Man's Search For Meaning Summary

Meaning and Purpose The book called “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl is about three distinct phases of the average prisoner’s psychological response to life. Which is the phase immediately after arriving to the Concentration Camp, the phase of the prisoner’s fate and their liberation. The first phase talked about in the book is characterized by the symptom of shock. The writer relives his experience of arriving at Auschwitz by train. He recalls the horrible feeling that rushed over him and his fellow prisoners. The feeling of hopelessness, fear, initial shock, quickly gave away the condition known as “delusion of reprieve.” Delusion of reprieve is known as “the condemned man, immediately before his execution, gets the illusion that he might be reprieved at the very last minute.” Frankl describes how he waited for fate to take its course as many of the prisoners took their turns standing in front of an SS officer who was responsible for pointing them to the right, which meant they looked physically fit for manual …show more content…
According to Frankl, many prisoners were able to find purpose, fulfillment and meaning in their lives. For those prisoners, they had a better chance at survival versus someone who could not find that inner peace within themselves. In a passage from the book, Frankl mentioned when he was out in the cold in the middle of winter, he replayed wonderful memories of his wife while he dug holes. Nothing brought him a piece of mind other than remembering the love of his life. Thinking of his wife, made him feel comforted and motivated to get through this disturbing time in his life. In the book, he said that “love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire” and that “salvation of man is through love and in love.” This proves that love gives the ultimate strength to get through trials and