Self-Actualization in PHPR

While responding to the post regarding the loss of body in PHPR, I stumbled upon and idea that I would like to investigate in more depth. Moreover, I would like to pose this idea as a springboard for discussion. I am not going to come to any definite conclusions within this post, but I would like to see what the rest of you think about the idea of self-actualization not only within PHPR, but also within other works by Flanner O'Connor and Katherine Anne Porter.

In class, we have frequently discussed the idea of emptiness or flatness in Porter and O'Connor's protagonists. Do you think that it is possible that this emptiness results as a consequence of the process of self-actualization. I'm not sure that any of Porter or O'Connors characters ACTUALLY achieve self-actualization within these stories, but I definitely think that they come very close in that they have startling realizations about themselves and the world in which they live that lead them to feel emptiness and loss of body.

Anyhow, I was going to post quotations from PHPR regarding this idea, but I think there are several examples of these quotes in the post that I just posted and I don't want to be redundant/I'm being totally lazy.

Another interesting thought I had regarding self-actualization within PHPR relates to the journey via horseback that Miranda embarks on within the first few pages of PHPR. Based on the short, often repetitive structure of the sentences in this section, Miranda is obviously feels very frantic and lost. I think that this franticness on her part reflects a mass production of introspective thoughts that she is experiencing at this point in time. I feel that this journey to an unknown destination could be interpreted as being symbolic of a journey towards self-actualization. This voyage via horseback is not mentioned again within the story and therefore, I don't think that Miranda actually reaches self-actualization within the story, but rather works towards it and the self-actualization occurs in a manner that is external to the physical text.

Anyhow, any thoughts on this idea?