"Man's Search for Meaning" P.41-93

     In Victor Frankl's second half to Part 1 of "Man's Search For Meaning", Frankl goes more in depth with the ideas of why people would fight to live or what led to people dying. He used very specific examples of what could be found within the concentration camp to give the prisoners the will to stay alive, including humor, solitude, and friendship. Frankl also went into detail about the idea of time, and how time seemed different for every prisoner within the camp. Time seemed to change when you were a prisoner in a concentration camp. Whereas we would feel a day go by, the prisoners within the concentration camp would feel as if a week had went by, but it was different for every prisoner within the camp. Also, Frankl makes it seem as if the people knew when there time was over on this Earth, whether it was by dying from Typhus or committing suicide on the electrical fence. Humor is a word you would normally never relate to the Holocaust, but Frankl states, "Humor was another of the soul's weapons in the fight for self preservation." (Frankl, 43) He found it important to have even the smallest sense of humor within the camp because it gave them a reason to see that there is still something funny within the world, especially in a situation where many people can't find a reason to laugh at all. Solitude was also important to Frankl because he believed that he needed time to be alone and away from the chaos of the camp. In his situation, the way Frankl would find his solitude was by hiding away as a doctor with all the dead bodies surrounding him. Although very sad, it allowed him to reflect on his life and purpose. Friendship was also important because it was a way for them to give inspiration to each other. It was very hard to be friends in the camp because of the idea of eminent death, but it was also a need. As a human being, it always helps to have someone you could turn too and consider a friend, especially in such a dark time.
    For this section of Frankl's book, I agreed with almost everything that he stated. He found little things within the camp to give him a reason to live, which I believe is the only way I would be able to survive in such a situation. If I could not find a reason to live, I think I would just let myself die, which is incredibly sad, but also seemed to happen a lot of times within the camp.