Maslows

In the book "God Grew Tired of Us" Maslows Heirarchy plays a role in John Bul Dau's escape from his village. Maslows Hierarchy says that a person must satisfy the lower needs in order to climb the ladder toward the ultimate goal. It starts with Physiological (Health, Food, Sleep), Safety (Shelter, Removal from danger), Belonging (Love, Affection, Being a part of groups), Esteem (Self-esteem and esteem from others), Self-actualisation (Achieving individual potential). In the book when John's village goes under a firestorm of bullets and literal fire he runs for his life and knows one thing, he must follow the second step and remove himself from the dangerous situation. So the first thing he does is make sure that he gets enough sleep and food to make the long journey out of sudan, following the first step of Maslows Hierarchy. When he gets to America he finds a new world with seemingly endless possiblities for him to change his country and bring peace to his people, satisfying the top three steps.