Comparing Dostoevsky's The Ego And The Id

While writing The Ego and the Id in 1923, Sigmund Freud was influenced by the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, which led him to theorize that the human mind is composed of three parts: the id, ego, and superego. The id is the portion of the unconscious that is the source of impulsive and childlike drives. By seeking immediate gratification and pleasure, the id operates on the “pleasure principle” (McLeod). Opposite to the id, the superego is the “parent portion of the psyche,” which operates on what seems morally right in a scenario (McLeod). Finally, the ego is the mediator between the other two and attempts to strike a balance that appeases both the id and the superego. According to McLeod, Sigmund Freud first introduced the phenomenon of the unconscious in order to explain what happens when ideas are repressed (McLeod).
When the ego becomes overburdened by anxiety, it begins to employ “defense mechanisms” with the intent to protect the subconscious from any apprehension or angst (Freud, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense). The relationship that is created from the use of defense mechanisms is known as the “Iceberg Model” (Freud, The Ego and the Id). Building upon the defense mechanisms explored by both Sigmund Freud and Anna Freud, George Eman Vaillant created a “four-level classification of defense mechanisms,” which included pathological, immature, neurotic, and mature defenses, in respective order (Vaillant). Due to the lack of proper parental figures, the protagonists of Dostoevsky’s works fail to possess a mature superego, which leaves them to form their own perception of themselves through their ego ideal. The transformed ego ideal muddles the views of the conscience by creating an imbalanced psyche that is unable to employ mature defense mechanisms that are commonly seen in