One of Jack’s Extrinsic Deficiency Motivations in Home：An Awkward Father-Son Relationship

【Abstract】In Home， regarded as one of the modern classics and written in 2008 by Marilynne Robinson， one of the most famous female writers in contemporary American literature， the protagonist Jack is a very complicated figure. This paper mainly focuses on studying one of Jacks Extrinsicdeficiency motivations， claiming that Jacks bad and awkward relationship with his father， Robert Boughton， is extrinsic reasons of impeding his self-actualization from the perspective of Humanism.

【Keywords】Protagonist Jack; Father-Son Relationship;  Deficiency Motivation; Home

【作者簡介】CaiHuiying，Qujing Normal University .

In his later life， Maslow has divided human motivation into two categories： Deficiency Motivation and Growth Motivation. The Deficiency Motivation refers to the organisms basic needs or deficiency needs which emphasize that when individuals are gratified by these basic needs， they completely depend on the outside world or the external circumstances. Accordingly， the individuals driven by deficiency motivation must be frightened of circumstances. To some extent， Jack is frightened of the circumstance in the town Gilead. He regards his every going out as every venture and takes some “[Jacks] strategies for avoiding humiliation” and “dresses carefully before every venture into town， jacket， tie and hat”. He makes himself useful around the place， making small， patient inroads on dishevelment and disrepair. Deficiency needs are all the species needs; simultaneously， all the members of human beings share these needs. （Maslow， 2003：20）

Since his childhood， Jacks need for the safety， belongingness and love from his father was never gratified， but his need for love was redeemed by Dellas love. After the love gratification， his respect need protrudes. Getting his fathers respect is his supreme goal which is the crucial step of Jacks coming to stay in Gilead for long. At the very beginning of the novel， readers seem to have such an impression that Jacks father is a responsible and considerate person though ailing and unhealthy. As a father， he has not seen his beloved son for twenty years， which must be a painful waiting and torment. More sympathies tend to be given to this old and retiring clergyman.She had worried about what to do with it all if Jack never came. （Home， 29-30） However， throughout the whole story， his father becomes the biggest external hindrance toJacks self-actualization. Just as Beck （2008） said， readers “are meant to like Jack and to dislike his father.” On the one hand， Reverend Boughton neither respects nor trusts his son Jack as a round， healthy and active individual. Influenced by his haunting， endless， and excruciating past， during the nighttime， Jack often feels it difficult to get relaxed and cant sleep well. During the time， he prefers to go out of Boughton house quietly to the barn to drink a little to keep himself calm. He always regards Jack as a figure of the unchanged bad man in his hidebound way. More mercilessly， Jacks father plays the role of a policeman and seems to compel Jack to tell his so-called stealing truth. Jack smiles reluctantly， “Im under house arrest. Jack Boughton is in hell.” Simultaneously， Jacks father positions himself as a Father or God or Lord as if he is an omniscient and omnipotent saint， he asks nothing， which means he knows everything， and the father says authoritatively： “No need for problems of that kind.” （Home， 138） Ironically， as a father， Robert Boughton doesnt give his son even a little bit respect. Just from his instinct and from Jacks history of scoundrelism， he judges Jack a burglar. In his eyes， Jack is “a full-fledged domestic tyrant” as if Jack has really worked on some horrible behaviors of theft which has humiliated the whole Boughton family， especially disgracing the father as a pious and holy priest. He treats Jack in a disdainful way. Moreover， he gives Jack a kind of deformed and grotesque love. He puts himself into a position of Jacks rescuer.

