Man's Search For Meaning Analysis

In the book Man's Search for Meaning, written by Viktor E. Frankl the psychologist, talks about his life in the concentration camps in Auschwitz and how he found the true meaning of life. Throughout the book, Frankl gives us detail about his life in the Nazi concentration camp and how the SS, which are Hitler’s loyal members who helped establish a ruthless country during World War II. The main message I received in reading the book was that it focused on the dehumanization which is the process of depriving another person or group of positive human qualities, it is also thinking that one race is better or superior to another, which is racism. All over the book, Frankl is trying to find his meaning of life through intense suffering. Frankl mentions that the only way to survive in the harsh and gruesome concentration camps is to basically be willing to die at any given moment and by doing that you can find your

'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.

We are meant to become our truest selves by finding meaning in our lives, which, according to Frankl, can come from three places: work, love, and our attitude in the face of horrific suffering or difficulty. And at the center of this meaning is our responsibility and human right to choose. In Frankl’s theory, we all strive to fulfill a self-chosen goal, from which meaning has the potential to be found. And if no meaning is found, there is meaning yet to be found, or meaning to be drawn from the apparent lack of meaning. Whatever the case, Frankl viewed man’s lack of meaning as the greatest existential crisis, the stress of this meaninglessness giving life and shape to all of our neuroses.

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

Man’s Search For Meaning details Viktor Frankl’s horrifying experiences in Nazi concentration camps during the holocaust, and during that time he found meaning in his life. And he describes three things that were the most important factors that contributed to his and some prisoners survival: love, work, and suffering. It was because of those three things that they were able to survive. Many found hope in the thought that a love one was waiting , others were so preoccupied with work they were un able to think, and most effective was

The Holocaust is regarded as one of the worst events in human history. In fact, the vast majority of those who were sent to a concentration camp perished there. When prisoners view the despair all around them, they find it hard to see meaning behind all the suffering. Life is no longer worth living, so many prisoners see suicide as the only option to escape the pain. As a psychiatrist who was sent to Auschwitz, a concentration camp notorious for its crematoriums, Viktor Frankl has a special perspective on the loss of the will to live that those imprisoned exhibit. In his own words, “Life in a concentration camp tore open the human soul and exposed its depths”(Frankl 94). Frankl discovers in himself not only the shock and apathy he displays, but also the strange hope that comes with imagining his freedom. The brutality of the Holocaust changes Frankl and brings out his true self while teaching him that he and others can survive the worst of terrors by setting a purpose in life, which only they can individually determine.

Part 2: Victor Frankl is one of the many people who experienced the wrath of the Nazis

Man’s Search for Meaning, is a biography and the personal memoir of Victor Frankl’s experience in a Nazi Concentration Camp. The book was initially published in 1946 in German and was then published in 1959 in English, under the title From Death-Camp to Existentialism. Prior to World War II, Victor Frankl was a psychiatrist working in Vienna and then later was responsible for running the neurology department at a Jewish Hospital in Rothschild. In 1942 he and his family were arrested and deported. They were separated and sent to concentration

However, Viktor Frankl took it a step further and combine it with logotherapy and his own experiences with suffering. While most people struggling to find meaning in their lives aren't in as serious of a situation as a concentration camp, they are still suffering. Frankl says that "he who has a why to live for can bear almost any how" (Frankl ). He tells people that by finding a reason to get through the suffering, they may find their “pain” is not so painful. Just as prisoners who had reasons to make it to liberation day defeated their suffering. Viktor Frankl said himself “that the meaning of his life, is to help others find the meaning of their’s” (Frankl

The Man’s Search for Meaning demonstrates what a human being can endure in spite of terrible state of affairs such as the Holocaust. I believe Viktor Frankl survived this cruel occurrence because it is not only his psychiatrist background but his optimistic and meaning for life that also saved him. Frankl opposes that every individual has an inborn tendency to search for the meaning of his being, “You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you do and feel about what happens to you” (pages X Foreword). Frankl’s experiences in the several small concentration camps are used to demonstrate on how concentrating on the reasons behind a circumstance rather than the outcomes that follow, lets a person to endure even the most horrifying of situations. He writes of all the horrors and tragedies’ that he and his fellow prisoners experienced, however, the message that is most important is that no matter what type of suffering a person withstands, as long as they grasp onto their faith that everything happens for a reason, they can survive just about anything.

In the book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” Viktor E. Frankl uses his experience in a concentration camp to write an empowering book about finding an ultimate purpose in life and seeing life as meaningful despite one’s circumstances. I am very fond of this book and there were many parts of the story that impacted me. One particular part of Frankl’s book held great significance. This part came after a burglar was found in the camp stealing potatoes, and some of the prisoners recognized him. When the camp authorities threatened to have the whole camp starve for a day if they didn’t confess who the theft was, the prisoners voted to fast. When the prisoners were in their huts and Frankl began giving them glimpses of hope and motivation, I was truly

Man’s search for meaning is written from Dr. Viktor E. Frankl’s point of view, the book tells of Dr. Frankl’s experiences while being held captive in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Frankl writes about the three psychological reactions which the inmates of the camp experienced which includes the period following admission to the camps, the period of entrenchment, and the period after being released from the camp. Dr. Frankl has multiple points he is trying to prove in the book, one is when he ultimately comes up with the idea that “To live is to suffer; to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.”, which means as long as you living you will suffer and in order for you to survive those sufferings, you will need to find the meaning

​A Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl, discussed his goals and beliefs based on his time in a concentration camp. He formed several goals and purposes for himself before, during, and after his captivity. ​In Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl’s goal before the concentration camp was to be a successful psychiatrist. He was very intrigued by philosophy, psychology, and questioning the meaning of life. He was very focused on life and its purpose.

Viktor Frankl had a chance to escape the wrath of World War II, but he didn’t! Instead, he chose to stay behind so that he could be close to his parents. That choice, ultimately led him to extreme experiences within several Nazi concentration camps, including the infamous Auschwitz. Watching those around him suffer the same fate, the same hardships and the same pain, he noticed that they all reacted differently. Those who had found a meaning or will to live did so, but others who had lost everything dear to them often just gave up – and died. Frankl realized that (and he often quotes Nietzsche), "He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how”.

Reflection of “Man’s Search for Meaning,” by Viktor Frankl John R. Miller Edinboro University   Reflection of “Man’s Search for Meaning,” by Viktor Frankl Viktor Frankl (2006), describes the purpose of a man’s journey of survival as he lives in four concentration camps within a 3-year period and having the journey continue after being liberated. Frankl was a psychiatrist and neurologist who worked in Rothschild Hospital during 1940, which at the time was one of the few hospitals to allow Jews to practice medicine. During 1942, he was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. Frankl pondered the meaning of life and suffering. Frankl would also spend his time in concentration camps developing what would be a new theory; he would later develop logotherapy.