Man’s Search for Meaning Viktor E. Frankl HRPO 1311 Weatherford College Amber Pippin 18 November 2014 Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a very powerful book. It gives a very detailed and visual look into the suffering prisoners of Nazi’s concentration camps, specifically Auschwitz, endured and the different outlooks the prisoners had. At the beginning of the book, Frankl describes his reactions and observations at the outset of his imprisonment. After discussing the liberation of the concentration camp prisoners, Frankl begins the second section of this book, Logotherapy in a Nutshell, describing the idea of Logotherapy. The final section, "The Case for a Tragic Optimism," makes the case that people will benefit from …show more content…
He gives very gruesome and vivid details as to what he and many other prisoners went through in an autobiographical style. He describes their tragic story to provide a first hand account of the thoughts and behaviors a person experiences when faced with such misery, and he does so in three different stages. The first psychological phase Frankl explains happens when the prisoners first enter the concentration camps. Most of the prisoners feel shocked and confused of why this is happening and experience what psychiatrists call “delusion of reprieve”. The term describes a feeling condemned men get who intensely hold to the notion that they will be reprieved at the very last minute. The prisoners saw many people die from malnourishment and from the grousement torture they experienced, but many believed they would still be freed before that could happen to them. Most of the time, after the imprisoned realized the possibility of being saved was slim to none, thoughts of suicide began to occur, which brings them into the second phase, apathy. The prisoners use apathy as a way to cope with the awful conditions they are …show more content…
Similarly, he mentions that people have the ability to choose what will become of them mentally and spiritually. Because of this, people are able to find meaning even in the worst situations. If a person cannot accomplish this and doesn’t believe eventually there will be an end to the horrible circumstances, then the person is likely to not see past the hardship, therefore, not being able to set an ultimate goal in life. During the time the prisoners were in the concentration camps, if they were not able to see passed this experience and couldn't determine a goal for after this troubling time, most of the imprisoned began to give up, unravel internally, and expect to die. The survivors, then, would experience the final psychological phase that Frankl discusses, which takes place when the prisoner is released. It almost seems unreal for the person and phase two was so affecting, they had to relearn everything, even how to feel pleased about actually being released. Freedom was almost dreamlike, so it was difficult to grasp after not ever expecting to have it. Plus, the prisoners were punished for so many things, they were timid about walking out of the gates after the