43 pages • 1 hour read
The Shack
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Symbols & Motifs
The Shack
The shack—that is, the dilapidated old structure where Missy’s bloodstained dress was found, presumably the site of her murder—symbolizes the emotional trauma that episode represents in Mack’s life and thus supports the theme of making sense of suffering. It is a visual representation of “the Great Sadness” that surrounds Mack after Missy’s death. When Mack returns to the shack in answer to Papa’s invitation, the setting adds to this symbolic portrayal; the trees are desolate of leaves and the landscape around is locked in snow and ice.
The shack’s symbolism includes elements of hope. During Mack’s experience, the shack transforms into a lovely log cabin, and the area surrounding it comes alive with the beauty of flowers and leaves. Winter becomes springtime, and the shack a home in which love is constantly present. It is significant that Young portrays the shack as the place of Mack’s meeting with God, full of all the hope, beauty, and life that meeting brings. This signifies that God meets people in the middle of their pain, bringing healing not by turning away from trauma or pain but by entering into that spot in a person’s life and allowing the wholeness of divine love to mend the deepest wounds.
The Garden
The garden is a symbol linked to Mack’s character and his transformation throughout the story. Sarayu identifies the garden with Mack’s soul in Chapter 9, acknowledging that it is messy but observing that beauty grows out of that very mess. The Shack depicts Sarayu as the gardener, which matches the traditional conception of the role of the Holy Spirit in God’s relationship with humans: the one who is present in people’s daily lives, working amid all the little details to bring God’s purpose to bear on an individual’s circumstances.
Mack assists Sarayu in clearing space in the center of the garden, though at that point in the narrative it is not yet clear what the purpose of this action will be. As Chapter 17 reveals, the space he clears is the resting space for Missy’s coffin, so Mack’s work in the garden directly symbolizes making room in his heart to lay the trauma of Missy’s death to rest. On that spot, Sarayu waters the ground with some of Mack’s tears that she earlier collected, leading to the miraculous growth and blooming of a tree of life. As with the symbol of the shack, this multilayered symbol speaks to the idea that God can take the place of a person’s deepest woundedness and make it the center of healing.
Fractals
One of the most common motifs in The Shack is the idea of fractals, which come up in dialogues between several different characters. Fractals are a form of mathematical expression regularly found in nature; they consist of repeated structures or formations that together make an emergent pattern, often beautiful in its aspect. Fractals can appear disorderly when viewed close up but are very orderly when viewed at wider scales. As used in The Shack, the motif functions as a means of understanding the way that God’s plan is worked out even amid the suffering and evil so common in human experience. As such, it supports the theme of making sense of suffering. Sarayu uses the idea of fractals to express the fact that the garden’s messiness is not a negative attribute but rather a feature of its emerging beauty. Papa, similarly, speaks of fractals as the unfolding pattern of the divine purpose in what otherwise would look like chaos.
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