Mans search for meaning three phases. Analysis Of A Man’s Search For Meaning By Viktor Frankl: Free Essay Example, 1122 words 2022-10-26

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl: A Book Report from Inside Prison

In believing that the best things in life were behind them, these men missed the chance to better their mental and spiritual selves. Choose your own favorite great work of art, music, or literature and write an essay that supports how it could help you endure a dire situation. Frankl was an avid reader, and he had an intense appreciation for the fine arts. Running was extremely painful, but in the front of the line, Frankl never had to do it. Frankl observed that in this situation, every prisoner fought to keep himself and his friends from being taken, even though everyone knew that for every person kept off the transport convoy, another human had to take his place. They were often herded around like sheep and made to feel as inhuman and insignificant as possible.

Man's Search for Meaning Book Summary by Viktor E. Frankl

For example, Frankl went on a walk with a friend who went out of his way to stomp on young crops simply because he could. For most of his time there, he was a common prisoner and was made to lay railroad tracks and perform manual labor. Life for such people became meaningless. According to Frankl, those accustomed to a life of the mind before coming to camp fared poorly physically, as they were accustomed to reading and writing all day, but they often fared better spiritually and emotionally. As the prisoners begin to process their situation, they look for ways to escape from it. Frankl then sets out two goals for his book: to explain to camp survivors what happened to them psychologically, and to explain to others the psychological difficulties of returning to life after surviving the camps. The Pursuit of Meaning: Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy, and Life.

Man's Search for Meaning Chapter Summaries

Frankl once made a list of the truly happy moments he experienced at camp and discovered there had only been two. Everyone has a specific vocation, or mission in life, to carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Because staying alive was so difficult, the prisoners were no longer able to appreciate anything that did not serve that purpose. . While a small amount of pain can consume a person, a trivial thing can also spark true joy in someone, even in a terrible situation. Love fosters actualization and enables potentialities to become realities.

Analysis Of A Man’s Search For Meaning By Viktor Frankl: Free Essay Example, 1122 words

Before leaving, he made his friend Otto memorize his will: first, to tell his wife he talked about her everyday; second, to tell her that he loved her; and third, to tell her that even though their marriage was short, it was far more significant for him than the time he spent in camps. This friend gave Frankl and his prison mates important advice about how to keep from being sent to the crematorium: always shave and never walk with a limp. His love for her gives him something for which to live. The conditions of the camps forced the prisoners to detach from themselves, and it was difficult to repair this even after they were free. The author encountered a challenging situation while in the concentration camp during the second world war; at the end of his suffering, he appreciated the steps to the meaning of life. It challenged people to face their problems and find meaning in their individual lives.

Man's Search for Meaning Analysis

Frank observes three different mental stages that the average prisoner withgoes while being in the camp. At the time, they did not know what was going on, but they would later learn that everyone sent to the left—about 95% of them—were immediately executed in a crematorium. Frankl considers this, but ultimately decides to try and find meaning and agency through surviving. Initially, the liberated prisoners are so numb that they are unable to understand what freedom means, or to emotionally respond to it. Most of the book is dedicated to describing and explaining this stage, especially as it is so difficult to find meaning when one feels hopeless and apathetic. Thus, healthy prisoners taught others not to talk about food when starvation was a daily threat and to hide a crust of bread in a pocket to stretch out the nourishment.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl Plot Summary

For example, when Frankl was taken from Auschwitz to the camp affiliated with Dauchau, he and his inmates became increasingly worried they were being taken to Mauthausen, a camp with a reputation for being particularly brutal. All in all, I think that the story is very comparable to many of the readings we read during the story, as it provides a sense of morality for the reader. After reading the prayer, he decides to live his thoughts, rather than merely put them on paper. Frankl felt safe, so he remained in camp, but later that night, an SS guard brought an order to take some inmates to Switzerland to be exchanged for prisoners of war. They preferred to close their eyes and live in the past. Despite the horrifying environment, Frankl noticed that the prisoners who were more likely to survive the concentration camps had specific psychological methods of resistance: rich inner lives, future-oriented goals, and discovery of meaning in their suffering. By remembering the past, the prisoners relearned how to appreciate beautiful things and experiences.

Man’s Search for Meaning Experiences in a Concentration Camp Summary & Analysis

In some cases, as discussed previously, thinking about the past helped the inmates escape from their horrible present lives. The author Viktor Frankl was a doctor before being imprisoned in several Nazi war camps, and he used his view of suffering to survive the experience and then thrive upon his liberation. This moment also shows how much the camp changed Frankl, and how necessary a certain degree of numbness was to being able to survive. Boredom is now causing more psychological problems than distress. Only after the partial replenishing of the body is the mind finally able to respond, as "feeling suddenly broke through the strange fetters which had restrained it" p. Frankl cites this experience as the most difficult to overcome. Every person has a unique vocation that only he can accomplish, and he is responsible for undertaking this job.

Review of "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl

It helps the readers realize just how minute and minor their own problems are compared to the problems that Frankl faces within the book. For example, perhaps a child waited for the individual outside prison, or work remained to be completed. Cite this page as follows: "Man's Search for Meaning - Context" Student Guide to World Philosophy Ed. What can we do to face it down and help us break the cycle? Although Frankl was not a doctor for most of his time in the camps, the time he did spend as a doctor helped him retain his will to meaning. . They stopped exercising their fundamental freedoms because they lost hope. In other words, when we encounter a stressful situation, we have reactions that often contradict the situation, like laughing at a funeral.

Beacon Press: Teacher's Guide: Man's Search for Meaning

Describe examples in which Frankl helped his fellow prisoners via psychohygienic methods. Further, each person must find a purpose; no one can tell another what this purpose is. Frankl tried to keep his own mind busy and active by trying to rewrite his manuscript on scraps of paper. Below is a book review we received from one of our group members. Such stress, on the other hand, is important for mental health. Ultimately, the most significant purpose of logotherapy is to help the patients using it to help develop goals and aspirations. These qualities, at times, helped him transcend the atrocities of the concentration camps.