Maslow's+Hierarchy+of+Needs

= __Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs__ = == = By: Russell Washabaugh, Maddie Lynch, Amanda Stankis, and Dan Casey =

Abraham Maslow created Maslow's Triangle (above), which shows human-kind's needs, from the most basic at the bottom, to the highest level one can achieve at the top. Abraham Maslow was a founder of humanistic pyschology where he created this visual representation of basic human needs. The triangle is created off of what Maslow found through study to be what human's need most, in the order that their necessities are achieved. If a lower need is threatened, a person will abandon a higher need. In the novel //A Long Way Gone//, the levels of needs that have been theorized by Maslow are exploited and demonstrated, showing the different trials and tribulations that the people of Sierra Leone experienced during some of the war. This hierarchy of needs helps to explain why Ishmael and many of the other characters who were in hiding or running from the RUF took the course of actions that they each did. The five blocks of the pyramid are:

== __​ Physiological Needs:__ Physiological needs are vital for human survival and the most important on the heirarchy of needs. These needs deal with mantenience of the human body such as food, water, oxygen and warmth. ==

In //A Long Way Gone//:

 * Page 29 :"That night we were so hungry that we stole people's food while they slept. It was the only way to get through the night"
 * Page 30: "We were so hungry that it hurt to drink water and we felt cramps in our guts."
 * Page 30: "One evening we actually chased a little boy who was eating two boiled ears of corn by himself....We didn't say a word or even look at each other. Rather, we rushed on the boy at the same time, and before he knew what was happening we had taken the corn from him."
 * page 47: “It is difficult to explain how it happened, but I mounted the coconut tree quite fast and unexpectedly. By the time I realized what I was doing and thought about my inexperience in this particular art…”
 * Ishmael did not think about anything else besides getting food for his body.
 * Page 51: “It was either take the chance and eat this fruit that might poison me or die of hunger.”
 * In the scene when Ishmael was in the jungle, the only source of food he saw available could have been poisonous, but he was willing to take that chance for survival.

In //A Long Way Gone//: mainly shown by other characters along with Ishmael

 * Page 55: "I knew this was going to be a problem, but i didn't want to be by myself anymore."
 * Ishmael joins up with six other boys and although they look suspicious as a group of young boys they stick together.
 * Page 60: "They sat on top of us, tied our hands, and took us to their chief."
 * The boys were captured by a village who saw the group and thought they were rebel soldiers.
 * Page 107: "We had no choice. Leaving the village was as good as being dead."
 * Ishmael and his friends join the army in order to protect themselves from being killed by the rebels.
 * Page 129: "I hid my bayonet inside my pants and a grenade in my pocket. When one of the soldiers came to search me, I pushed him and told him that if he touched me I would kill him."
 * Ishmael is unsure of what is going to happen to him, so he wants to make sure he's protected and ready for anything.

In //A Long Way Gone//:

 * Page 129: "You have been great soldiers and you all know that you are part of this brotherhood."
 * Ishmael is a part of the army and feels like he has a temporary replacement for a family by being with the army.
 * Page 133: "Upon learning that we had all fought for the so-called army, in different parts of the country, we calmed down and talked about what bases we were from."
 * Even though Ishmael and Alhaji were ready to fight the boys on the other side of the table, once they learned they were all a part of the same "family," they stopped fighting.
 * Page 144: " Because of this raid, Alhaji acquired the name "Little Rambo," and did all he could in other raids to live up to that name." "My nickname was 'Green Snake,'...I was happy with my name, and on every raid I made sure I did as my name required."
 * Ishmael and Alhaji are treated special and given nicknames -- signs of affection and caring -- from the corporal. They feel the need to live up to what the corporal expects of them, because they feel that he loves them.
 * Page 167: "' feel as if there is nothing left for me to be alive for' I said slowly. 'I have no family, it is just me.'" "Think of me as your family, your sister...this is the beauty of starting a new family. You can have different kinds of family members." "I smiled back and forgot about my loneliness for the time being."
 * When Ishmael feels that there is no reason left to be alive, Esther, the nurse, helps him to feel loved and cared for, so that he has someone to be his family.

__Self-Esteem:__ deals with social recognition, feeling good about yourself, and searching for a higher position in a group.

 * Page 34: "One of them said that they had chosen wrongly, since most of us who had been chosen were trembling and that meant we were sissies".
 * The RUF took advantage of thier power and stripped away the self esteem of the boys
 * The rebels made the boys feel weak so they could pull them to their side
 * page 64: "I wish I could be that man. He is just so happy and content with his life" - Alhaji
 * shows that Alhaji may feel insecure about himself and the boys have lost thier happiness
 * page 69: "So I couldn't bring myself to be completely happy. It was much easier to be sad than to go back and forth between emotions."
 * When periods of happiness came, Ishmael knew they would not last long in his situation and did not want to experience a range of emotions. He settles for being sad than pretending that things will improve.
 * page 125: "I was given the rank of junior lieutenant and Kanei was given junior sergeant."
 * Ishmael killed a man in a contest to move up to a higher rank in the army.

In //A Long Way Gone//:

 * Page 46: " I became frustrated with living in fear. I felt as if I was always waiting for death to come to me, so I decided to go somewhere where at least there was some peace."
 * Instead of staying with Kaloko, Ishmael followed his own instinct and left.
 * Page 70: "'How many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety?' he asked."
 * Saidu was starting to realize maybe they weren't going to be safe and that each time they were captured they were closer and closer to experiencing death.
 * Page 73: "It was as if we all knew that we could be happy for only a brief moment."
 * The boys may play games and joke around but it never lasts long because they are soon reminded of their situation so they feel as though they really should'nt be happy.