Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies: id, ego and superego

The Id, Ego, and Superego in Lord of the Flies

Beneath the calm exterior of every person lies a constant raging battle that has the ability to consume a person. This battle is one of the mind, which is in constant conflict of itself. The three divisions of the mind, id; ego; and superego, is the reason behind the conflict. These divisions however are not structural parts of the brain but aspects of the way our mind thinks. Discovered by Sigmund Freud in the early 20th century, it is believed that three divisions are constantly battling for control of the mind, this is known as the dynamic model. Sigmund Freud's revolutionary ideas have set the standard for modern psychoanalysis that students of psychology can learn from, and his ideas spread from the field of medicine to daily living. Freud’s theories are clearly illustrated William Goldings’s novel Lord of the Flies, where control of a deserted island is fought over by three young boys, each representing a division of the mind. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Sigmund Freud’s theory of the personality, the id, ego and superego, are illustrated through the personalities of the characters in the story.

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In a normal mentally healthy person, the id, ego and superego can all work in a balanced way, however, if left to their own devices, they have the ability to destroy a person, such as with a few characters in Lord of the Flies. The parents will teach their child what is right and wrong and punish or reward them accordingly. They did this because they did not possess enough intelligence to do much of anything else. The superego is the moral compass so to speak and is developed in an individual by their interaction with society.

The superego is the part of the mind that seeks to control the impulsive behavior of the id. The individual will be rewarded with a sense of pride for a acceptable behavior while bad behavior will cause that individual guilt (Berry p. It will urge us to satisfy ourselves by whatever means necessary (Henningfeld p. This need to satisfy itself by whatever means is what makes the Id unfit for society.

The ego is the part of the mind