Frankenstein Essay
Larissa Oktay
Ms. Fitzgerald
Great Conversations
11/21/14
ID, Ego, and Superego According to Sigmund Freud, three different concepts, ID, ego, or superego describes a person’s personality and thought process. The concept of the ID is that one’s unconscious psychic energy is constantly striving to satisfy one’s basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress. The ID operates on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification. The concept of the ego is described as when one’s thought process operates on the reality principle. The ego seeks to gratify the ID’s impulses in realistic ways that will bring long-term pleasure. The concept of the superego is when a person, usually a child, begins to develop a moral compass (conscience). The superego focuses on how one should behave. It strives for perfection, judge’s actions, and produces positive feelings of pride, or negative feelings of guilt. Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein’s behaviors, for the most part, seem to be controlled by the ID, and occasionally driven by the superego. The Monster also seems to often be driven by his ID, however there was one prominent occasion where he was driven by his ego. When a person acts according to their ID, one could say they are “living in the moment.” When a person lives in the moment, they do not take into consideration the consequences of their actions. Both Frankenstein and his Monster act according to impulses, with no regards to how it will affect themselves or others. The best example in the entire novel of Frankenstein acting according to his ID was the initial creation of the Monster. He decided that he wanted to create life, so he did, without taking into consideration the consequences of playing with nature. An example of the Monster acting according to his ID is in the beginning of the novel, he acts according to achieve immediate satisfaction of his anger towards Frankenstein. The Monster was angry with Frankenstein for creating him and then
Ms. Fitzgerald
Great Conversations
11/21/14
ID, Ego, and Superego According to Sigmund Freud, three different concepts, ID, ego, or superego describes a person’s personality and thought process. The concept of the ID is that one’s unconscious psychic energy is constantly striving to satisfy one’s basic drives to survive, reproduce, and aggress. The ID operates on the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification. The concept of the ego is described as when one’s thought process operates on the reality principle. The ego seeks to gratify the ID’s impulses in realistic ways that will bring long-term pleasure. The concept of the superego is when a person, usually a child, begins to develop a moral compass (conscience). The superego focuses on how one should behave. It strives for perfection, judge’s actions, and produces positive feelings of pride, or negative feelings of guilt. Throughout the novel, Victor Frankenstein’s behaviors, for the most part, seem to be controlled by the ID, and occasionally driven by the superego. The Monster also seems to often be driven by his ID, however there was one prominent occasion where he was driven by his ego. When a person acts according to their ID, one could say they are “living in the moment.” When a person lives in the moment, they do not take into consideration the consequences of their actions. Both Frankenstein and his Monster act according to impulses, with no regards to how it will affect themselves or others. The best example in the entire novel of Frankenstein acting according to his ID was the initial creation of the Monster. He decided that he wanted to create life, so he did, without taking into consideration the consequences of playing with nature. An example of the Monster acting according to his ID is in the beginning of the novel, he acts according to achieve immediate satisfaction of his anger towards Frankenstein. The Monster was angry with Frankenstein for creating him and then