Artistic and Literary Imagination Assignment

648 Words2 Pages

In this course, we have discussed the experiences of Viktor Frankl and Jackie Robinson through the book, A Will to Meaning, and the movie, 42. Even though Frankl and Robinson’s lives were full of hardships, they were able to retain their self-respect. How is this possible? By examining Joan Dideon’s work on self-respect, Frankl and Robinson’s development of self-respect becomes clear.
According to Dideon, the evolution of self-respect starts with trauma (Dideon, 1968). For Dideon, this trauma was not getting into the Phi Beta Kappa Sorority (Dideon, 1968). For Frankl, this trauma was surviving after being admitted into a German concentration camp (Frankl, 6). For Robinson, this trauma was trying to overcome the racism that he encountered from playing baseball on the Brooklyn Dodgers (Clark, Cook, & Hegeland, 2013). It is through this trauma that our childish invincibility is shattered (Dideon, 142-143). For example, this moment for Frankl came when his friend was killed on arrival to Auschwitz: “That’s where your friend is, floating up to heaven,” (Frankl, 13). This event shattered Frankl’s invincibility because he realised afterwards that in Auschwitz, nothing will be under his control.
For Robinson, this trauma is not as obvious. Racism is present throughout the movie but I think the moment when he loses his invincibility is when Mr. Rickey gets him onto the Montreal Royals. Robinson asks Rickey why he is given this opportunity and Rickey answers him with a long speech about creating an only African American baseball team to win the World Series. In the end, Rickey admits that he is doing it for profit. When Rickey asks his opinion of the plan, Robinson responds: “I don’t think what I believe is important. Only what I do,” (Cla...

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...a self-respect that is reliant on their own skills and talents. For Frankl, he came up with his logotherapy technique and served the patients in his concentration camp (Frankl, 59). For Robinson, he didn’t respond to taunts and just focused on his baseball career (Clark, et al., 2013). As he says in the movie: “I don’t care if they like me. I didn’t come here to make friends. I don’t even care if they respect me. I know who I am. Got enough respect for myself” (Clark, et al., 2013).

Bibliography
Clark, J. (Producer), Cook, D. (Producer), & Hegeland, B. (Director). (2013). 42: The Jackie Robinson Story [Motion Picture]. United States: Legendary Pictures.
Didion, J. (1968). On Self-Respect. In Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays by Joan Dideon (142-148). New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Viktor, Frankl. (2006). A Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press.

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