Man's Search For Meaning By Viktor Frankl

Life is full of ups and downs, knowns and unknowns. In Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he demonstrates the existential principle that anxiety forms from the mysteries and uncertainties of life. Throughout the book, Frankl stresses that the mystery of the future, especially after entering the camp, could cause one to lose purpose to survive due to the unknown: “Former prisoners...agree that the most depressing influence of all was that a prisoner could not know how long his term of imprisonment would be” (Frankl 91). Upon entering the camp, new prisoners were overwhelmed with the dehumanizing conditions. With the uncertainty of when they would be released (if they were able to survive at all), some men would make decisions based simply on their anxiety towards the future.
By making choices in fear of the future, he may actually lead himself on the same path he was trying to avoid. For example, when Frank explains how a certain truck was going to a “rest camp,” which could either be the gas chambers or an actual rest camp, “Those who had pitied me remained in a camp where famine was to rage even more fiercely than in our new camp. They tried to save themselves, but they only sealed their own fates” (Frankl 76). By making decisions based solely on fear and trying to avoid death (instead of acknowledging it), these men perpetuated their deaths instead of saving their lives. These decisions based on their fear and worry for the loss of their lives caused them to killed themselves. Existentialism allows fate to flow and run its course; by not combating fate and allowing events to occur as planned, anxiety of the future will be lessened. Fate should not be meddled with, and instead of fearing for the future, one should embrace the presents and allow events to happen