Ralph's Mind In Lord Of The Flies

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The mysteries of man’s mind is complex enough research for years and never understand, and yet it is simple enough for someone to summarize it in a fictional story. In Lord of the Flies, Golding displays the ideas, simplicity, and complexities of the mind. Golding conveys the message that darkness tempts man 's heart by symbolically relating every character to a part of the mind. The story follows along with Freud’s theory of the conscious, unconscious, and subconscious mind. The main character, Ralph, is in fact the only boy who is trapped on the island. All of the other boys are simply representations of Ralph’s mind. These characters are Ralph’s Id, Ego, and Superego. Ralph is the main character in Lord of the Flies, and he is …show more content…

Secondly is Sam, Eric, and the littluns. The younger children on the island represent the Ego. They are innocent, childish, carefree, and they are easy to convince. Children tend to follow the voice of whatever seems to benefit them the most. They are too young to understand reason or logic; however, they do understand emotion. Since the littluns of the island are also fighting to survive without realizing it, it is easy for Jack to convince them to come to his side. After the split, that is what many of the children did. The Ego is the part of the mind that is between the Id and the Superego. The Ego must chose a side, whichever is most convincing. In the case of the island boys, Jack 's savagery is more convincing than Ralph 's logic. The littluns show how easy it is to fall victim to “the darkness of man 's heart” (Golding 202). Ralph is still a child himself. Slowly, the primitive side of him is becoming more predominant than the rest of him. However, there is a different side of it. Sam and Eric remain loyal to Ralph until the very end. They are the innocence that falls to experiences, but they are still the Ego. Sam and Eric do not get overcome with savagery, but fear. They fear their lives could be taken from them. In this sense, they are the part of Ralph that tells him if he does not give into his primitiveness, he …show more content…

Next is Piggy, who is also a representation of the Superego. Unlike Simon, Piggy represents logic and reason. It is almost as if Piggy is the left side of the brain, and Simon is the right. Whenever something needs to be done, it is always Piggy 's voice that comes through. Again, the Superego is typically rejected by the rest, especially by the Id. Ralph attempts to push away logic and reasoning for the sake of primitive survival; however, Piggy lasts much longer than Simon. Ralph follows his inner voice, and his voice of reason. This is typically portrayed by Piggy, and his ideas. This is evident by the fact Piggy is the first person who speaks in the novel. Not only does he represent the Superego, but he also represents insecurities and intrusive thoughts. Piggy is the only one on the island who is extremely physically weak. He is overweight, and he has asthma. He may be the voice of reason, but his voice often falls upon deaf ears. He must say something extravagant to get anyone 's