‘The Shack’ is a book written by William Young and was first published by Windblown Media in 2007. By 2009, it was one of the New York Times bestsellers having sold over five million copies in form of printed copies. The story starts with few simple characters such as Mackenzie Allen Phillips, Missy, his daughter, Nan, his wife, as well as few family friends. However, the story becomes sinister as Missy is abducted in a routine family vacation. Substantial evidence surfaces bringing into realization the fact that she could have encounter brutal murder in a shack that is otherwise abandoned and located in the outskirts of Oregon wilderness country. Four years later, suspense builds as the Mack (Mackenzie Phillips) protagonist, receives a small note apparently ‘from God’ and signed by ‘Papa’ that invites him to the same shack for a weekend.
Having great suspicion and reservation, Mack proceeds to the shack. Upon arrival there however, Mack is unexpectedly greeted by Elouisa, an African-American woman, who admits that she had sent the mysterious note. This is further evidenced as she has ‘Papa’ for a nickname. It is at this shack that he also happens to meet subsequent pivotal characters such as Jesus, who is a maintenance worker and repair person with an Asian-looking, and the gardener, Sarayu. All these characters embrace Mack on his arrival around the notorious ‘shack’. He is later taken aback through their hospitality and graciousness (Young 9).
At the shack, as Mack gets to spend considerable amounts of time, the relationship he has with Papa as well as the rest of them grow rather intimate and real and Mack is gradually able to learn how best to cope with the loss of Missy. Every character is well representative of a bigger idea and is a symbol of relevant ideas and religious figures. For instance, Jesus is representative of Christ-like words, values, and qualities. On the other hand, ‘Papa’, otherwise popular as Elouisa, is Mack's guiding voice and more like the voice of God himself, which is sagacious. The gardener, Sarayu is instrumental in teaching Mack how best to tend his life in much similar ways people tend gardens (with maximum care and nurturing). She is also considered to have the character of the ‘Virgin Mary’ as she is considerably utilitarian and down-to-earth in being labeled as purely feminine. Most of her roles are closer to those of the ‘Holy Spirit’ and spoken as parts of the ultimate Trinity among religious circles (Young 37). This includes Son (Jesus), Father (God), and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, which is regarded as the ‘voice’ or ‘tool’ of God Himself.
As the story continues, the audience watches the relationship of Mack to every other representative character growing and developing like his spiritual relationship continues to mature. He also considerably gains gradual acceptability of the fate of Missy through his prolonged stay at ‘The Shack’ at which point, the book narrows down to a religious metaphor. In plot’s final twist, they are involved in a Jeep accident with Willie, a second character and Mack lands in the hospital. Indeed, the stay only allows him to further comprehend the essence and totality of all other things listed in the novel which previously transpired. It also allows him gain profound perspectives on life as a whole (Young 23). At the novel's end, experts are in a position of locating and deducing evidence of the demise of Missy, arrest her killer as well as connect him to subsequent murders of little girls within their locality. The book also has a short note of ‘after words’ at its end which allows the reader to extensively explore the ‘current’ life of Mack more deeply.
Love is one of the main themes in ‘The Shack’. The love of God for humanity, humanity’s love for God, and human beings’ love for each other are part of the aspects of love, which Mack appreciates at the shack. Sarayu, Jesus, and Papa show the depth of the love of God to Mack through their readiness and willingness to illustrate their love for the world, for Mack, and for each other. Their unconditional and consistent love actions for each other become vivid examples of the intentions of God for human relationships (Young 25). As Jesus spills batter over Papa, Mack is rather startled at the lack of recrimination and anger over the damage created and the loving attention that Jesus pays to simple cleaning tasks on the batter off the robe of Papa and proceeds to wash his feet. During his experience, Mack is also infused with the unconditional love at the shack as the truth brings him to his knees with his love for God, for others, for Missy is particularly flawed by the inability to accept personal limitations as well as letting love be sufficient to take away his pain. The transformation of the main character is profoundly impactful on the development of the ultimate theme of the story.
Forgiveness is also a theme of major interest in the story. The actions of releasing people who have previously wronged you through letting go of emotions of anger and resentment is referred to as forgiveness. Sophia shows Mack the essence of forgiving and at the same time, she is able to teach him that forgiving does not mean that the actions of the wrongful person are right, and does not necessarily mean that one has to unconditionally forget the actions done. She presses Mack towards forgiving through expressly demanding that he lets go and forgives God for the death of Missy. He quickly realizes the hardships in even contemplating to forgive God and he begins to wonder how hard it could be for God in forgiving humanity. However, he is eventually able to forgive Missy’s murderer and discovers that forgiveness will not expressly mean that one has to trust, like, or even continue with the thriving relationship with others (Young 34). Forgiveness will also require a form of unconditional love, which implies that one will not forever hold another person’s wrongful actions against them anymore. Mack is now able to forgive himself as well and learns that forgiveness will mean letting go of the oppressive actions. The act of delivering humanity from death’s finality and assuring a place in eternity to each person who actually believes in God is salvation. Papa often speaks of the action as the ultimate gift of God to the entire world. As he offers an explanation to Mack on the descriptive meaning of love, she presents human salvation as God’s act that offered his only Son and through Jesus who sacrificed his life for an agonizing death on the Cross-to delivers people from a world filled with sin.
Works Cited:
Young William., The Shack. New York: Windblown Media. 2008. Pp 9-45. Print
