While reading the recent blog posts, I noticed that a few topics suggested comparisons to Frankl's experience with the Holocaust to either King Lear's "journey" or even Meursault's time in prison. I believe that we must be very cautious to avoid making such drastic analyses such that Lear's situation becomes anything analogous to that of Frankl.
Of course, there are thematic parallelisms between the two; there would be no point otherwise in examining the correlations. The motif of a natural state of being and its contrast with society's laws branded in my mind when reading "Man's Search For Meaning." Frankl concluded that his experience at Auschwitz ultimately drained him of his own humanity; the injunctions set in place by the Nazi regime hindered Frankl and millions of others from prospering as human beings. The implications of "King Lear," conclude that society and the rules that follow avail in the downfall of many principle characters (i.e. Cordelia, Kent, Edgar, Lear, Edmund in some aspects). For many characters in "King Lear," the codes of society worked against their favor.
There are many more obvious thematic similarities between Frankl's experience and the story of Lear or that of Meursault already discussed in other posts (mine was a bit stretched). We as knowledgeable individuals, however, must be sure we are not forging similarities between the three. I'll give a little anecdote to express my thoughts:
I once heard an adult try to compare the Holocaust with the stress of high school in front of a Holocaust survivor.
With that being said, let's be sure that we recognize the difference between acknowledging certain aspects or motifs of Frankl's experience and that of Lear/Meursault as opposed to actually claiming that there are legitimate, concrete similarities between what Lear/Meursault went through and what Frankl went through during the Holocaust.
I like how this post offered something different to what I, and many others wrote about. However, I think people are attempting to make these connections in order to "expand the conversation," not necessarily to make a comparison of the severity of the situations Frankl and Lear or Meursault were in.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan. While the Holocaust was certainly worse overall than what Meursault and Lear experienced, in context it still makes sense to analyze and compare the three because each individual faced the hardest thing they have ever experiened, and so their reactions to it are related. We should never forget the Holocaust -- and we should also never stop analysing it.
ReplyDeleteI liked reading your post and it made me think. Good post.
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