Although Mack asks forgiveness from his father, but it is also an expression to say that he has already forgiven his father for what his father has done
to Mack when Mack is still a little child. By forgiving his father, and all of the people who have made some mistakes to him, Mack has finally gained the needs of other-
value, and it means that the esteem needs has finally being found.
e. Cognitive needs
In terms of Mack’s experience with God, cognitive needs mean the need to get the answer of the bad things happen to Mack’s life. Mack’s curiosity and fury
about Missy’s death has delivered him to an experience of searching cognitive needs. Mack finds it in his experience in the shack, and Mack finds it at the same time when
he gains his esteem needs back. Mack’s experience with Sophia has given Mack his self-esteem needs and cognitive needs at once. Mack finally recognizes the mystery
beyond Missy’s death. “She didn’t have to, McKenzie. This was no plan of Papa’s.
Papa has never needed evil to accomplish her good purposes. It is your humans who have embraced evil, and Papa has responded
with goodness. What happened to Missy was the work of evil, and no one in your world is immune from it.” p. 167
Mack gets the answer that Missy’s death has nothing to do with God. He gets the knowledge that it is human who hurt each other and God has done goodness
to stop it. Mack finally wants to trust God, instead of keep judging p. 167. There is an action from Mack after he knows the truth about God.
It is true that Mack’s knowledge about God and religion is broad, since he graduated from a seminary. The cognitive needs here mean the needs of Mack to
know about the mystery of Missy’s death, instead of Bible-based knowledge. The result of the fulfillment of these needs is the will from Mack himself to appreciate
life, and to appreciate God. Therefore, after gaining this needs, Mack will soon gain his aesthetic needs.
f. Aesthetic Needs
Mack gains his aesthetic needs while he has a conversation with Sarayu about emotions. Mack realizes that there is nothing evil in emotions, instead,
emotions are beautiful. “Mackenzie.” Sarayu seemed to rise up into the air. Mack
still had a difficult time looking right at her, but with the late- afternoon sun reflecting off the water, it was even worse.
“Emotions are the color of the soul – they are spectacular and incredible. When you don’t feel, the world becomes dull and
colorless. Just think how The Great Sadness reduced the range of color in your life down to monotones and flat grays and blacks.”
p. 198
Sarayu’s speech about emotions guides Mack to gain his aesthetic needs. Mack realizes that he had treated emotions in a wrong way. Instead of something
negative, emotions draws color in Mack’s life. It is The Great Sadness that has turned Mack’s life into something that Mack cannot appreciate. After having some time with
Sarayu, Mack starts to appreciate his life, as something gorgeous, once again.
g. Self Actualization Needs
