Division Of The Mind In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

In Lord of the Flies, Jack embodies the Id in Freud’s personality structures.The Id as Freud says, “operates according to the pleasure principle—it aims toward pleasurable

The superego is simply the conscious part of your mind. The conscious is the mentality of doing right or wrong; feeling guilt or remorse when making the wrong actions. According to Freud, it is based on morals and judgement about doing the right thing. Moral values are the reason for making a decision according to the superego. This is the ethical component of the person’s moral standards. Typically occurring in the first five years of a

Sigmund Freud created the structural model of personality that describes the id, ego, and superego parts of a person. Id is represented as the devil and based on the pleasure and benefiting themselves. Ego is the angel and devil together, where there is balance of good and bad. Lastly, superego is shown as the angel with good behavior and morals. In Golding’s book Lord of the Flies, he uses Jack, Ralph, and Piggy to represent Sigmund Freud’s theory of the three personalities: id, ego, and superego.

William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, showcases Sigmund Freud’s personality theory. This theory states that there are three major personalities that everyone can fit into. Three characters from Lord of the Flies: Jack, Ralph, and Piggy, fit into Freud’s personalities of id, ego, and superego respectively.

“Human nature is evil and goodness is caused by intentional activity” - Xunzi. Humans by nature have natural tendencies to evil however not everyone acts on those emotions.

Two philosophers of different eras tackle the same topic, human nature, and a great argument breaks out. Is man inherently evil, like William Golding believes? Or is man good at heart but inevitably becomes corrupted by the society he lives in, as said by Jean Jacques Rousseau? Both philosophers have very strong opinions and well reasoning for what they believe. Golding’s views are displayed well throughout his novel, Lord of the Flies; a tale about strong minded, young boys stranded on an island who must find a way to survive on their own. After reading this novel, I found myself agreeing much with Rousseau’s views on human nature.

In today’s society, there are still flaws in how people act under the influence of a collective mind. In Sigmund Freud’s “Le Bon’s Description of the Group Mind”, Freud explains how the collective mind, or mob mindset, is a mentality in which individuals receive when in a group. Similarly, in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a novel where a group of boys are stranded on an island after the crashing of their plane, this is present for Jack, an untamable vicious character, who is antagonizing the authority of the voted ruler Ralph. Throughout the novel, Jack shows progress in developing power over Ralph’s rule, this is symbolized by through the conch shell which is used to control the group. Along with the conch regulating the boys, Jack’s violence influences the overall behaviors of his followers, making them more murderous. According to Freud's “Le bon’s description of the group mind” and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack’s progression is influenced by his collective mind in the way that, he is rebellious, lacks self-control, and becomes a depraved power figure on the island.

One of the many theories Freud developed is the theory of the mind. His theory explains the drives and motives of the mind. Freud came up with the idea that the mind was made up of three major sectors that all portrayed different drives: the id, ego, and superego (Snowden 104). At birth, the id is the sole personality that is developed; it consists of sexual and aggressive urges. The main purpose of the id is to seek pleasure, which is whatever will satisfy a person in a

According to “Sigmund Freud’s Division of the Mind: Id, Ego, and Superego” by David B. Stevenson, Sigmund Freud’s personality theory is composed of the id, ego, and superego. Stevenson explains that the id holds desires and urges and that “it is ruled by the pleasure principle, demanding satisfaction now, regardless of circumstances and possible undesirable effects”. If the desires and urges of the id aren’t satisfied then the self will feel nervous or anxious. The ego fulfills the desires of the id in a socially acceptable method in the world. The superego bases decisions on moral values, based on what is right or wrong. Stevenson also mentions that “The superego uses guilt and self-reproach as its primary means of enforcement for...rules”. The ego and superego may reach the same decision on something however the ego bases

An internal conflict is defined as a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses. The struggle can be about the simplest of things, or it could even be about a more extensive and vexatious complication. In the book, the Lord of the Flies, author William Golding, wrote about a strange, but unique character named Simon. This character went through many tough experiences and conflicts between other characters, nature, and even himself. This is occured in Simon because man, is indeed, inherently evil and malicious. How the author structured this book was significant in a way that it strongly showed how Simon was behaving and acting. Golding used numerous examples of symbolism and sophisticated word choice to show that Simon’s internal struggle was about either becoming evil or staying peaceful.

“Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.”- Wallace Stevens. The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding provides a clear example of human nature which is developed and manipulated by the environment and experiences of the characters within the novel. The boys begin to lose sight of society's ways and turn to savagery, ultimately killing one another. Human nature is shaped by our environment and experiences according to a Swiss-born philosopher Rousseau, an article titled “Children Who Kill” by Katherine Ramsland, and the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding.

Many have looked at Freud's description of the human mind as something that describes people and the way of their behavior. Freud’s division of the human mind consists of three things: the ID, the Ego and the Superego. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, these Freudian concepts can be compared to the characters of Jack, Piggy, and Ralph. Jack fits into the concept of the Id that overpowers the Ego and Superego, as is seen in his violent urges, carrying out of killing things and the negative steps he takes in getting there. Piggy fits into the concept of the Superego, in the sense that Piggy is logical and follows the rules. And Ralph fits into the concept of the Ego, as he is caught between pleasing the Superego (Piggy) and the Id (Jack).

The area consists of all the internalized norms, values, and feelings that are taught in the socialization process. The superego brings the social pressures of reality to push upon the id. The superego exhibits society’s restraint on the id. When the id is saying, "I want that," the superego is saying, "Wait, slow down, think about this for a little bit. Is this right?" The superego acts as the mind’s conscience and responds to the social rules.

    In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud postulates that the chief source of conflict within the human psyche is between the id, ego, and superego. The id contains all of the primal urges of a person, such as rage, sex, or violence, and these drives are projected onto the ego, which is the source of rational thought. Hence, many of our conscious thoughts are affected by these urges. Since in a civilized society, many of these compulsions, such as the tendency towards violence and casual mating, are unacceptable, a mechanism is needed to keep these thoughts in check. The superego serves this function by restraining the ego, and it accomplishes this by reversing these primal drives

The first type of mind division, the id, "constantly strives to satisfy basic drives...[and] seeks immediate gratification"