Ayden Justice

Jensen

ETHS 2400

March 28, 2022

Man’s Search for Meaning

When this paper was first assigned to me, my mind immediately jumped to the story of

someone who was a prisoner in a concentration camp during World War II. Although terribly

sad, I find the stories of the unknown prisoner so important. I think hearing the accounts of the

unknown plays a huge role in guaranteeing that it never happens again. The book that I chose to

read for this paper is called “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. In his book, he talks

about his experience in a concentration camp and how, out of the small percentage that did, he

managed to survive. He also talks about his experience after and how he got past it as best as he

could. Although he talks about all of these things beautifully, what he truly does is explain what

we should learn from the people who were in concentration camps. Frankl’s message in the story

is that there is a meaning to life and that suffering is an inevitable part but that we can get

through it if we maintain hope.

In 1905, Frankl was born to parents Elsa Frankl and Gabriel Frankl in Vienna. During his

high school years he started to get into psychology and even held his first lecture at the age of 15

on the meaning of life. He went on to study medicine at the University of Vienna Medical

School. During his time there, he coined the term Logotherapy, a form of psychology. He also

set up a free program staffed with well-known psychologists for the youth of Vienna. After

graduating college, he went on to open his own private practice in 1937 but had to close it down

because of the restrictions placed on Jewish doctors. In 1942, he, his wife and his parents were
arrested and sent to the Terezin Ghetto. 2 years later in 1944, after his dad died, the three others

were sent off to Auschwitz concentration camp. His mom was gassed in the gas chambers on

arrival, his wife got transferred to another camp where she was later murdered and he was moved

to a labor camp where he would spend the next few years of his life. The years spent in the

camps are what the first part of the book focuses on.

To begin the book, he starts off with a little bit of history in the section “Preface To The

1992 Edition”. When Frankl wrote this book, he had every intention of leaving his name out of

it. He didn’t care for the fame that could come with the book. He just wanted to get his message

out there for the world to see. In his book, he says he simply wanted to “convey to the reader by

way of a concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the

most miserable ones” (pg XV). Two pages into the book, I knew that I had already found the

theme and I think that this is one of the many successes that this book has. I had not gotten to

what the book was really even about and I already knew what Frankl’s purpose was. After the

preface, he begins to tell his story. He explains what camp life was like. This was my favorite

section of the book. He described everything so in detail it almost felt as if you were seeing it

right in front of you. One thing I thought that could have been added was more of his experience.

I felt that one part of the section we were at the beginning of his stay and then all of a sudden he

was being liberated from the camp. I do feel that the things he did describe were described

beautifully but I think he could have gone into more detail. That being said, he did mention that

many prisoners of concentration camps refused to talk about their experience, so I can

acknowledge that it was probably very hard to put his memories from that time into words. In the

last section of the book, he talks about the study of Logotherapy, what life was like for him after
being imprisoned and how he helped many other prisoners get past the sadness and anger that

came with being liberated from camp.

If someone were to ask if I would suggest reading this book, my answer would be yes

100 times over. I think that the way that Frankl wrote this book made it possible to feel the

feelings that a prisoner trapped in a concentration camp may have had during that time. The

stories that he told were horrifying, yet I think that hearing things like that help to ensure that the

world never gets to that place again. One of the stories that he mentioned was about a 12 year old

boy that was a prisoner with him. For weeks he watched the young boy work in the snow without

shoes. One day he noticed that the boy was not at work and saw him being carried to the medic

tent. He goes on to explain that the young boy’s toes were gangreened and had turned completely

black. The doctors of the camp plucked each toe off one by one because they were all dead. This

story really made me think. It made me think about how one human could do that to another.

This is another one of the successes that Frankl achieved. He made me as the reader realize truly

how horrible camps were. We hear the stories about gas chambers, and public beatings, but you

never hear the everyday stories of individual people. It made me realize that, although not

perfect, the world has become a better place and that I hope we never get to that point again.

“everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose

one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way” (Pg. 66). This quote

spoke to me because I think it is absolutely true. We always have the right to choose how we act

and the outlook that we have in our lives. If you have a negative outlook, you’ll have a negative

life and the reverse, a positive outlook brings a positive life. Choosing to be happy is ultimately

what life is about.

“Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall

become of him—mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a

concentration camp” (Pg. 66). I like this for the same reason I like the quote above. We have the

opportunity to choose how we live our lives and taking advantage of that is what makes a

successful life.

“If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an

ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death” (Pg. 67). I think that this quote perfectly

encompassed the theme of the book. Like I mentioned before, he said at the beginning of the

book that there is meaning to life and I think that he wanted to make sure that readers know that

suffering is part of that. If we do not suffer and have the bad times, we cannot fully appreciate

the good times.

“The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he

takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances—

to add a deeper meaning to his life” (Pg. 67). I like this because it strengthens the purpose of the

book. He proves his point by saying this and backing it up with the way that he got through his

life in a concentration camp.

“For us, the meaning of life embraced the wider cycles of life and death, of suffering and of

dying” (Pg. 78). I like this because it tells the reader how a prisoner in a concentration camp

survived. They found greater meaning in their lives than just the small, material things.

“Rilke spoke of "getting through suffering" as others would talk of "getting through work."” (Pg.

78). I like this quote a lot because I think that it normalizes the downs of life. Today our lives are

filled with the fake realities that social media brings and we compare ourselves to others
constantly, bringing us down. Suffering through the fact that our lives aren’t like others can bring

you down but overcoming that and being happy with what you have is what brings purpose to

our lives. Searching for happiness in ourselves.

“But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest

of courage, the courage to suffer” (Pg. 78). I like this quote because I think he is right. I think

that there is courage in admitting that you are suffering and finding a way to get through it. I

struggled with mental health for awhile and when I admitted that I was having a hard time, I

found help and things have gotten so much better.

“But he also mentioned what may have been the real reason for their deaths: giving up hope” (Pg

81). I really liked this quote because Frankl talks about how hope was the reason that the people

who survived camp life made it through. He told a story about a man who had a dream that in a

few months, liberation would come and that life would return to normal. When the date he had

dreamt of came and passed, so did he. Within a few days, he had passed away. Frankl believes

that this is because he lost hope. His hope of life outside of this suffering and torture had

diminished when the date in his dream passed and that he died because of it. Frankl believes that

suffering is a huge part of life but that hope is what keeps us going through that and I think this

quote proves that perfectly.

This book by Viktor Frankl was truly amazing and I would recommend it to everyone. I

think that he made me realize that suffering is important in life because without it, you cannot

look forward to the good times. I also think that his story is a good way to prevent awful things

like this from happening again. We must hear the bad things that have happened to prevent them

from happening again. I think that this story made me realize that the stories of the unknown

people need to be told. We hear about Anne Frank, and Hitler, and Stalin, but we don’t hear the
stories of the unknown and I think that their stories are just as important, if not more. I loved this

book and the things that it taught me.

References
Viktor Frankl Institut. (n.d.). Viktor Emil Frankl. VFI – Viktor Frankl - biography.

Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://www.viktorfrankl.org/biography.html