Finding Meaning by Responding to Life

Man’s Search for Meaning is a heavy book written by concentration-camp survivor Viktor E. Frankl. He endured life in the camps and the loss of loved ones during the war. When little remained beyond his frail body, he imagined a future in which he stood in a lecture hall speaking about logotherapy. Through that image, he found a sense of meaning for himself and for others in the camp.

Frankl recounts the story of a fellow prisoner who dreamed that the war would end on March 30, 1945. He held tightly to that prediction, but as the date approached, the war continued. He became ill on March 29, fell into a coma on March 30, and died the following day. Frankl connected the man’s loss of hope with the need for meaning under suffering.

Frankl also observed that a person living with extreme hunger and pain could still choose to give a small piece of bread to someone else. Such people were rare, but their actions showed that the environment did not completely determine the mind. A person could still choose how to respond and what kind of person to be.

The first part of the book recounts Frankl’s experiences in the camps. The second introduces logotherapy. Frankl argues that meaning is not universal: it differs by person, place, and moment. Rather than asking life for a general meaning, each person responds to the particular situations, challenges, and pain that life presents.