The Id, Ego, And Superego In Siddhartha

Sigmund Freud was a trailblazer for modern day psychology, who modified his theories over a period of nearly half a century. He believed that the human mind was like an iceberg, saying “the conscious mind was like the tip of an iceberg and the unconscious was mysteries and hidden” (Rana 2). Freud conceptualized three separate but interactive psychic parts; the Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id is the source of drives, including biological drives such as sex; Ego regulates the conscious mind’s rational decision making process; and superego restricts the flow of unwieldy drives upon the conscious mind. Hermann Hesse’s book, Siddhartha follows the main character Siddhartha on his journey to gain spiritual knowledge. After he loses interest of living
He is at a point where he lives to other people’s morals and lives to please all those around him. This can be considered his “ego” point in the book. Because he is participating in all the holy sacrifices that the people he lives with consider to be right. Siddhartha also participates in discussions with the adult Bgrahman and meditation. All three of the previously stated things are what are considered morally right by his people, and all the things he does are done to live to their standards which he has surpassed many times. This shows us his “superego” because in theory, the superego is “responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed.”(Mcleud 2). After living up to everyone’s standards for so long Siddhartha began too look for more, and could not find it, ultimately connecting with the first truth: the truth of suffering; which in short terms is “not getting what you want can be stressful.” Siddhartha soon leaves his village and goes to look for more in life, because his people can no longer offer him anything. Leaving his home could be a direct cause of the stress of not getting what he wants, which in this case was
For example, he lived with the Samanas for three years in hope of something greater, but could never find it. In the book it also goes into further detail and shows how Siddhartha could never truly find enlightenment with the Samana. “Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas; he learned many ways of losing the Self. He traveled along the path of self-denial through pain, through voluntary suffering and conquering of pain, through hunger, thirst and fatigue. He traveled the way of self-denial through meditation, through the emptying of the mind through all images. Along these and other paths did he learn to travel. He lost his Self a thousand times and for days on end he dwelt in non-being. But although the paths took him away from Self, in the end they always led back to it.” (42) He also met Buddha who attempted to teach him the four noble truths as well as the eight fold path, but once again Siddhartha could not join Buddha mainly because “Enlightenment is something a man must do alone,” (28) which he attempts to do when he meets a world much different than what he’s used to. This world is materialistic world where money talks and supposedly will make you more happy. He also meets his future wife. All of the money, sex, and alcohol push him away from his Samana like-qualities and his spiritual journey. This is the second noble truth “The Truth of the Cause of Suffering”, where we