anne reflects in her diary that she knows her parents want an apology, but she can't apologize for the way she feels about her mother. It is clear that Anne is not afraid to refuse her mother's love because she also refuses to pretend to return this love simply for her mother's sake.