Based on Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning, this essay is an examination of the capacity of human beings to hold on to their freedom and find meaning in life, in spite of adverse physiological, social, and psychological conditionings. While reading Frankl's depiction of the traumatic life in a concentration camp, one poses this fundamental question about human existence: how can human beings tolerate this level of degradation without giving up their faith in human freedom and meaning in their lives?
The answer lies within the inner souls of the prisoners who possessed the courage to exercise their freedom and make their own choices when confronted with the nightmarish options available to them. As Frankl points out, even though most of the guards in the camps acted cruelly as they became numbed to the violence around them, there were yet others who salvaged a shred of humanity (106). Amongst the dying prisoners, sunken deep in the throes of their suffering, there were a few who faced their impending death with courage and spiritual peace (89-90).
The passage that captures the essence of Frankl's image of a human being is: "But what about human liberty? Is there no spiritual freedom in regard to any given surroundings… It is this spiritual freedom -- which cannot be taken away -- that makes life meaningful and purposeful" (86-87).
The definition of human freedom that lies at the heart of human existence is encapsulated in this passage. To Frankl, even prisoners living in concentration camps, whose daily lives are controlled by soldiers, had the choice to set themselves free. The word "choice" is the crucial concept that defines human freedom. Prisoners, who acted according to their moral conscience and listened to the voices of their inner mind, were free human beings, in the truest sense of the word. Through simple acts of kindness to their fellow prisoners during moments of strife, they rose above the pressures of...