Final Essay

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Recommended: the holocaust causes and effects

Victor Frankl poses many questions in his book The Meaning of Man, mostly regarding man's ability to make choices regardless of their situation. Throughout the semester, the class has explored many different texts focusing on individuals who are placed within a set of circumstances, which forces these individuals to face difficult situations. In the autobiographical narrative Twelve Years A Slave, the protagonist and author Solomon Northup is kidnapped and sold into slavery. He faces multiple pressures within his situation. Psychologically, he is traumatized by multiple beatings. He is both successful and unsuccessful in overcoming his hardships. He suffers through bouts of depression, but ultimately, he never gives up hope. He also practices his ability and inability to make choices regarding his situation. The same applies the social pressure of compliance and the ultimate historical pressure regarding the institution of slavery. Another set of literature covered in class is Art Speigleman's Maus I and Maus II, which is a biography about his father Vladek Spiegleman. Vladek suffers trauma on a psychological level. Similar to Solomon, he is socially pressured to comply and suffers through the historical pressures caused by the Holocaust. Although both men lived in two very different times and endured two historical events. They faced different pressures, different choices and different situations. They experienced varying levels of success. Often times their ability to exercise the freedom of choice was small, but ultimately they were able to make their own experience better or worse.
Chronologically, Solomon Northup’s experiences occurred first, forcing him to endure the historical pressures relating to the institution of slaver...

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...ering of fellow human beings. He makes many decisions to further his chance of survival. These decisions include befriending guards, learning new skills to present himself as a useful worker and giving himself the peace of mind that he was doing his best to care for his wife. Each one of these small choices helps him towards his end goal of surviving the Holocaust. He succeeds. Both protagonists support and disprove Victor Frankl's claims. They were not given any options regarding their placement in their situations, but they were able to make small decisions, react to different circumstances and survive. They had both successes and failures in defeating the historical, social and psychological pressures placed upon them, but ultimately they were able to reach their end goal, proving that man is a combination of both environmental factors and psychological decisions.

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