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philosophy into his psychiatry. Frankl survived existence in a Nazi concentration camp and his book, Man’s Search for Meaning (originally titled From Death Camp to Existentialism) relates the story of how he was able to cope with the intense suffering he witnessed and experienced. Although not an atheist like many existentialists, Frankl similarly emphasizes the existential need to find meaning in order to live. He repeatedly quotes Nietzsche’s words, “He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.”25 Although the lives of the people in the camp consisted of the worst kind of senseless monotonous drudge work—work designed to break spirits—Frankl felt that without a purpose or a meaning, despair could kill almost as easily, and perhaps more insidiously, than physical torture.

Frankl spent a lot of time recounting the daily details of the cruel and meaningless lives the camp inmates were forced to lead. They were ordered to spend hours moving heavy stones from one pit to another, only to be ordered to move them all back again later. Frankl learned that a person needed to be reminded of a future goal in order to resist the allure of suicide amidst these conditions of hopelessness. He would talk about life after they were released and the responsibilities awaiting his fellow inmates, reunion with children or completion of a book (as he himself held on to). “A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life” (p. 80).

Taking these realizations into his post-Holocaust philosophy and practice, Frankl applied what he called “logotherapy” techniques to all his patients. Logotherapy was a term Frankl coined to impart what he thought was most essential in any therapy session: getting the patient to find an individual meaning for life. The extreme tragic experience Frankl underwent served as a greatly magnified example of a lesser despair he found in many others who hadn’t been through the same thing. Everyone, he found, could use a reflection on and reminder of the unique meaning of their lives. Whether it’s a valuable friendship or a desire to compose a symphony or even a heroic quest, a meaning can be found in everyone’s life. Frankl advises people to not become hopeless over current suffering and great distance from future goals in life. Suffering is a part of life. Further, dissatisfaction is not only inevitable but necessary.

Mental health is based on a certain degree of tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what is and what one should become. Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being. We should not, then, be hesitant about challenging man with a potential meaning for him to fulfill. It is only thus that we evoke his will to meaning from its state of latency.” (Man’s Search for Meaning, pp. 106-07)

Although it may seem crazy to make a connection between a real life tragedy as immense as the Holocaust and the enjoyable entertainment of a fantasy videogame, through its narrative of struggle, growth, and triumph, Zelda can still tell us something about how individuals cope when faced with apparently insurmountable obstacles. To return to Camus’s Sisyphus, the dedication to the undertaking of the drudge work itself is oddly glorifying. Pushing the rock up the mountain for the millionth time, “Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain in itself forms a world. The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

In life, people need unfinished business, they need future goals, they need to waver on the brink of satisfaction. Perhaps that’s why Nintendo keeps fashioning newer and more elaborate Legend of Zelda quests. Game players don’t ever really want it to be over. Maybe that’s why I always leave the big battle at a permanent pause. I like having that one thing left to do