Man’s Search for Meaning Short Summary

This is a book by Viktor Frankl that was published in 1946, a year after the end of WWII. Victor is a psychologist who was in a Nazi camp. The book is a memoir of the time and also an account of his treatise in psychology. It was later translated to English.

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Victor tries to share his experience on how he struggled to overcome the trauma and understand it. It is divided into three sections. Frankl was born in the year 1905. He later studied to become a Psychiatrist.

He was a Jew, but since he was a doctor, he was protected. He was offered a Visa and a chance to escape to the United States but rejected it to stay in Austria with his parents. The family was arrested and taken to a death camp.

Frankl experienced tough times, and his will to continue living got him through together with some luck. When the war was over, he got back to Psychotherapy and even succeeded the works of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. His method is called logotherapy.

The book’s title shows what he learned while he was at the camp. They were often starved, overworked, beaten, and threatened constantly. Frank realized that any man could survive the harshest of conditions if only he has a strong reason for living.

Frank provides three different versions of the true meaning of life. First, is one’s effort in achieving. The second is having love as motivation. The third is the courage of the spirit in suffering.

Frank discovered his meaning in life. First, his work got confiscated, but he never gave up on preserving his work. Second, the love for his wife and hope of seeing her again drove him. Third, he witnessed a lot of bravery and sacrifice while in the concentration camp.