Book Review: Man’s Search for Meaning

Finding meaning in suffering

For a while I’ve been preoccupied with my own suffering and, more recently, that of a person very dear to me, someone I won’t name for privacy reasons. I have discussed my aching back ad nauseum. This person broke her femur, survived surgery, and is now in rehab trying to rebuild her body and her life. She is suffering emotionally and physically and, at one point, had lost all hope. Her family rallied behind her, giving her reason to hope.

This got me thinking about the nature of suffering and people’s reaction to it, so I pulled off my bookshelf a primer on suffering: Viktor E. Frankl’s beautifully poignant Man’s Search for Meaning. A well-known psychiatrist, the late Dr. Frankl happened to be a Holocaust survivor. Interestingly, in the camp, he managed to hide his manuscript for a book on psychology. 

Frankl begins Man’s Search for Meaning detailing his and others’ experiences in a concentration camp. Like all camp prisoners, he suffered immensely and endured utmost cruelty. But through observation, he was able to discern his fellow prisoners’ reactions to the horrors of the concentration camp. 

Frankl highlights that those prisoners who lost hope or couldn’t visualize a future were “doomed” because they gave up on life, ensuring they wouldn’t survive the horrors of the camp. Frankl ministered to prisoners, telling them “of a comrade who on his arrival in camp had tried to make a pact with Heaven that his suffering and death should save the human being he loved from a painful end. For this man, suffering and death were meaningful…”

And in the camp, he draws a powerful conclusion: “...any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him – mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp.” He says of his fellow inmates, “...the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom – which cannot be taken away – that makes life meaningful and purposeful…man’s inner strength may raise him above his outward fate.”

After his release from the camp and recovery, Frankl practiced psychotherapy, maintaining his stance that meaning and purpose – even in light of suffering – are often what saves someone from depression. His case studies with patients show that when a person finds meaning and purpose in his or her suffering, that this suffering becomes palatable. Frankl makes it clear that if suffering can be stopped, it is our duty to stop it. However, some suffering is inevitable, and for this type of suffering, we need to find meaning and purpose in our adversity to enhance our lives.

This small book packs a lot of power. It doesn’t communicate that suffering is good or makes people better. Instead, this insightful piece of work gives us hope that we can endure suffering if we can find meaning in it.

As a former English professor and still an avid reader, I’m often asked to name my favorite book, which I am hard-pressed to do, for there are so many wonderful pieces of literature out there. However, I can now say without a doubt that Man’s Search for Meaning is my favorite book. I’ve read it many times, and it has brought me comfort during my darkest times. 

And, not surprisingly, I’ve given this book as a gift to more people than any other book that I’ve read.

I wish schools would make this work required reading; it might help instill in young minds the concept of finding meaning in suffering, and this concept can carry someone through life with a sense of hope, even during the darkest times.