Man’s Search for Meaning
Man’s Search for Meaning
“A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears towards a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work will never be able to throw away life. He knows the “why” for his existence and will be able to bear almost any “how.” (Frankl,87-88). Man’s Search for Meaning of 2 parts. One: a recall of his experiences in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War. Two: his form of therapy called “logotherapy” and all of its general components. Logotherepay is from the Greek work logos, which can mean study, word, spirit, God, or Meaning. Throughout the book Dr. Frankl imposes the word “meaning” and elaborates to support its influence.
The start of this novel is the story of Frankl’s experiences in the Nazi concentration camps. It maps out his journey, and all of the horrors and injustices done. What is unique about the prose in this book is that, if one were to picture Dr. Frankl writing his book, it is possible to envision him being quite emotional and striving to bring all of the wrong that was done into the light for all to see. However, the truth is closer to an old man sitting in a rocking chair, with his hands lightly clasped, wise as ever. He tells the events with the horrid details exempt from this. Instead of telling how badly one was beaten, and the gory contents, he focused purposely on the psychological effects. The brutality comes from the sheer simplicity of what he says. The point Dr. Frankl attempts (quite successfully) to convey is that under such harsh circumstances, through the most torturous of scenarios, man is capable of survival. Throughout the novel, Dr. Frankl discusses scenarios in which fellow prisoners were beaten down physically and emotionally to no avail, and subsequently were able to survive through clinging onto one remaining thing: that they had found meaning in their lives. Others, who would give up and die, like a flower withers in the winter, could not find this meaning. The point stressed throughout is that without finding any meaning to their lives, the prisoners would almost inevitably die.
Frankl also discusses how to find meaning in ones life. How, in the suffering, the daily torturous conditions, the beatings, the injustice, the humiliation, the carnage, the exhaustion, how could...