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Superego In Lord Of The Flies

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Recommended: Freudian analysis of the lord of the flies

Dracen Macias
Martin
English 10
23 June 2023
Title

In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding wrote of the savagery within all human beings. The story tells of a group of boys stranded on an island, trying to make sense of their situation and survive. The boys go through their id, ego, and superego- all elements of consciousness, founded by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Lord of the Flies is clearly a Freudian allegory for the boy's descent into madness.

The superego, the most complex and highest level of consciousness, appears very little in Lord of the Flies. Piggy, the most sensible character in the novel, represents the superego. “I got this to say. You’re acting like a crowd of kids…Which is better- to be a pack of painted …show more content…

Many events in the beginning to middle of the novel show the boys have their sense of ego intact. “Roger stooped, picked up a stone, aimed, and threw it at Henry- threw it to miss…Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization…” (Golding 62). Roger, one of Jack’s tribe members and right hand man, is seen throwing rocks at a littlun. He picks up a rock and aims it right at Henry, but throws it to miss purposely. Roger still has a sense of right and wrong, only being on the island for a couple of days. His ego is still in control preventing him from harming a little one. The ego is a part of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind that keeps the Id in check. Any impulses the Id has, the ego prevents. Ralph is another example of the ego. “...events have simply supported Freud’s conclusions that no child is innocent. On a third level, Ralph is every man- or every child- and his body becomes the battleground where reason and instinct struggle, each to assert itself.” (Rosenfield) Ralph’s character shows a boy trying to discern right from wrong; a boy who struggles to do the right thing according to his ego, and a boy who does the necessary thing according to his Id. Roger and Ralph are perfect representations of Freud’s …show more content…

Golding’s characters each represent a different level of consciousness. While the reading of Lord of the Flies isn’t for those who require heavy substance- or to have their interest always peaked- it is a revolutionary piece of work everyone should read. William Golding’s writing has many pieces of symbolization and allegories; hence the topic of this essay, finding a Freudian allegory. William Golding wrote a novel with heavy themes of morality, consciousness, and psychology behind the minds of seemingly innocent

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The boys eventually descend from civilised people to savages because of the lack of adult authority on the island. At the beginning of the novel, the boys still adhere to the rules of civilisation because of their fear of punishment. When Maurice threw sand at Percival, he “still felt the unease of wrongdoing,” even though “there was no parent to let fall a heavy hand” (60). Even without an authority on the island, Maurice still felt like he could be held accountable for his actions, which is why he tried to make an excuse and “muttered something about a swim” (60).

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At the beginning of the novel, the boys try to establish a system of rules and order to maintain their society. However, as they become more desperate to survive, some of the boys begin to break these rules and resort to violence. For example, Jack becomes more and more focused on hunting and killing animals, which eventually leads to him becoming a violent and dangerous leader. In contrast, Ralph tries to maintain order and uphold the boys' moral code, even when it becomes difficult to do so. Overall, the novel demonstrates the difficult choices that characters must make when faced with the need for self-preservation versus the need to maintain their moral code.

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12 ego “…demonstrates that he too can be carried away by mad frenzy ” (81). This furtherreinforces the role of Ralph as a human fighting against the forces of good and evil, female andmale, and rule-utilitarianism and egoism. On the one hand, Ralph understands that followingrule-utilitarian principles keeps them in order and in line with the outside world, of which theyare no longer a part. On the other hand, hunting is “ jolly good fun ” (Golding 142). Thefrustrations of trying to get the group of boys to follow his orders become too much for Ralph to bear.

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As a result of undergoing rapid maturing as a safety response to a dire situation, Ralph can now fully process what he has experienced, emotionally. At first, he was carefree, but then he quickly began to become more concerned with the pressing matters of survival. Ralph had no time to step back and process what is going on but now he has the ability and the responsibility to deal with healing from the trauma and grief he has encountered in his survival. Ralph realizes what and who all has changed, sees that his perspective on reality has forever changed, and understands he, as well as the other boys, will never be the same, innocent, carefree boy he was when he first landed on the island; a thought that is utterly terrifying and

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