Man’s Search for Meaning written by Viktor E Frankl is one of the most eminent and splendid works of psychiatric literature after Freud. This book ‘’Man’s Search for Meaning’’ embodies an account of the author’s personal experiences while being a prisoner in a concentration camp. According Frankl that the book’s main objective is to answer the question-How the usual and ordinary routine life in a concentration camp is portrayed through the mind of an ordinary prisoner there

1. INSTITUTE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE
University of Sindh Laar Campus, Badin
Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning (Victor Frankl)
ABDUL GHAFFAR: 2K16/BLENG/4 BS ENGLLISH 4TH
YEAR
Email address: abdulghaffarjat272@gmail.com
Introduction
Man’s Search for Meaning written by Viktor E Frankl is one of the most eminent and splendid
works of psychiatric literature after Freud. This book ‘’Man’s Search for Meaning’’ embodies an
account of the author’s personal experiences while being a prisoner in a concentration camp.
According Frankl that the book’s main objective is to answer the question-How the usual and
ordinary routine life in a concentration camp is portrayed though the mind of an ordinary prisoner
there.
In the beginning book encompasses the analysis of Frankl’s experiences in the concentration
camps. It gives lengthy and bleak and very seriously moving personal essay about the
imprisonment of Frankl in the concentration camp of Auschwitz and others for five years. He
endeavors during this time to discover the reasons to live. The second part, “Logotherapy in a
Nutshell,” depicts the psychotherapeutic method that Frankl determine as a result of the days he
spent in the concentration camps. He established his ideas of what exactly meaning is and what
logotherapy theory (Viktor E Frankl) is.
Finding life purpose in the Nazi death camps (Auschwitz)
One of the distinguished believes that Frankl nurtured during this time was that man’s strongest
desire and yearning is to discover meaning and purpose in the worst conditions. His logotherapy
theory, (logos, a Greek word, denotes ‘meaning’) which is quite compatible with the theological
ideology, unlike Freud’s, is an amusing, advanced and very human work. His personal and
professional discussions contradiction into a diction of great power. He writes, “Our generation is
realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is.” (Viktor E Frankl).
Being an eminent Viennese psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl was capable to observe how he and the
other prison inmates of the Nazi camp suffered in Auschwitz. He examined that the men actually
consulted others. They even gave away their food and actually proved that life can take almost
everything from them but cannot change their attitude towards it in any situation.
The inmates became a unique kind of persons and it was due to an inner decision. The life in the
Nazi camp was not an only influence. Only the prisoners who lacked a strong inner control on their
selves gradually became victim to the camp’s brutal environment. On the other hand, the prisoners

2. who became victorious of the sufferings and harsh experiences eventually turned them into a
triumph of the self (Viktor E Frankl).
Frankl writes about the three psychological reactions which the inmates of the camp experienced
to a great extent: shock after going through the preliminary phase of admission in the camp,
Numbness after becoming used to the life in camp, where the inmate values only the thing which
helps him and his fellow inmates survive reactions of reification, resentment, moral disfigurement
and disenchantment from life if he is lucky enough to survive and is released.
Victor E. Frankl who wrote Man s Search for Meaning, talks a great deal about suffering
throughout the book. One of the main topics he discusses in regard to suffering is that of hope.
Without hope then there would be no point in anyone enduring the suffering with which they
endured during these Nazi concentration camps.
Frankl says that, every man was controlled by one thought only: to keep himself alive for the
family waiting for him at home, and to save his friends. With no hesitation, therefore, he would
arrange for another prisoner, another number, to take his place in the transport. This really shows
how much suffering people went through just in hope of returning to loved ones.
Another one of his lines from his book is, Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as
soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it. In this Frankl says that suffering is a result of
emotion and that as soon as we realize this suffering then that is when we can put an end to the
suffering.
Another topic that Frankl discusses is the existential vacuum. Should the individual members of a
family not be able to create the ambient and move towards the discovery of meaning, the family
members may fall in danger of experiencing what Frankl calls the existential vacuum. This vacuum
can be filled with either a developing sense of meaning or greater forms of neurotic anxiety,
depression, substance abuse or diverse forms of dysfunctional human behavior
It is suggested that when the individual does not have a meaningful aim in life an existential
vacuum, is created which makes him prone to neurosis. Tension is perceived as a necessary and
healthy result of man’s quest for meaning.
The meaning before exploring the first meaning of life, Frankl does not believe the meaning of life
can be answered in general terms. He writes, “The meaning of life differs from man to man, day
to day, and hour to hour” Seeking a general meaning of life is like asking a chess champion, “What
is the best move in chess?” There is simply no best move because it depends on the context and
the thinking of the other chess player. The same is true for the human condition. Each person has
a unique circumstance, and each has a unique purpose.” With that in mind, let’s turn to the first
way to find meaning.

