Viktor Frankl's Theory Of Suffering

Suffering is one of the normal stages that humans will experience in life. It is ordinary and unavoidable because according to Viktor Frankl’s theory of logotherapy, he states no human is free of suffering and suffering is one of the universal experiences, which impedes one to pursuit meaning in life. In his point of view, the will of meaning works hand in hand with coping suffering because once an individual overcomes with his or her suffering, the search of meaning will become successful (Das 201). Although most people have different methods to deal with their sufferings, having the motivation to end them signifies their progressive movement toward the search of meaning. For instance, in Bharati Mukherjee’s “The Management of Grief” and David

According to Frankl’s view of nature, he said, “there is a spiritual dimension to human life” (Das 201). Here, spiritual dimension not only applies to one’s religious sense, but also his or her culture’s values and meanings. In Shaila’s case, her value and meaning as an Indian woman remind her she is expected to follow certain mourning rituals and traditions after her husband died, but she does not (Bharati 439). This value and meaning exert a pull on her, which leads her to manage her grief or suffering through the stages of rejection, depression, acceptance, and reconstruction as oppose to Indian mourning traditions (Bharati 441). From these stages, one can draw a conclusion that her coping mechanism for grief is similar to how others handle the loss of their loved ones. Moreover, readers can tell her behavior is consistent with each stage of the management of grief. For example, Shaila drops her package on a park bench at the end of the story and this action symbolizes her letting go of the past and attachment to her husband and sons. It is at this point that readers can truly believe Shaila has indeed moved on to life. Therefore, the author closely depiction of the stages that Shaila goes through is one of the highlights of the story because it gives readers an insight on how people normally handle their griefs even there are conflicts between their