Man's Search For Meaning By Viktor E. Frankl

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

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

Through Frankl's view of suicide you can discover his view of human person. Suicide is wrong in all cases, and should not be even considered an option. He believes that all people can find some meaning in life which would prevent them from giving up all hope and ending their lives. Every human life has meaning, and therefore every human life has value. While in a concentration camp serving as a doctor to those who were ill with typhus or other diseases, he encountered two individuals who had given up hope on life. He asked them both to think of something worth living for. One answered that he had a son waiting for him at home, and the other said he was writing a book and wanted to finish it. Frankl helped them find meaning in their lives to hold on to some hope. Just as they did, anyone can find a meaning to live for, whether it be another person or a goal or achievement.

In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl tells the honest story of his own experiences as an inmate in a concentration camp during World War II. In his book, Frankl answers the question “How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner?” (Frankl, 2006, p. 3) He describes the physical, emotional, and psychological torment that he endured as well as the effect that the camp had on those around him. He breaks down the psychological experience as a prisoner into three stages: the initial shock upon admission into the camp, apathy, and the mental reactions of the prisoner after liberation. He highlights certain emotions experienced throughout the time in the camp such as delusions of reprieve, hope, curiosity, surprise, and even humor.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl is filled to the brim with rhetorical devices from all three sections of the text. Particularly in his section about logotherapy, Frankl’s practice to find an individual’s meaning of life, he explores the three main meanings of life: accomplishment, love, and suffering. This area uses a plethora of comparison, such as parallelism and metaphor. Recurring themes are used to draw back to Frankl’s three life meanings, like word repetition and alliteration. Frankl’s use of rhetorical devices allows his audience to focus on their individual possibilities and incorporate his ideology into society.

In his description on page six, Frankl reveals that after being moved from concentration camp to concentration camp, it had forced the best of people to become self-interested in a fight for their own survival. Scruples in this quote means that prisoners had forfeited their moral conscience and did not hesitate to commit acts that could cause harm to others. Frankl then went on to disclose, "They were prepared to use every means, honest and otherwise, even brutal force, theft, and betrayal of their friends, in order to save themselves" (Frankl, 6). This quote perfectly illustrates what life in concentration camps was like as even the best of people were forced to give up past values in order to save oneself. From his descriptions, life in

Man Searching for Meaning is about a Psychologist named Victor Frankl. In Vienna Frankl and his family and friends were arrested and sent to a concentration camp. Frankl talks about his and other prisoners experiences in the camps throughout the book. Part 1 start off where Victor Frankl and his family and friends had just arrived to the concentration camp. This is the first of many face to face encounters with faith.

Beginning in March of 1933, when the first concentration camp was established, over ten million people suffered and died due to the systematic and cruel atrocities inflicted upon them by the Nazi Party. Viktor Frankl was among the relative few to survive, and he responded, both during and after, by attempting to decipher, not only the meaning of his own life, but the importance of meaning in the lives of others. He named three stages to the process handling the experience of a concentration camp, which can be applied to many types of suffering. Strangely, all three of these stages, depersonalization, apathy, and the return to normalcy, all seem to incorporate an unexpected reaction, humour. As evidenced by Frankl’s account, it seems as though sufferers of a certain disposition can occasionally find humour and amusement even in the worst of times.

Viktor Frankl’s, Man’s Search for Meaning, is a collection of his experiences in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Mausthausen. His book speaks a story upon survival and the thought process to survive. Viktor Emil Frankl was born on March 26, 1905 in Vienna, Austria. He received his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Vienna where he studied psychiatry and neurology, while focusing on the areas of suicide and depression. In 1492, Frankl and his family were arrested and sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Over the span of three years, Frankl was transported between four different camps.

Renowned Psychiatrist and author, Viktor E. Frankl, chronicles his imprisonment and survival in Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps throughout his memoir, Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankl describes his life in captivity during the holocaust and how he overcame grotesque and egregious circumstances by surviving through spiritual composure. Frankl’s theory logotherapy, is the certitude that humans are compelled to seek meaning in one’s life over the drive for pleasure. His theory has contributed greatly to the study of leadership and influenced the lives of individuals by aiding them in the search for meaning and purpose.

Frankl believes that despite hardships, we must have a positive outlook on life. Throughout all of the hardships he faced, he was able to portray hope and help others who needed it. Even during the worst, Frankl was able to remain optimistic. I have noticed this trait with those surrounding me. I have witnessed people in pain and suffering who have managed to find a positive from their situation. Frankl learned how to cope with his suffering by finding a source of happiness in his life. Frankl’s happiness came through his thoughts of his wife. “I understand how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved” (37). Although he was separated from his wife, he was able to picture her and find pleasure. In our society, I have noticed that the people who can find happiness in their times of suffering are much stronger than those who don’t. It is important to be thankful for what we have and for the times we spent before our hardships came about. Frankl told his fellow prisoners that all the joys from the past can shine even in the darkness. While it may seem impossible, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light” (J.K. Rowling). In conclusion, “Man’s Search for Meaning” is a very influential book. Not only did I learn about the life and teachings of Viktor E. Frankl, but I was able to find my own appreciation of the book and come across ideas that will help me in my life. I hope to hold onto my own personal meaning and help others find their purpose in life so I can also be an inspiration. I will always remember the quote by Viktor E. Frankl that says, "The meaning of life is to give life

In Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, a central idea to his story is that of taking control of what happens around you. For Frankl, he used what little control he had to make the best of a horrible situation. While many of my experiences in life cannot even stand near those of Frankl, this idea is universal, and almost necessary, to achieve happiness in your life.

Man as little more than a machine subject to his environment is a popular picture painted by many psychologists of today. Viktor E Frankl sets out to contend against that idea in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. He contends that life is not a quest for pleasure or power, but for meaning. Frankl was a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps during the holocaust. During this time, many of his family members, including his parents and his wife, suffered death in similar camps. Frankl himself suffered extreme conditions of cold, starvation, malnutrition, and slavery. He was also a psychoanalyst of sorts, and through all of his suffering, he makes incredible observations about the world that became his. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl chooses primarily two areas to focus on—His experience and observations in the Nazi concentration camps, and his own philosophy of psychology, which he calls Logotherapy. He also delves into what he calls “tragic optimism”, or to put meaning into suffering, as opposed to seeking hope for deliverance from suffering.

Dr. Viktor Frankl experienced an extreme traumatic event that most of us cannot even dream of happening. Dr. Frankl was a victim of the Nazi Concentration Camps for years and was continuously tortured mentally, physically, and emotionally. From having little to no food to having barely any clothes to wear during the wintertime, Dr. Frankl survived what the world witness as the most horrific genocide it had and has ever seen. One can understand how it would be so easy for someone to lose sight of what the meaning of life is to them and to give up on it completely. When surrounded by constant death and suffering, what meaning is left when a person is condemned to death?

Mental reactions to the most exceedingly bad encounters are never predetermined by any given circumstance, no matter how solid or powerless it is. Meaning of life comes from inside a person despite the existing despair. Individual duty is continuously the perfect way for a person to pick up meaning. And this is considered likely if the individual does not yield to negative mind-set of others and be genuine to him or herself. Frankl states that it is conceivable to be habitually uncovered to passing and hopelessness of Auschwitz, however still get a way of finding meaning in this despondency. Indeed, while passing