A man’s search for meaning

I recently finished reading an incredible memoir, from which I borrowed the above title. Men’s search for meaning, a book by Victor Frankl, a Holocast survivor who has had profound impact on my perception and understanding of the human psyche and its workings. In this book we meet a group of concentration camp prisoners stripped of dignity and all things inherent with being a sociable member of the human species. Unjustly and forcefully removed from their families, homes and profession, the Nazi regime subjected these men to death camps where, while in a proverbial purgatory, they awaited death either through the means of a gas chamber or excruciating labour. All the while the Schutztaffel (SS) guards treated these men with less dignity than they would vile dogs. In the midst of all that suffering the relentless nature of the human spirit prevailed. Needless to say, this isn’t the only historical account of the depths of darkness men have endured with regard to human injustices. Yet the book emphasised the psychological impact most men endure in the face of extreme adversity. It was a philosophical narrative, emphasising lessons in finding meaning and significance in spite of the adverse conditions we all inevitably face.

Imagine being taken away from your family, having your name replaced with a number and having to endure countless hours of forced labour at the hand of tyranny. Thank goodness you and I can only imagine these horrors, like many others in history, Victor Frankl and his fellow inmates actually experienced these horrors for years. In one passage he writes, “When the last layers of subcutaneous fat had vanished and we looked like skeletons disguised with skin and rags, we could watch our bodies beginning to devour themselves. The organism digested its own protein an all muscles disappeared.” It’s fair to say that this is rather a grim description of the conditions these men faced in those camps. But then he further describes how a man who has anchored himself into an inner purpose and has assigned meaning to an experience can defy all expectation no matter how severe his externalities.

To illustrate this he further stated, “Those who have not gone through a similar experience can hardly conceive of the soul-destroying mental conflict and clash of will power a famished man experiences. They can hardly grasp what it means to stand digging in a trench, listening for the siren to announce the half hour lunch intervals, when 10 ounces of bread would be given (As long as it was available). Nonetheless I once witnessed a man giving his ration of bread to a man who had been ill, since the terminally ill weren’t fed the most rations since the prison officers figured they would soon die in any case.” This is just one example of the strength and character inherent in someone who has found and applied meaning and resolve even in the depths of his distress. Yet in the face of these conditions, some men still kept the fundamental virtue of compassion for their fellow man and disciplined themselves while some men took on the subhuman identities their environment reaffirmed. This brings to light James Allen’s eternal words, “Circumstance does not make the man it reveals him to himself.”

I’m almost certain that most of us, if we ever to find ourselves in such situations, wouldn’t display the same level of commitment to our own virtues.

You and I may grasp these concepts intellectually, but putting them into practice under trying conditions is an entirely different story. Most of us living in what appears to be a “civilized society” have never faced anything thing close to the atrocities detailed above, but in some instances the most noble men would oppose some of their own ethics and virtues if their own survival depended on it. Please understand, I’m in no way suggesting that there is any nobility in predisposing ourselves to adversity nor should we develop a stoic like tolerance for pain, no. This is not to say that one mans’ sufferings are greater than the others, and no man can claim to have an entirely perfect track record with regard to up holding what we may think are “wholesome” values. However we can choose to develop, with much effort, the courage and wisdom necessary in enduring and overcoming trying times.

Do yourself a favour and read this book if you haven’t, I’m certain you’ll find both the theory and practical implications tremendously valuable. All of us will go through extreme stress in our lives whether it’s losing a family member, a personal health crisis or a financial problem. But when you read of the ultimate stress of someone who has survived a concentration camp, and if you internalize this first person account of someone who has gone through hell on earth and survived, and can grasp its core message, you soon realise that you have no problems. What I personally took from it is that life is not about fun, being happy or having a lot of money. It’s about meaning, and even under trying circumstances, you can search for and find meaning and significance to your challenge and use that to uplift someone else.