In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, one of the main characters, Jack, struggles to get along with Ralph, the leader of the group of boys on the island. Jack constantly challenges Ralph’s authority and only cares about hunting food for himself. Not only does Jack challenge Ralph’s authority, but he also decides to take the fire for himself without regarding anyone else. Rather than compromising with Ralph about who gets the fire, Jack takes it for himself. According to Freud’s Theory of Personality, Jack’s actions are motivated by his id as shown by his lack of caring about the rules and the other boys on the island. Jack constantly disobeys Ralph’s rules so he can go hunting to find food for himself. Instead of building shelter for all of the boys on the island, Jack insists on hunting to please himself and only himself. Jack also forms his own tribe in order to get away from all of Ralph’s rules and responsibilities. When Ralph tries to tell Jack to follow the rules, Jack responds by saying “Who cares about the rules?”. This shows that he doesn’t want anything to do with Ralph or any civilized rules that will interfere with his own agenda (Golding 91). Jack does not consider how upset Ralph gets when he doesn’t follow the rules, which makes …show more content…
If Jack utilized more of his ego or superego, assessing situations would be significantly easier for him and less harmful. Though his actions benefited himself, they provoke the suffering of many characters. Many of Jack’s actions were due to his lack of acknowledgment for others feelings and could have been averted if more compassion was displayed towards others and instead of himself. Although Jack's needs are relevant in some situations, it is equally as important to consider other people. Piggy, Ralph and the other boys on the island would have greatly benefited from Jack using less of his id and more of his ego or