THE CONCEPT OF SELF-ACTUALIZATION IN HANIF KUREISHI’S GABRIEL’S GIFT
HANİF KUREİSHİ’NİN GABRİEL’S GİFT’İNDE KENDİNİ GEÇEKLEŞTİRME KAVRAMI

Author : Ayla OĞUZ
Number of pages : 32-42

Abstract

When it is considered in terms of humanistic psychology the term ‘self-actualization’ is mostly used as a humanistic perspective to personality. To grasp and evaluate the psychology of the individual, humanistic psychology is one of the methods that can be practised in the analysis of various characters in literature. As a prominant psychologist Abraham Maslow gives a great importance to self-actualization in one’s education. He deals about a hierachy of needs including the most fundamental ones beginning from food to social security and acceptance. For him, all is needed in order to constitute a psychological unity in one’s individuation and education process. Maslow emphasizes the importance of the self-actualization in the lives of individuals in his theory. He indicates that these individuals are able to solve the complexities more easily. In this sense, he defines self-actualizers to be highly creative and psychologically powerful individuals. In Maslow’s pyramid basic and higher needs are presented in a hierarchy of five steps. Whereas food, shelter, security and social connections are basic needs, such values like beauty, goodness, and love are in the group of higher needs. In the deficiency of these needs, individuals are subject to ‘metapathology’ for Maslow. In this context, Maslow’s theory is motivational, and both basic needs and higher needs motivate the behaviours of individuals. One can reach the step of self actualization if he or she is satisfied with the before steps. This process can go on if the individual doesn’t have a failure in the before steps. In this context, Hanif Kureishi’s novel called Gabriel’s Gift, reflects the traces of self-actualization in the analysis of Gabriel, the teenage hero of the novel. Gabriel’s father, Rex is an old rock musician and an exhausted person in his daily life. On the other hand, his mother, Christine works at nights and sleeps during the day. She doesn’t have a respectful occupation. As a couple they don’t have a good relationship. Because of the fact that Rex is always drunken and unoccupied they divorce at last. For Rex, the most important thing in his life is Gabriel. Gabriel has also basic needs and higher needs as a teeneager. Gabriel’s life changes from bad to good when his father introduces him to his old friend Lester Jones, a very famous rock musician. Gabriel talks to Lester about his talent for copying real objects in their meeting and he is praised by Lester. Thus, the dialoque between them urges and motivates Gabriel to find his way of success and to set up his family’s unity again in a hierarchy of needs in terms of Maslowian theory of self-actualization. In this context, that is the important turn as a peak experience to be motivated by a very successful person for Gabriel and it turnes him to a self- actualizer throught his journey of self-actualization. His artistic ability, belief and hope for future lead him to a favourite future in which he finds himself more confidant and successful. In this sense, it can be said that Kureishi lets Gabriel not only correct his parents’ turbulent relations with each other and also reorganize all the family’s life as a gifted person by experiencing self actualization in Maslowian perspective.

Keywords

Self-actualization, Abraham Maslow, psychology, humanistic, peak experience, gift, hierachy of needs

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