Meaning of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Meaning of Life - Essay Example Besides these tortures, he encountered constant threats of being thrown into the gas ovens probably because of his physical appearance. However, in spite of the experiences he faced in the three camps that he served, he emerged as a visionary person. His reason for being optimistic was that human beings hold the freedom of choosing the manner in which they view the circumstances they undergo on a daily basis. Therefore, they create meaning from such circumstances. Frankl outlined three experiences that the prisoners went through after their arrival at the concentration camps, during their stay there and after they were freed from the camps. After realizing where they had been taken to and the reason for their transfer, the first experience that the prisoners felt was the shock. Later, the shock would be replaced by a second experience. The experience would be the phase of psychological reaction as well as apathy. These were the necessary methods that the prisoners would use to cope with the abuse that they received from their supervisors. During this stage, the fear of death was no longer the prisoners’ concern. On the contrary, the part that was most painful was the insults that they received. The prisoners would be given uniforms that were more of rags (Frankl, 7-26). Also, they would be issued with shoes most of which did not fit them. Those who had reported with better shoes had no choice but to give them to the SS guards or risk s evere punishments. At a time, the prisoners were forced to walk bare footed on the snow since their shoes had been worn out. The author describes a twelve-year-old boy who he saw being taken to the sickbay. The boy had been forced to stand attention on the snow bear footed for hours because there were no shoes for him at the camp. The results were that the boy’s toes got some frostbites. Frankl writes that there was a frequent