Man's Search For Meaning - opening thoughts

On Monday we started the final book we'll read together, Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning.

To get us thinking about the Holocaust and what we already know about it, we shared stories then read this quotation from Elie Wiesel's Night, a book many of you have already read:

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

 

We noted how in this brief excerpt Wiesel raised issues about his faith, his beliefs, the actions and inactions of those around him, and what it means to go on living after such an experience.

 

Today we'll start reading Frankl's book to see how he raises and explores these questions, in addition to a few others.

 

Here is a link to the calendar for the unit.

Here is a link to the handout, including questions, we'll use for our initial reading.