The Analysis of Protagonist in the Novel Ayyām Maʻah based on Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualization

The psychological criticism is one of the novel techniques in literary criticism which tries to examine what is beyond the literary work in order to find the interconnection between art and the artist. The American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, believes that human beings need to grow, and to achieve this growth and development, they need to fulfill five steps of requirements including physiological, security, social, esteem and self-actualization needs. In fact, these needs help the individual accomplish the ultimate goal and first, lower level needs must be satisfied so that the person can reach higher levels and finally self-actualization. In this regard, the present research, through the descriptive-analytical approach, examines the protagonist of the novel Ayyām maʻah by Colette Khoury, the Syrian author based on Maslow’s theory. The novel is mostly indicative of Koury’s character and her society whose restrictions are the biggest obstacles to the growth and excellence of the women. Despite the obstacles, most of the women are trying harder to resist them in order to reach perfection for creativity and self-actualization. The results of this study indicate that the aforesaid novel matches the indices mentioned by Maslow for self-actualization. Most women and girls do not have the chance to develop and nurture their talents and capacity because of obstacles like irrational customs and traditions. The most obvious need of the protagonist is the presence of a supporter who can remove the obstacles to her growth and grant her wishes. Although she does not have all self-actualization components, having characteristics such as resistance to acculturation, problem-centeredness, acceptance of herself and others, creativity, simplicity, and being natural is a sign of self-actualization. She tries to reach the requirements in steps 4 and 5 of Maslow’s pyramid, and on this way, along with the resistance to the dominant culture, she reaches self-actualization by developing her talents like composing poems and playing music.