Examples Of Suffering By Desperatio Victor Frankl

'He who has a why to live for can bear any how.' The words of Nietzsche begin to explain Frankl's tone throughout his book. Dr. Frankl uses his experiences in different Nazi concentration camps to explain his discovery of logotherapy. This discovery takes us back to World War II and the extreme suffering that took place in the Nazi concentration camps and outlines a detailed analysis of the prisoners psyche. An experience we gain from the first-hand memoirs of Dr. Frankl.

During this scene, Anne is showing her kindness to everyone in the Annex. Everyone is feeling kind of down and sad, and they didn’t really expect to get presents this year. When Anne gave them presents, it gave them joy and really lifted their spirits. She gave gifts to everyone that was in the Annex, even though some people didn’t really deserve them. Anne showed her kindness to Mr. Van Daan and Mr. Dussel because in my opinion, they were some of the most selfish and unkind people in the Annex. Mr. Dussel was constantly being rude to Anne, especially about her having night terrors. Anne got him some earbuds for at night, which was very kind of her after all of the things he’s said to her about her nightmares. Anne shows that we can all be kind to one another, even the people that aren’t so kind all the time. Through Anne’s actions on Hanukkah, I agree with her that people are really good at heart.

Shock, apathy, and disillusionment were three psychological stages that the prisoners of the Nazi concentration camps experienced. Ironically, it took an event of such tragedy and destruction to enable us to learn more about how the human mind responds to certain situations. Frankl’s methods for remaining positive can be used by every human being to give them a meaning in their lives regardless of what predicament or mental state they are in – it is in many ways like a phoenix risen from the

Frankl endured much suffering during his time in the concentration camp. All of his possessions were taken away, including his manuscript in which he recorded all of his life's work. He went through rough manual labor, marching through freezing temperatures, and little or no

He claimed, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me,” (115). Wiesel was shocked when he saw how he had changed in camp and how the pain and suffering still reflected on his body. Ultimately, the emotional death felt by Wiesel and the other Jews showed greatly from the hard labor being done in

Many books were published about Holocaust, but Frankl’s work is “One of the outstanding contribution to psychological thought . . .” (Carl Rogers. 1959). Frankl, a psychiatrist and neurologist, spent 3 years in Nazis concentration camps where he underwent

The residents of the annex use too much electricity and exceed their ration. Anne begins to feel that Mr. Dussel is a strict disciplinarian and has too many opinions about etiquette. She writes that it is very difficult being “the badly brought-up center of attention in a family of nitpickers.” Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day come on almost the same day, so the annex holds two celebrations. They light the Hanukkah candles for only ten minutes, since candles are in short supply. For St. Nicholas Day, Father hides a basket filled with presents and a mask of Black Peter in a cabinet.

Obviously, none of the prisoners found it a fun and happy experience, but many experienced dehumanization, loss of faith, and change in interpersonal relationships. Eliet Wiesel experienced all three of these effects, but the largest changes brought about was the destruction of Wiesel’s faith, and the dramatic increase he had in the relationship with his father. The death of Wiesel’s father left him with a hole in his life that could not be filled; with his faith gone, Wiesel sought guidance and wisdom. The hole was temporarily filled by food. Ironically, the thing that Wiesel had wanted the most for months upon months almost was his undoing. After all that he’d been through, he nearly died of food poisoning. This is a reflection of the Holocaust in general; at first, the Jews wanted nothing but to survive, to live another day. At the end, after months of suffering and cruelty, the prisoners’ only solace was death. Wiesel survived because of his faith; whether in God or in his father, faith anchored Wiesel to

After Mr. Frank realizes that being alive is enough to celebrate, “‘Come on, Anne.The song! Let’s have the song!’” (Goodrich and Hackett 543). Few minutes before, the inhabitants of the Annex found out that a thief knew of their whereabouts. This discovery is a threat to their safety as, if they are found, they would be sent to concentration camps where the residents would be beaten, starved, or worked to death. Although they’re in a life-threatening dilemma, they are still light-hearted; Mr. Frank encourages them to sing a song about Hanukkah and they do. Their setting and conflicts project all loss of hope but they accelerate forward and find faith in small traditions, such as singing during

In the play The Diary of Anne Frank, dramatized by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Anne Frank exhibits her unwavering personality by maintaining optimism even through the toughest situations. Early in the story, Anne steals Peter’s shoes and tries to play with him. Peter is exasperated, but “Anne has been having a wonderful time” and she tells her disapproving mother, “I only want some fun” (24). Her attempt to amuse Peter reveals that even after being cooped up in the Secret Annex for two months, nothing will get in her way of being a carefree, confident girl. After a while, Hanukkah arrives in the Secret Annex and the people are downcast about not having presents, but Anne jumps up and says to them, “I’ve got something”(53). Her

Life was consumed by constant orders, labor, malnutrition, disease, and murder in the concentration camps. Yet somehow the human psyche in many individuals was able to endure throughout these imprisonments. Men and women were almost completely dehumanized during this genocide, but their psyche survived it. People had to find little things to keep themselves content and to nurture their psyche. “Humor was another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self-preservation” (63). Humor allows a person to escape a situation and rise above it, even if only for a short time. Humor can never be taken away from anyone because it is naturally within us. Humor within the concentration camps allowed people, for even a split second, to feel like they

Moreover, when someone is adapting to life during a difficult time they must have some form of salvation. For Frankl, humor was a form of salvation

Illusion, it seemed, was the best remedy to survive the horrors of the camps. Frankl used this illusion to ignore the reality of what he was suffering from in order to find meaning and be able to survive. If one were to fixate on the horrors of the reality he was living, he would be unable to see a future outside the camp and therefore a reason to live, ultimately resulting in his demise.

The premise of Frankl’s book is that mankind’s desire for meaning is much stronger than its desire for power or pleasure and that if man can find meaning in life he can survive anything. Frankl introduces this idea [which he calls the theory of logotherapy] throughout his concentration camp experiences in the book’s first section and delves deeper into it in the second section. Referencing Nietzsche, Frankl tells us “Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'” (p. 80). The most important thing to be learned from this statement is that no matter what your circumstances are, you can be happy, or at least survive, if you find a meaning or purpose in life. While in the concentration camp Frankl tells us that in order to maintain his desire to have a meaningful life he focused on three main things: suffering, work, and love. Of sacrifice

Frankl may respond to it by praising the idea of finding a meaning of life. What he means by this is to find hope in a situation like the Holocaust. For example: he might feel elated for Renee, who found joy writing on a roll of toilet paper.