The book is broken up into 2 parts. The first part is about his time in numerous concentration camps during WWII and the second part is about a theory of his called logotherapy. This is the passage I'd like to share:
Does this not bring to mind the story of Death in Teheran? A rich and mighty Persian once walked in his garden with one of his servants. The servant cried that he had just encountered Death, who had threatened him. He begged his master to give him his fastest horse so that he could make haste and flee to Teheran, which he could reach that same evening. The master consented and the servant galloped off on the horse. On returning to his house the master himself met Death, and questioned him, "Why did you terrify and threaten my servant?" "I did not threaten him; I only showed surprise in still finding him here when I planned to meet him tonight in Teheran," said Death.
I am not afraid to admit that I re-read this small passage a few times before continuing on. After reading it I came up with two theories regarding the passage and its connection to Frankl's experience in the concentration camps. The theories are either the servant is allowing fate to take its course, no matter what the outcome is or being a servant is so bad that he would rather die. In this situation, I really don't think there is a right or wrong answer, its all in how you interpret the situation they are in.
In this book there is a constant battle of fate vs reality. While many prisoners give up on themselves, they are also giving up on life. To be clear, I am not judging them for giving up on life and nor should anyone else. But in a situation like a concentration camp or a servant to a rich a powerful persian, they think riding the "fastest horse to Teheran" is the only option they have. Once you quit finding a reason to live, what you often find is death. The thought of ones family often kept them alive because they had something to live for. This is the same for professional artists or authors. But the key to survival is keeping these thoughts at bay because if you loose them, it becomes very hard to search for meaning in your life.
The other way to view this passage is through the eyes of fate, which is the way Viktor Frankl decided to live his life. If the SS Officers had a list of numbers (which the prisoners in the concentration camps were known by) for people to get on a train to head to another camp, Frankl would go with no hesitation. Even with the mystery of wether or not the new camp had gas chambers or a chimney, which was an indication of a crematorium, he went because if he were to die, it would be his fate. In comparison to the Death in Tehran passage, one could see the servant fulfilling what his fate had planed for him. Who is one to decide if to die or not when Death says its time?
If you could imagine what these people when through, where would your loyalty be? Would you be a realist and give up on life when the life expectancy during the winter seasons is about 12-14 days? Or would you live your life and let fate decide ones life?
very deep. can't wait to read it.
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