Susan Bowman - Quicklet on The Shack by William Young

About William Paul Young

William Paul Young describes himself as an unexpected author, as surprised as anyone else a t his success. Before The Shack his writing consisted of personal ramblings which he shared with only family and friends, extensive business documents, and web content. Since The Shack s surprising success, he has continued to live with his wife, Kim and six children in Grisham, Oregon. Born in Canada to missionary parents, Young, who prefers to be called Paul, spent his first six years living among the Dani, a primitive tribe of Netherlands, New Guinea (West Papua). His education began in a boarding school and continued in thirteen different schools in Western Canada where his father served as Pastor of numerous churches.

Young graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Religion from Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon. His life has been an arduous journey but his strong faith in God, his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit has defined and sustained him throughout his life.

AboutThe Shack

The Shack is a powerful story of the transformation of a bitter, grieving father into a man of God with a heart full of love and forgiveness. Told by Willie, the loyal, though skeptical, best friend of Mackenzie Allen Phillips, The Shack begins in the midst of Macks Great Sadness, which descended on him following the abduction and apparent murder of his six-year-old daughter Missy. Ravaged by grief and guilt, he lives with a darkness that threatens to consume him and his relationship with his wife Nan and their other five children.

Then, on an icy winter day, Mack receives a strange invitation to Meet me at the shack this weekend. Love, Papa. Trembling with both fear and anticipation, Mack goes back to the hated scene of his personal hell where, instead of his abusive father, he encounters God in the strangest forms he could have imagined.

An international best-seller; The Shack has sold over 14 million copies; has been translated into Spanish, German, and Croatian; and can be found in paperback, hardback, CD, Kindle, and Audible Audio.

The Shack is a brilliant and moving work of fictionalized theology. In his life, William Paul Young suffered much of what his main character did, but despite the books autobiographical nature, he is quick to confirm that it is a work of fiction. The Shack confirms the existence of a deep faith in a man who has lived with evil, struggled with sadness, and come out on the side of God with an abiding faith in his Savior and friend, Jesus.

Narrated by the best friend of the main character, Mackenzie Allen Phillips, The Shack tells the story of Mack and every parents worst nightmare. After his 6-year-old daughter, Missy, is kidnapped and presumed murdered, Mack sinks into what he calls the Great Sadness, which threatens to drown him and cuts him off from his wife and other children. For more than four years Mack struggles with his deep grief and agonizing guilt until he is on the edge of emotional collapse.

One day, he receives a mysterious invitation from someone calling himself Papa, a name which brings up horrendous memories of his own abusive Papa. When he reads the invitation to meet at the shack, (where Missys abduction took place), Mack cannot imagine anyone playing such a cruel trick on him. After much angry puzzling, Mack decides that it cannot be an invitation from anyone but God and, while he cannot fathom why God would bring up the two things in his life that bring him the most pain, he becomes determined to find out just what the invitation means.

He keeps this all a secret from his wife and enlists Willies help and 4-wheel-drive vehicle to make the dreaded trip to the shack to meet this Papa maybe hed even give him a piece of his mind for dredging up all this old pain. He takes off on a cold winter day alone to face the huge demons plaguing his life. He discovers the most powerful weapon imaginable that helps him to win a victory he didnt know was possible.

Greeted at the shack by a very strange looking Papa, Mack is drawn into a journey of painful discovery by a host of divine beings. This holy trinity guides and leads him through the grief, guilt, anger, hatred, and disbelief that have resulted in a stubborn unwillingness to accept his loss, share his feelings, and forgive himself, his father, and Missys killer.

Although a fictional story, the authors theological insights are real. He uses mind-boggling conversations with the holy creatures and dazzling encounters with Jesus and his dead daughter to describe his maturing faith. When Mack walks on the water with Jesus, he finds his faith awakening. As he watches Missy speaking to him through a waterfall, just out of reach, and then throwing herself into the arms of Jesus, her new friend, his faith comes alive.

The Shack is indeed a mind-blower, from its unconventional images of God to its brutal reality-check for the human race, and then to its final conclusion that will shock everyone but surprise no one.

Willie: The writer and best friend of the main character. He tells Macks story reluctantly as he is having a hard time believing it; but he is stalwart and loyal, never losing faith in his friend.

Mackenzie Allen Phillips: The main character and Willies best friend. Abused as a child by his father, Mack has led a troubled life, but nothing has prepared him for the Great Sadness which overwhelms him after the abduction and probable murder of his Missy, his sweet 6-year-old daughter. Wracked by grief and guilt, Mack receives a strange invitation which he accepts only to discover that his life will never be the same.

Nan Phillips: Macks wife, who remained steadfast while he fought his demons but grows increasingly distant and alienated as Mack sinks into the Great Sadness.

Missy: Mack and Nans 6-year-old daughter who is kidnapped from a picnic table where she is coloring, while her father is saving her brother from drowning. After searching the area, authorities believe she has been murdered.

Josh: Missys brother who capsizes his canoe and is rescued by his vigilant father, Mack, while the family watches, leaving Missy vulnerable for the instant it takes evil to whisk her away.

Elouisa (Papa): The unknown author of an invitation to meet at the shack where Missy was abducted. Papa becomes even stranger when Mack arrives at the shack, not quite ready for what Papa has in store for him.

Jesus: The second of the three mysterious individuals who meets Mack at the shack. He becomes Macks close friend and confidant, helping him learn the true meaning of love and sacrifice.

Sarayu: The third of the strange trilogy who greets Mack at the shack and assists him on his journey of enlightenment during his weekend of discovery.

Sophia: The personification of Gods Wisdom who forces Mack to learn and accept the hardest lesson a human faces.

MAJOR THEMES

Love: Gods love for humanity, human beings love for one another, and humanitys love for God are the three aspects of love that Mack learns about at the shack. Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu show Mack the depth of Gods love through their willingness to show him their love for each other, for Mack, and for the world.