Mans Search For Meaning
Man’s Search for Meaning
“A Man’s Search for Meaning”, written by Viktor E. Frankl, tells a story about his experiences of being a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust in 1933 and his psychotherapeutic method of pushing through this rough time. Frankl describes it as the “inside story of a concentration camp, told by one of its survivors” (Frankl, 1959). The story starts out with the prisoners being transported to the first concentration camp, Auschwitz. He describes the separation of men, women, and children and the further separation of people to both live and continue to the camp or to be sent straight to the gas chambers. Once arriving to the camp, their whole life was in a sense thrown away. For example, instead of names, the prisoners received numbers. Throughout their time in the camp, Frankl identifies three phases the prisoner’s experience: shock, apathy, and a type of depersonalization. He talks about everyday life in the camp and the struggles he went through along with the other prisoners. During their time at the camps, Frankl constructs many questions regarding to the meaning of life and how these concentration camps will reflect in the mind of the average prisoner. Starting out, prisoners were transferred by train to the camp site, Auschwitz. This camp contained gas chambers, crematoriums, and massacres. The prisoners saw barbed wired fences, watch towers, and other people who have already started working there. They were to leave their entire luggage on the train and separate into two lines, one of men the other of women. Once reaching an officer at the front of the lines, they were separated either to the left or to the right. Left meant straight to the crematoriums and right meant to the camp. Once arriving in the camp, the prisoners were to put all their valuables on blankets and completely strip to get showered and shaven. They quickly learned that their life here would not be enjoyable. No shoes were
“A Man’s Search for Meaning”, written by Viktor E. Frankl, tells a story about his experiences of being a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust in 1933 and his psychotherapeutic method of pushing through this rough time. Frankl describes it as the “inside story of a concentration camp, told by one of its survivors” (Frankl, 1959). The story starts out with the prisoners being transported to the first concentration camp, Auschwitz. He describes the separation of men, women, and children and the further separation of people to both live and continue to the camp or to be sent straight to the gas chambers. Once arriving to the camp, their whole life was in a sense thrown away. For example, instead of names, the prisoners received numbers. Throughout their time in the camp, Frankl identifies three phases the prisoner’s experience: shock, apathy, and a type of depersonalization. He talks about everyday life in the camp and the struggles he went through along with the other prisoners. During their time at the camps, Frankl constructs many questions regarding to the meaning of life and how these concentration camps will reflect in the mind of the average prisoner. Starting out, prisoners were transferred by train to the camp site, Auschwitz. This camp contained gas chambers, crematoriums, and massacres. The prisoners saw barbed wired fences, watch towers, and other people who have already started working there. They were to leave their entire luggage on the train and separate into two lines, one of men the other of women. Once reaching an officer at the front of the lines, they were separated either to the left or to the right. Left meant straight to the crematoriums and right meant to the camp. Once arriving in the camp, the prisoners were to put all their valuables on blankets and completely strip to get showered and shaven. They quickly learned that their life here would not be enjoyable. No shoes were