The Shack, a Discussion of Symbolism

2/16/09 The domicile A Discussion of Symbolism The Shack, written by William P. Young, tackles iodin mans quest for faith and reassurance in theology through several(prenominal) metaphors, parables and symbols. These symbols are used to compare the story religion itself and from this comparison it is easier to persevere a deeper visualiseing. However, with this underlying symbolism, its possible to over analyze and disregard the fictitious nature of the book. Despite this, there are many symbols deep down The Shack that are essential to the story and the deeper signifi rumpce at bottom it.Symbols are used within The Shack to re every(prenominal)y enunciate the family relationship transition that Mack experiences art object visiting the shack and the new found relationship that he develops within the Trinity. Symbolism within The Shack is found almost everywhere, with symbolism it is possible to understand beau ideal through the analogies expressed. These analogies range f rom simple to complex and have many dimensions the symbol itself and the reality it exposes. There are many different symbols hidden within the shack, some are obvious and some are vaguer. ane of the much obvious pieces of symbolism would be the story of the Indian Princess that Mack tells fille. (Young, 30-31) The story is a clear representation of the death of Jesus Christ. Missy is unnerved by the death of the Indian Princess and Jesus and raises the essential question, as to why God is so mean? (31) Mack answers the question the best he can but it still unnerves him. He says that Jesus didnt have to die, he chose to. He then tells Missy thatGod will never ask us to do something like that, as Jesus already covered it. Hes shaken though by the abstruseness of his young daughters question.However, not quite as shaken as he will be in the days ahead as he wonders the same thing himself. In the coming days ahead When Missy is abducted, Mack will think back to this, thus, creating distrust in God for Mack. Now that Mack has developed a type of disbelieve in God, he becomes immersed in another piece of symbolism that he has taken to call the keen Sadness. he Mack allowed himself to consider the range of horrendous possibilities, and once it started he couldnt stop the imaginations of good and evil all mixed up unitedly in a soundless but terrifying parade. 53) This Great Sadness seems to be a lot like depression but there are some things here that seem to even go beyond such a simple definition. It appears to more than physical, more than psychological its almost a religious type of thing that hits to the very core of his being to where his entire world is impacted by its presence. It haunts his dreams, and leaves him in a state of almost perpetual weary and anguish. It can be argued that this state was brought on solely because of his daughters disappearance merely that may only be one of the factors contributing to the Great Sadness.Macks Great Sadnes s seems to come more from his loss of faith because of the loss of his daughters which could imply that both of these are the causes of his grief bear on state. Whether its depression, or something else, Mack has a condition in which pain becomes so overwhelming that there are few options other than suppressing the pain, which is what Mack chooses to do. One of the contributing sources to Macks great sadness is the loss of his daughter, Missy. Missy can as well as be viewed as yet another symbol within The Shack.She is innocent and unassuming therefore she can be regarded as somewhat of an inner child or symbol of youthful innocence. And now Mack could understandably see the voice that had called his Missy. It was Jesus playing in the middle of his children. (168) However, with her disappearance she brings despair and sadness to her family, therefore she is also representative of great pain and loss. Missy, can also be compared to Jesus. She was innocent, but ended up dying for n o reason.Although her death was tragic and hurt her family, Mack manages to gain a new relationship with God from it. Much like Jesus, who died unjustly, but ended up saving humanity, Missy in a way saves her father. Another symbol found several times throughout the story would be the lady bug. Before the family leaves to go on a camping trip, Missy asks her mother and her father if she can bring her insects with her. Her father says yes, while her mother says no, because they will be safer at home. This is symbolic because it turns out that Missy would have been safer at home too.Perhaps the most state symbols in the entire story would be the physical human representations of the Trinity. God is represented by a large African American woman however this is just the form that God chose to spoke to Mack through, because Papa (God) says that God is neither male nor female. (93) Jesus is portrayed as a clumsy Jewish man. While the Holy Spirit is an Asian woman, who behaves rather stra ngely and flits in and out of Macks vision and can appear in more than one place at once, (128) these are all metaphorical representations of the manifestation of the Trinity.Mack in his first meeting with God following his cathartic variety of unloading his anger and rage sees God in a quite different manner than he expected, which is why God is portrayed this specific way. This offspring of God in this form is important because this isnt a literal assembly with God. This is a parable or metaphor that represents Macks incoming to a God that isnt the remote, presentiment, ominous, hypercritical figure that Mack has believed him to be, until now.To reveal myself to you as a very large, white grandfather figure with flowing beard, like Gandalf, would just reinforce your religious stereotypes, and this weekend is not about reinforcing your religious stereotypes. (93) God or Papa in The Shack isnt revealing himself in all of his splendor and sanctity for a specific reason. This is b ecause the general rationale of this weekend in the shack is focused upon constructing a relationship with God. Through this, Mack discovers the mood that Gods love extends so much that God has chosen to reveal himself in a manner that Mack can relate to and identify with.God also wishes for Macks religious stereotypes to be abolished, so he can be closer with God. Macks religious stereotype of God in his head is similar to Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, like a sort of grandfatherly figure with a long white flowing beard. (73) So, Mack is shaken immensely when God appears to him in the way that he does, in order to try to bring himself down to Macks level. Through the symbolism in this story dealings with the trinity, Mack begins to start the road to restoration nd healing. The whole meeting in the shack is symbolic in itself because it is possible that it did not even make it in reality. Mack discovers that his accident was on Friday night, and also when he wakes up wakes up in the shack and it is cold (237) and also he appears to be in the same spot on the floor where he fell asleep (79) near the old blood stain. This leads to the conclusion that the manifestation of the trinity, may have occurred just not as a part of reality, more as in a visionary meeting.These events are seemingly real as Mack experiences them and he is able to grasp that there is a truth being represented here through this weekend at the shack and from that he reaches the truth about his relationship with God. Even though it is possible to conclude that the actual meeting did not occur, there is a reality here in the truth of the concepts and life sentence changes that occur because of this meeting. The purpose of this metaphorical vision was to save Mack, so he could forgive and mend his relationship with God. Parables, symbols and metaphors are all essential elements in The Shack.They table service to intertwine the pieces of the story together and allow for greater significance . Although some of the symbolism is blatant and quite obvious there are other pieces of symbolism that are vaguer and harder to pick out. The Shack is a story about, healing and forgiveness, and within the tale of anguish and spiritual redemption there are symbols that act as signposts serving to lead Mack to conclusion and build a stronger relationship with the Trinity. Works Cited Young, William P. The Shack. Newbury Park, CA, 2007