In fact， he is not Jacks rescuer but his cold-blooded persecutor. In a sense， the father is selfish in only consideration of his vanity as an authoritative preacher. When his confidant Reverend Ames came to his home to find Jack was not in， Jacks father immediately explained， “ ‘Jack is here， as if to exclude other possibilities.” In his weird thinking， Jacks absence， a kind of transgression or infringement， seems to be rather conspicuous and awkward. Scurrility must be related with Jack， his reprobate son. It seems that Jack himself symbolizes something like humiliation， disreputableness， and misdemeanor which all strengthen Jacks feeling of inferiority. According to Maslow， satisfaction of the self-esteem need leads to feeling of self-confidence， worth， strength， capability， and adequacy， of being useful and necessary in the world. But thwarting of these needs produces feelings of inferiority， of weakness， of restlessness and of helplessness. These feelings in turn give rise to either basic discouragement or else compensatory or neurotic trends. （Maslow， 45） Because Jacks need for respect from his father is thwarted， Jack often looks humble and inferior， feels himself useless and frustrated. He confesses to Glory for his hapless and disreputable existence self-condemnedly， “I cant trust myself. I could do something – unsightly. I could make everything much worse.” Apparently， his characteristics of inferiority， weakness， helplessness and so forth make Jack be far away from his self-actualization. On the other hand， the ailing father holds an unquestioning and blind view on religion. He has two major ideological differences from Jacks. One is his doctrine of predestination; the other is his tenet of forgiving. Jacks father is a fanatical Calvinist who insists his belief that the white are superior and the elect while the black are inferior and the damned. In his fathers opinion， some people， like the Negroes， are intentionally and irretrievably consigned to perdition as if the Negroes existence is somewhat illegal. He claims with the statesmanlike look and tone， “I have nothing against the colored people. I do think they are going to need to improve themselves， though， if they want to be accepted. I believe that is the only solution. The colored people appear to me to be creating problems and obstacles for themselves with all this commotion.” In his fathers view， the white people are the better class while the colored people are the worse one. Jacks fathers racial discrimination ruins Jacks hope of building a home belonging to him， his black wife and their interracial son little Robert in Gilead.

Additionally， Jacks fathers philosophy of life “to forgive is to understand” seems that to wait his sons homecoming is to forgive him. His fathers doctrine of forgiving enforces the idea that Jack is really “a sinful man”. All knows that someone who needs to be forgiven must be a person who has done something unreasonable or harmful or illegal or illicit or unlawful. Though Jacks Instinctoid has made him do some unavoidable wrong things in the past， the fact is that for almost ten years he has been striving to be a transformed man. In combination with his fathers doctrine of predestination， it seems that Jack is born to be a person to be forgiven. To be more exact， Jack is innately a sinner on his fathers part. As Robinson says， “The belief that we are all sinners gives us excellent grounds for forgiveness and self-forgiveness… even while it affirms the standards that all of us fail to attain” （Death of Adam， 156）. Ostensibly， his fathers endless forgiving him is his selfless love and affection for him. In fact， for a changed Jack， this excessive and extravagant forgiving is disrespect for Jacks sound personality. Jacks father doesnt really forgive Jack， because he always retells Jacks old humiliating history as if it is Jacks whole life. When Jack confesses to his father honestly， ‘These last years I have been all right， his father seems to distrust Jack， ‘you always did the opposite of what I hoped for， the exact opposite. Poor Jack is infuriated， “Im feeling the impulse to do something unwise.” （Home， 121）

Disappointed with his father， Jack strikes upon an idea that his father seems to be a sanctimonious and hypocritical person. Eventually， he gives up his hope of winning the respect from his father. The terribly poignant and apparently unreconciled relationship between Jack and his father spoils Jacks dream of setting up a home in Gilead. As Williams （2011） said Jacks father just cannot receive strangers. Jack was a stranger in Gilead. The lack of Jacks respect need from his father becomes a big external hindrance to his self-actualization.

References：

[1]Beck， Stefan. “Beside the golden door.”New Criterion 27.3 （2008）： 30+.

[2]Maslow， Abraham. Motivation and Personality [M] Beijing： China Social Science Publishing House， 1999.

[3]Robinson， Marilynne. Home. New York： Farrar， Straus and Ciroux， 2009.

[4]Robinson， Marilynne. The Death of Adam： Essays on Modern Thought. Boston： Houghton， 1998.