g. Self Actualization Needs
Mack has achieved all of his needs during his weekend in the shack. To complete his searching, Mack has to complete the final needs, which is self
actualization. Self actualization is the last need. An individual who has
succeeded to achieve this highest level forces his or her talent, capacity, and personality to the full use and exploitation. To self
actualize is “to become the kind of person one wants to become- to reach the peak of someone’s potential.” Hjelle and Zielger,
1981: 373
To actualize his self is the last needs that Mack searches. In order to complete the searching, Mack has to deal with Missy’s remains. Papa takes Mack to
the place where Missy’s body is hidden by the murder, and they take the body out of the cave and wrap it. Mack brings the body to the shack, where Jesus and Sarayu are
waiting, and holds the body of his daughter close to his heart p.232. When they arrive in the shack, Jesus has prepared a small coffin for Missy.
Even though Mack carried the burden of Missy’s body back to the cabin, the time passed quickly. When they arrived at the
shack, Jesus and Sarayu were waiting by the back door. Jesus gently relieved him of his burden and together they went to the
shop where he had been working. Mack had not entered here since his arrival and was surprised as its simplicity. Light
streaming through large windows caught and reflected wood dust still hanging in the air. The walls and workbenches, covered with
all manner of tools, were organized to easily facilitate the shop’s activities. This was clearly the sanctuary of the master craftsman.
Directly before them stood his work, a masterpiece of art in which to lay the remains of Missy. As Mack walked around the
box, he immediately recognized the etchings in the wood. On closer examination he discovered that details of Missy’s life were
carved into the wood. He found an engraving of Missy with her cat, Judas. There was another of Mack sitting in a chair reading a
Dr. Seuss to her. All the family was visible in scenes worked into the sides and top: Nan and Missy making cookies, the trip to
Wallowa Lake with the tram ascending the mountain, and even Missy coloring at the camp table along with an accurate
representation of the ladybug pin the killer had left behind. There was even a rendering of Missy standing and smiling as she looked
into the waterfall, knowing her daddy was on the other side. Interspersed throughout were flowers and animals that were
Missy’s favorites. p.233
This is the point when Mack has to leave everything that has been hurting him since The Great Sadness. Mack has to let Missy go, because now Mack has
known that he loves Missy, and nothing is going to change it, not even the space or time. The engraving in Missy’s coffin is the symbol for the beautiful memory Mack
has with his family. He does not have to forget everything, but he absolutely cannot live within it. By doing this, Mack’s searching of human needs is over. He regains all
the human needs back.
h. Transcendence
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