The ID, Ego and Superego in Lord of the Flies - Essay Example

The ID, Ego and Superego in Lord of the Flies Essay

Although we have come to understand that there is nothing scientific or practically applicable to Freud’s work, he is still firmly framed in our minds as the father of psychoanalysis. The common phrase “Freudian slip” speaks to its significant cultural and mediatic impact. It is no wonder then that Freud’s suppositions have inspired and influenced so many books and movies. Freud constructed a seemingly intuitive narrative on the inner workings of the human mind. Namely, that human nature is driven by two primal energies – sex (pleasure) and aggression (death).

Going even further, Freud deconstructed human personality, as a placeholder for human nature, into three areas of control – id, ego, and superego. The id is the lowest, subconscious part of the human mind that deals with base needs and pleasures. Generated by id is ego, as a conscious part of a personality that reigns in id in day-to-day reality. Superego is the sublimation of all the imposed behavioral standards we imbibed from our parents and society at the highest level. Superego is the framework for making moral decisions.

The key feature of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is the balance between the three personality components – id, ego, and superego, specifically, how the ego achieves a balance between base needs (id) and higher moral standards (superego).

Although Freud arrived at his theory in a profoundly unscientific manner – starting with an idea and then rationalizing it – he did make a lasting contribution to human knowledge. Freud introduced the mental state as a component of the human condition. Previously, people framed their thinking in terms of spiritual essences and a physical body. Therefore, the introduction of the mental, the subconscious, was vital in opening a whole new field of investigation.

Sadly, that was the end of Freud’s contributions, as he completely disregarded empiricism and acted exceedingly dishonest when other professionals offered any constructive criticism. He often slandered such critics by calling them psychologically ill. Nowadays, no one would take Freud’s cocaine-fueled fantasies seriously. One of the wildest such addled fantasies is Freud’s so-called Oedipus complex, positing that boys crave sex with their mothers, making them want to kill their fathers, but due to the compartmentalized nature of the human mind, the boy understands that his father is also his protector, so the boy would then suppress his homicidal tendencies.

It is important to keep such baseless ramblings in mind when we discuss Freud’s influence on society. Accordingly, the ID, Ego and Superego in Lord of the Flies essay deals with the Lord of the Flies novel at face value.

Embodiment of Pseudoscience

Among countless works of art that have been produced within the framework of Freud’s psychoanalysis in the last century, the one that stands out the most is the book Lord of the Flies, first published in 1954. The book’s influence is demonstrated by the reimagining of, not one, but two movies, the first one in 1963, and the second one in 1990.

Albeit modern psychiatry is far removed from Freud’s alchemical attempts at mapping the human mind, it is still useful to deconstruct how his theory embedded itself into our culture.

When William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies, he was not drawing inspiration from real-world events. Instead, he molded his fiction according to Freud’s own fictional theory. As a result, his main characters in Lord of the Flies personify Freud’s personality components:

• Jack channels id, i.e., primal instincts and savagery,
• Ralph channels ego, i.e., rationality and practicality,
• Simon and Piggy channel superego, i.e., moral good, and civilizational standards.

Although all the boys are seemingly rational, they are depicted as driven by different forces. Within this framework, considering that ego, Ralph, and superego are there to curtail id, Jack is the most unbalanced one. As such, he is the main source of tension and malignant influence, eventually overcoming the original tribe chief Ralph. At the same time, Simon and Piggy are the forces of good that fall under him. Simon only differs in the way he doesn’t project a sense of righteous obligation. Jack is not bothered by any internalized moralistic values and socialization. On the contrary, as soon as such constraints disappeared, due to external circumstance of being stranded, Jack focuses all his energies on control, dominance, hunting, totalitarian rule over others, and dethroning Ralph.

