Self-actualization Needs as the Motivation in Doing Plastic Surgery

48 Therefore, self-actualization needs form a part of Hope Donahue’s motivation in doing plastic surgery. It motivates Hope Donahue to do plastic surgery in order to achieve self-actualization. She believes that plastic surgery will give her a direction and control of her life; in other words, plastic surgery will enable her to use all her ability, capacity, and potency to be a complete human being. As the proof, her first plan to visit a plastic surgery doctor makes her feel that “The pervasive emptiness I felt vanished; suddenly this lunch, this day, my whole life had meaning and worth” Donahue 93. Then she regards her visits to the doctor’s office as her main purpose in life, or “what I lived for”, which she needs to provide her with “the fulfillment I wasn’t getting anywhere else in my life” Donahue 38. Hope thinks that her needs for self-actualization can be fulfilled by another person in a short time. She lets herself be directed and told what to do by her doctor because she believes that he can give her instant self-actualization by telling her what to do and who to be, as described below. With no plan laid out for me to follow, with no one to dazzle or disappoint, I was lost. With Dr. S—I found, once again, someone who would tell me what to do and who to be. There was a crucial difference, however, between Dr. S—and the other people upon whose opinion I had hung: He held a scalpel Donahue 37. As shown in the quotation above, Hope depends on the doctor to lead her from her current condition of being “lost” with “no plan laid out for me to follow” and “no one to dazzle or disappoint” to tell her “what to do and what to be” Donahue 37, or in other words to achieve self-actualization. Moreover, the doctor is forceful enough to make Hope feel as if he can lead her to achieve self-actualization. Hope 49 describes this force by saying that he “held a scalpel” Donahue 37. To Hope, the scalpel, a tool for plastic surgery, represents the tool which can bring her to self- actualization. Hope tries to compress her needs of “Love, and Purpose, and a Life” Donahue 204, or in other words her need of self-actualization, into more specific needs mostly related to her appearance, as described below. When you are in enough pain, you will settle for anything that promises a smidgen of comfort, no matter how bizarre. The more bizarre, the better, because it is too vast, too huge and scary, to admit that you want Love, and Purpose, and A Life. I want, and the wanting feels so huge and overwhelming that I must try to narrow it to a specific need. Higher cheekbones. Bigger breasts. Dr. S—‘s fickle attention. Hank’s empty desire Donahue 204. Therefore, based on all the explanation above, the needs for self-actualization become one of the factors that motivate Hope to undergo plastic surgery. 50

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

The last chapter of this thesis consists of two parts. The first part is in the form of conclusions and the second part consists of the suggestions. The conclusions contain of the answers of the problems. The suggestions contain the suggestions for future researchers.

5.1 Conclusion

This part discusses the conclusion based on the analysis of Hope Donahue’s autobiographical novel, Beautiful Stranger. There is only one problem discussed in the analysis, namely Hope Donahue’s motivation in doing plastic surgery as described in her novel. Based on Bootzin, Smith, and Murray’s definition of motivation as well as Maslow’s theory of motivation, Hope’s actions of doing plastic surgery repeatedly are motivated by some important needs in her life. These needs are unfulfilled, so Hope does plastic surgery as an instant way to fulfill them. There are some important needs which are unfulfilled in Hope’s life and therefore serve as the motivation for Hope to do plastic surgery. These needs are safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, aesthetic needs, and self- actualization needs. Based on Maslow’s theory, people can only feel safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, needs to know and understand, aesthetic needs, and 51 self-actualization needs after they have fulfilled the basic needs then they can jump up to feel the next needs. Those are physiological needs. Therefore the physiological needs are the only needs which have already fulfilled in Hope Donahue’s life. Hope’s safety needs are not fulfilled due to the unstable family situation, including her volatile and suicidal mother, her passive father, her parents’ fights, and her mother’s unfounded accusations against her. Her boyfriends also cannot give her any safety. Hope does plastic surgery in order to achieve the safety promised by the doctor, who promised never to leave her and to always give her his attention in all conditions, both good and bad. self-actualization needs after they have fulfilled the basic needs then they can jump up to feel the next needs. Those are physiological needs. Therefore the physiological needs are the only needs which have already fulfilled in Hope Donahue’s life. Hope’s safety needs are not fulfilled due to the unstable family situation, including her volatile and suicidal mother, her passive father, her parents’ fights, and her mother’s unfounded accusations against her. Her boyfriends also cannot give her any safety. Hope does plastic surgery in order to achieve the safety promised by the doctor, who promised never to leave her and to always give her his attention in all conditions, both good and bad. Hope’s belonging and love needs are not fulfilled due to the lack of love she gets from and she expresses to her family since her childhood. Her father is always busy with his work, her mother is emotionally unstable and busy with herself, and her grandparents ignore her. She has no close friends. Hope does