Psychoanalytic Theory: Lord Of The Flies
Jahdiel Gerena
English II Honors
Ms. Cutkomp
Period G
March 3rd, 2016 The association of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: Id, Ego, Superego and the Lord of the Flies
The story Lord of the Flies is a masterfully crafted novel that revolves around the concept of original sin and inherent evil. The story occurs during an unnamed time of war. A plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted on an uninhabited island, where they are alone without adult supervision. A psychological theory that helps to explain important and significant events within the novel is Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: Id, Ego, Superego. …show more content…
The basic foundation that helps to associate the Lord of the Flies with Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory is the idea that characters either control/give in to savage impulses or characters manage to persuade logic to turn to realistic and morally just ways of acting on life’s most challenging setbacks. The superego is a concept that builds upon the ego and bases its reasoning on moralistic philosophy. When one has the personality trait of the Superego they incorporate values and ideas of a society that are learned from one's parents. A person with high emotional intelligence, and conveys character traits that can be associated with the superego can be shown as more “socially advanced” when compared to the ego and id. In Lord of the Flies, the component of the superego is best embodied in the character, Simon. The author was extremely successful in conveying the character Simon as one who thinks very deeply about social conflicts and as one who is utilitarian in nature. The author uses Simon to convey a moralistic side to humanity and how a society filled with chaos ignores morals and feeds off of hard “truths”. One interesting quote that backs up my reason is when Piggy argues that there is no sense in climbing the mountain to the "beast" when Ralph and the others could do nothing, Simon says, “ ‘What else is there to do?’ ”(Golding 141 ). This simple question by Simon suggests that the boys must be in control of their own destinies and not allow the forces from without and within to control them. Also, this again is an example of Simon's attempts to be supportive. Another significant point of reference that justifies the claim that the superego can dictate character actions and also further helps strengthen the claim that Simon possesses ego is when the author states: “The Superego incorporates the values and morals of society that are learned from one’s parents and others.
English II Honors
Ms. Cutkomp
Period G
March 3rd, 2016 The association of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: Id, Ego, Superego and the Lord of the Flies
The story Lord of the Flies is a masterfully crafted novel that revolves around the concept of original sin and inherent evil. The story occurs during an unnamed time of war. A plane carrying a group of British schoolboys is shot down over the Pacific. The pilot of the plane is killed, but many of the boys survive the crash and find themselves deserted on an uninhabited island, where they are alone without adult supervision. A psychological theory that helps to explain important and significant events within the novel is Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory: Id, Ego, Superego. …show more content…
The basic foundation that helps to associate the Lord of the Flies with Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory is the idea that characters either control/give in to savage impulses or characters manage to persuade logic to turn to realistic and morally just ways of acting on life’s most challenging setbacks. The superego is a concept that builds upon the ego and bases its reasoning on moralistic philosophy. When one has the personality trait of the Superego they incorporate values and ideas of a society that are learned from one's parents. A person with high emotional intelligence, and conveys character traits that can be associated with the superego can be shown as more “socially advanced” when compared to the ego and id. In Lord of the Flies, the component of the superego is best embodied in the character, Simon. The author was extremely successful in conveying the character Simon as one who thinks very deeply about social conflicts and as one who is utilitarian in nature. The author uses Simon to convey a moralistic side to humanity and how a society filled with chaos ignores morals and feeds off of hard “truths”. One interesting quote that backs up my reason is when Piggy argues that there is no sense in climbing the mountain to the "beast" when Ralph and the others could do nothing, Simon says, “ ‘What else is there to do?’ ”(Golding 141 ). This simple question by Simon suggests that the boys must be in control of their own destinies and not allow the forces from without and within to control them. Also, this again is an example of Simon's attempts to be supportive. Another significant point of reference that justifies the claim that the superego can dictate character actions and also further helps strengthen the claim that Simon possesses ego is when the author states: “The Superego incorporates the values and morals of society that are learned from one’s parents and others.