Jack’s id spreads like a virus

As a pure force of nature, Jack’s id exerts the most control over other boys, getting them to kill animals. The killing of the animals is a key pivotal point in id overtaking the ego and superego. Jack makes sure to instill aggression in other boys and get them accustomed to bloodshed of living creatures, (Golding 120), “The spear moved forward inch by inch, and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands,”

Jack’s influence grows further from that key point, leading him to eventually facilitate the deaths of Simon and Piggy, as representations of ego and superego.

In Lord of the Flies, no one can stand to overpower Jack’s id. Even the rational Ralph, as the first chief of the tribe, fails to counter Jack’s forceful sentiments (Golding 79), “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong – we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat!”. The author went out of his way to portray Jack as a caricature instead of a realistic character. All to align his narrative with Freud’s narrative.

Unlike Ralph, other boys see in Jack a source of strength that refreshingly lacks any nuance. To Jack, everything is about force and pleasure of exerting that force. Such a line of thinking aligns itself with the unfinished socialization of the boys and the stark absence of any civilization represented by Piggy, except one they make for themselves. Therefore, Golding is showcasing how easy it would be to let savagery become the new normal. The boys have weak defenses against Jack’s id, due to their young age, lack of experience, and forward-oriented thinking. This is why it was so easy for Jack to mold them according to his will, even Ralph, to some extent.

Once the id of other boys breaks through their undeveloped egos and superegos, the resulting carnage and the deaths of Piggy and Simon become inevitable.

Piggy’s failure

As a representation of the superego, Piggy strives to uphold civilizational standards. However, they can only be expressed through the ego, represented by Ralph. Serving as a guardian angel on Ralph’s soldier, Piggy tries to guide Ralph – ego - to be on the side of the moral good. Additionally, Piggy’s character serves as a conduit to the only adult character presence by invoking the wisdom of his aunt. Playing the role of an adult, Piggy tries his best to influence Ralph.

Rosenfield depicts this dynamic between Piggy and Ralph thusly, “Piggy’s role – as man’s reasoning faculties and as a father - derives some of its complexity from the fact that the fire which the children foster and guard on the mountain in the hope of communicating with the adult world is lighted with his glasses,”.

Unfortunately for Piggy, his drive to maintain moral standards leads him to clash with Jack, which results in his untimely death. In a clash between the drives of id (Jack) and superego (Piggy), there can only be one winner, according to William Golding’s interpretation of Freud’s specious work.

Likewise, when the good Simon tries to comfort Piggy by giving him food when he is exiled, he seals his fate. Both Piggy and Simon come to understand that the so-called beast is a state of mind present in all the boys. Although Simon acts as a religious mystic, he sees the world in darker terms. Simon has an intuitive understanding of humanity’s evil nature. At that point, however, Jack’s id activated other boys’ ids, reaching a critical mass of physical enforcement and conformity that no amount of reasoning could counter.

Failure of Ralph’s ego

Ralph, as the tribe’s natural leader, tries to maintain the balance between the id and the superego. He is concerned with the practical matters of organizing everyone, lighting up signal fires for rescue, and avoiding needless conflict for the greater good. Democratic in nature, Ralph tries to bring everyone together with debates and sound arguments. More importantly, Ralph tries to stave off Jack’s efforts at destabilizing the tribe. As an intermediary between the id and the superego (Piggy), Ralph, as ego, often finds himself between Jack’s influence and Simon’s moral compass. As such, he briefly falls under Jack’s sway be aiding him in killing Simon, but soon he rises to the superego side, dedicating himself to moral good.

Ralph is perhaps the most important character of the Lord of the Flies. While other characters are either cartoonishly evil or good, Ralph falls into the grey zone. Given the right circumstance, Ralph could become just as brutal as Jack, but he can also arise from that trap based on his own internal compass, influenced by Piggy and Simon as representatives of the good. Accordingly, Ralph embodies all aspects of Freud’s psychoanalysis theory – id, ego, superego, and the balance between the three.

Resources used:

Rosenfield, Claire, “Men of a Smaller Growth: A Psychological Analysis of William Goldingʹs Lord of the Flies

Golding, William (1997), “Lord of the Flies”