Mind over Matter
Only the most intelligent people understand to what extent people are able to control their lives with their minds. In Man’s Search for Meaning by Vik E. Frankl, Jews in concentration camps use their minds to escape from their daily tortures. Meursault did not use his mind to control himself and paid the price in The Stranger by Albert Camus. The Wachowski brothers directed “The Matrix”, in which Neo used his mind to escape from the Matrix, and the Oracle tricked his mind in order to release his body from prison. In “Twenty-six Men and a Girl” by Maxim Gorky, the twenty-six men imprisoned themselves with their minds, which led to their disappointment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the intelligent people who understood …show more content…
In The Stranger, Meursault very rarely used his mind to distinguish between actions he should or should not have committed, if at all. Meursault thought nothing of writing the threatening letter to the girlfriend of his friend and neighbor, Raymond, except that he was performing a task in order to build his friendship with Raymond. He did not once consider the repercussions of the letter on the relationship between Raymond and the girlfriend of Raymond. Meursault also failed to consider consequences when he murdered the Arab man who, along with other Arabs, had attacked Meursault and his friends on the beach earlier in the day. For whatever reason, Meursault did not think about his punishment for murdering the Arab man before or during the action. The only time he thought about his punishment was when he was on death row. The lack of mind usage of Meursault is similar to that of the twenty-six men in “Twenty-six Men and a Girl”. The men did not consider the consequences of daring the most charming, handsome man they had ever seen to “try [his] luck” on her (Gorky 6). The stupidity of the men and their lack of mind control led to the demise and elimination of their relationship with Tanya. Because of the actions of the twenty-six men, they lost their only enjoyable part of their day. Twenty-seven of the thirty aforementioned men all failed to use their minds …show more content…
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl was originally a prisoner of fate, but he used his mind to overcome his physical imprisonment. Inevitably for the Jews in Germany and Austria, the Nazis imprisoned all Jews in concentration camps. Frankl was one of few Jews who was able to escape the imprisonment mentally, although he was unable to escape physically until the Jews were released by the Allied troops. Frankl remained free by preventing his mind from succumbing to the camps. Frankl kept his mind off of his daily tortures and used his mental strength to survive the entire duration of his imprisonment. In “The Matrix”, Neo achieved something similar to Frankl by using his mind to escape the Matrix. Neo used his mind to outsmart the computers that had imprisoned him from birth. Later, Neo was told he was “the One”, meaning that he was the only person who could defeat the AI controlling the minds of virtually every human, except for those in Zion or on ships. Neo put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself, which hindered his physical and mental abilities. Thankfully, the Oracle used her strong mind to free the mind of Neo from the prison it created for himself, allowing him to prosper physically and mentally once again and defeat the AI. Both Frankl and Neo used their incredible mind strength in order to escape prisons that seemed too strong to escape. Instead of blaming fate,
Only the most intelligent people understand to what extent people are able to control their lives with their minds. In Man’s Search for Meaning by Vik E. Frankl, Jews in concentration camps use their minds to escape from their daily tortures. Meursault did not use his mind to control himself and paid the price in The Stranger by Albert Camus. The Wachowski brothers directed “The Matrix”, in which Neo used his mind to escape from the Matrix, and the Oracle tricked his mind in order to release his body from prison. In “Twenty-six Men and a Girl” by Maxim Gorky, the twenty-six men imprisoned themselves with their minds, which led to their disappointment. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the intelligent people who understood …show more content…
In The Stranger, Meursault very rarely used his mind to distinguish between actions he should or should not have committed, if at all. Meursault thought nothing of writing the threatening letter to the girlfriend of his friend and neighbor, Raymond, except that he was performing a task in order to build his friendship with Raymond. He did not once consider the repercussions of the letter on the relationship between Raymond and the girlfriend of Raymond. Meursault also failed to consider consequences when he murdered the Arab man who, along with other Arabs, had attacked Meursault and his friends on the beach earlier in the day. For whatever reason, Meursault did not think about his punishment for murdering the Arab man before or during the action. The only time he thought about his punishment was when he was on death row. The lack of mind usage of Meursault is similar to that of the twenty-six men in “Twenty-six Men and a Girl”. The men did not consider the consequences of daring the most charming, handsome man they had ever seen to “try [his] luck” on her (Gorky 6). The stupidity of the men and their lack of mind control led to the demise and elimination of their relationship with Tanya. Because of the actions of the twenty-six men, they lost their only enjoyable part of their day. Twenty-seven of the thirty aforementioned men all failed to use their minds …show more content…
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl was originally a prisoner of fate, but he used his mind to overcome his physical imprisonment. Inevitably for the Jews in Germany and Austria, the Nazis imprisoned all Jews in concentration camps. Frankl was one of few Jews who was able to escape the imprisonment mentally, although he was unable to escape physically until the Jews were released by the Allied troops. Frankl remained free by preventing his mind from succumbing to the camps. Frankl kept his mind off of his daily tortures and used his mental strength to survive the entire duration of his imprisonment. In “The Matrix”, Neo achieved something similar to Frankl by using his mind to escape the Matrix. Neo used his mind to outsmart the computers that had imprisoned him from birth. Later, Neo was told he was “the One”, meaning that he was the only person who could defeat the AI controlling the minds of virtually every human, except for those in Zion or on ships. Neo put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself, which hindered his physical and mental abilities. Thankfully, the Oracle used her strong mind to free the mind of Neo from the prison it created for himself, allowing him to prosper physically and mentally once again and defeat the AI. Both Frankl and Neo used their incredible mind strength in order to escape prisons that seemed too strong to escape. Instead of blaming fate,