Man's Search for Meaning

 MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING 
 By Viktor E. Frankl

As the name suggests, this book will help you to understand the true meaning of the life. The author of the book,Dr Viktor E. Frankl , has described how his worst experiences led to the discovery of meaning of his life.

Man's search for meaning

In our hectic schedules we hardly get time to think about the purpose of our life. Most of us lead a very luxurious life, technology has made us dependent on it. But ask a man who has gone through a lot of suffering without even the basic necessities of life, he will tell you the real meaning of the life. This book is the first hand experience of a man in the concentration camps during World War II and he was no ordinary man, he was the professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School. Being a professor, he has aptly described his feelings and tortures and survival tricks in a concentration camp.

The book is mainly divided into 2 parts-Experiences in concentration camp and Logotherapy in nutshell ( which is not discussed here being technical matter). In logotherapy the patient is actually confronted with the meaning of his life. And to find the meaning is his primary goal. Dr Frankl discovered logotherapy because of his experience in concentration camp.

Experiences in concentration camp

 

When the author was being transported to the camp, he found himself packed with fifteen hundred other prisoners on the train. Nobody had any idea where they were heading.When they all reached the station(Auschwitz) they could hear shouts and whistle commands which were horrible noises. At the time of admission to the camp, the weak prisoners were straight away separated and send to gas chambers because they were unable to work. Others were send to the buiding so that they can have a bath and soon after they were made to shave their body.They were given a uniform of rags.They were given a little space at night and  two blankets which was shared by nine men. An experienced prisoner advised them to shave, stand and walk smartly in order to avoid being selected for gas chambers.

 

The prisoners were snatched of every belonging even the clothes that they worn. The only identity given to  them  is a number. They were identified by their numbers which was tattooed on their skin. They had seen the worst of human condition in those camps. They had to struggle for daily bread.They were made to work tirelessly. Being transported to different camps, they had no idea where they were going.They were assaulted like animals. Only one thought kept them alive- to keep themselves alive.

New arrivals in the camp were forced to clean the toilets and remove the sewages. They were beaten sometimes for no reason at all.Disgust, horror and pity were the emotions that those prisoners could no longer feel.They had reached a moment where it was not the physical pain which hurt but the mental agony. They were emotionally dead.

 

Many prisoners soon lost the will to live. The thought of suicide came to everyone’s mind daily.Everyone knew that they are going to die soon but  did not know when. If any prisoner lost the inner strength, he was made to see his future goals by his friends. That’s why the author believed – “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how” The despairing man had to be taught that “It did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.”

 

They had become undernourished with only one bread a day.But during the later part of the imprisonment they were served watery soup also. Prisoners could see and feel good food and nice warm baths in their dreams only.There were unavoidable thoughts of food and favorite dishes. They were continually hungry and experiencing lack of sleep.Life in the concentration camp tore open the human soul and exposed its depth.

“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.”

During all those, sufferings the author still found himself lucky.He noticed that it was a good idea for nine men to share a blanket and little space, this way they can keep themselves warm on those cold nights.He observed that a lighter sleeper who used to be disturbed by the slightest noise in the next room, now found himself lying pressed against a comrade who snored loudly and yet he slept soundly through the noise. This was the time they also experienced the beauty of art and nature as never before . The attempt to develop a sense of humor is a kind of a trick learned there.

The prisoners were dependent on the moods of guards.Some of the foremen showed pity sometimes on the prisoners. If they could ease the situations for prisoners they were regarded as good men. There were rewards and applauses also. Gradually they get used to all these sufferings. Suffering had become a task. They had learned to get through it and not to turn their backs. Tears were no longer a symbol of shame but of courage, the courage to suffer.

“Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.”

 “ Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.Life has a different meaning to different individual. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Life is very real and concrete just as life’s task.They form man’s destiny, which is different and unique to each individual.No man and no destiny can be compared with any other man or any other destiny.No situation repeats itself, each calls for a different response.Sometimes man may be required to accept  fate. When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer he will have to accept that. He will have to acknowledge that even his suffering is unique in the universe.”

The experiences of camp life shows that at every stage man has multiple choices to choose from. Like different prisoners treat their only meal of bread differently. Some ate whole at a time, some preserved it for the afternoon. There was sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but the right to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances can’t be snatched away. There were always choices to make. The prisoners who did not commited suicide chose to suffer. The way they bore the suffering was their achievement.It is their spiritual freedom that made their life meaningful.

“Man is capable of changing the world for better if possible, and of changing himself for the better if necessary.”