A BOOK THAT INFLUENCED ME THE MOST (Essay Sample)

[Pursuit of meaning] [Shruti Pillai] (Day/Day 0:00 – 0:00) [Course Number]: [Title] Instructor: [Name] [28/3/17] [Pursuit of meaning] Being an avid reader, Books have always played an integral role in my life and have helped in shaping my thoughts and perspective. Of all the books I have read, Victor Frankl’s Man’s search for meaning is the one that has influenced me the most. The book is written in an autobiographical manner and chronicles Victor Frankl’s days in a Nazi concentration camp. By the virtue of his psychiatry profession he gives the reader a vivid and profound analysis of the thought process of his fellow inmates during their imprisonment in the beginning of the book. Further reading in to the book conveys that ultimate purpose of life is to make it meaningful and that happiness is a Psychological choice we make (Frankl, 1984). This philosophy moved me and I have strived to incorporate this ideology ever since I read this book. Frankl takes us through the thought process of his fellow prisoners in the form of psychological phases. According to Frankl (1984), the major phases are: delusion of reprieve and apathy. Delusion of reprieve is an illusion that prisoners hold on to which makes them believes that they will be saved or released before execution. Elimination of this illusion on exposure to persistent cruel treatment imposed by officers on their inmates and themselves makes an inmate apathetic. They discover that being indifferent and not reacting is one of the best ways of facing the situation as reaction entails more cruelty. Reading through these horrific accounts filled me with grief and made me realize the triviality of the problems in my life. This book underlines the philosophy that happiness is subjective and is the outcome of choices we make. Every person has a personalized formula of happiness derived from his experiences and expectations. Human beings are bestowed with the ability to think, comprehend and choose. This gives us the power to find meaning even in the gravest of circumstances. Frankl (1984) noticed that his psychologically stressed fellow inmates who were not able to envision an end to the suffering they were going through, lost hope and eventually gave in to death. This situation can be compared with that of an unemployed person getting depressed over his current status and limits his ability to find a job. So, the ultimate aim is to not lose hope and always keep trying. The part of the book that surprised me the most was the one regarding the liberation of prisoners and their reaction to the new found freedom. One would expect them to be ecstatic about the liberation but on the contrary the prisoners where clueless on how to proceed w...