Abraham Maslow’s hierarchical needs in No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison by Behrouz Boochani

Abstract

The paper attempted to analyze the character of Boochani in his memoir No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison, in the light of Abraham Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchical Needs. Boochani wrote his novel while he was still locked in the Manus Island detention center. It narrates the story of a man who followed his dream to reach his dreamland. The study was carried out using a descriptive qualitative research methodology through textual analysis design. Since the study was text-based, a meticulous reading process of the text was done. We used the text as the primary source for data collection. Therefore, a portion of the sentences, paragraphs, and phrases related to the study’s objective were taken as examples and excerpts and analyzed using Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The results revealed that Boochani, like all humans, was driven by physiological and psychological needs, ranging from the most fundamental to the most extreme. His journey aimed to get self-actualization but never could get it and hardly fulfilled other basic needs completely. Boochani’s voyage is depicted as a series of rising and falling waves. He occasionally satisfies some needs, but he never succeeds in meeting the need for self-actualization and self-esteem. And hardly does he fulfill the other three levels of the hierarchy of needs. His entire story serves as a metaphor for everyone who strives for self-actualization yet encounters obstacles.

Keywords

• abraham maslow
• behrouz boochani
• novel
• psychology
• hierarchy of needs
• theory of motivation