3. The first way to find meaning is through an active life in which you create a work or do a deed.
This life serves “the purpose of giving man the opportunity to realize values in creative work”
(67). For example, you may find meaning in writing a book, creating a film, discovering truths,
perfecting a musical piece, using your resources to help others, and so on. You may find meaning
by being excellent at your job.
The work you do contribute to something greater than yourself. For example, it may contribute to
the community. Let’s say you are cleaning cars and going to school. You can find meaning in
cleaning cars well at a fair price even while you go to school for a career where you believe you
can better help yourself and others.
Finding the meaning and object of life is the central theme of the book. The book makes you ask
yourself -what is the meaning of my life?” what is my purpose? It even moves the people who
have not thought about it. And for some of them it was a recurrent quest. The book made me think
that it is certainly not an easy question to ask anyone. No denying that is one is not an easy question
either to ask or to answer. However, Viktor Frankl’s Man’s search for Meaning explores this
question in a great detail.
Why Man’s search for Meaning helps in understanding the meaning of life, is because it is
beautifully crafted book. Other than the precious details of the Frankl’s experience in the Nazi
camps, the book also takes us to his philosophy by presenting logical details. The main theme of
the book is the detailed explanation and development of Logotherapy therapy theory (Viktor E
Frankl).
As I understand Logotherapy, it says that a primary motivational force helps a person to come
through any annihilating crisis is his or her constant search for meaning in life. Unlike the other
theories such as Psychotherapy, Logotherapy is futuristic. It tries to help the person find out the
meaning in life and what will make his or her life meaningful or to put in Frankl’s words, ‘life-to-
be-lived’.
Frankl’s idea to find meaning is in the midst of utmost suffering. Other people in the nazi camp
were unable to find meaning in life because they wanted to run away from suffering and not just
sit and understand it. Frankl does not say that suffering is important to find meaning in life-rather
he says that understanding life’s meaning is possible even despite suffering (Viktor E Frankl).
Frankl discovered that most of the prisoners died when they were doing less hard work and were
suffering more than the people who survived. The survivors were supposed to be the people who
had a vision of a glorious future for themselves despite the horrible present. They believed they
were pursuing a meaning in life and refused to surrender to despair.
The prisoner’s life and experience in a concentration camp was finally only a remembered
nightmare. Even when the fear of Nazis was utmost, he knew that he has nothing left to be afraid
of, except “God.” The true meaning in life for Frankl is to make others find their meaning. As a
victim and a successful survivor of the dreadful Nazi concentration camp, his pursuit of meaning

4. kept him from losing his last possession. His strong and incessant will to finish his manuscript
destroyed earlier, became the key for his believe in life and survival. His dream to finally hold a
complete manuscript in his hand, actually helped him to endure every hardship and suffering
imposed upon him in the death camp (Viktor E Frankl).
Conclusion
Frankl concludes in Man’s Search for Meaning that one can find the meaning of life is almost
every moment of life, whether it is of suffering or of happiness. He believes that life never stops
to have a meaning; it is just that a person has to find it out right on time. He learns a lot from his
experiences in the camp and believes that a prisoner’s psychological reactions are not only caused
by the sufferings or adverse conditions of his life, but also from the freedom of choice that he
always has even at the time of suffering. The strong inner hold that a prisoner has on his spiritual
self depends on his faith in the future. Once a prisoner loses his faith in future, he not only loses
his track to find the meaning of life, but is also doomed.