Id Ego And Superego In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

The character Piggy in William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies serves as the intellectual balance to the emotional leaders of a group of shipwrecked British boys. Ironically, their new society values physical qualities over intellectual attributes whereas it is the rational actions that will lead to their survival. Piggy's actions and the reactions from his fellow survivors foreshadow his eventual death. Lord of the Flies is overflowing with creative

Golding’s Lord of the Flies takes the structural model of personality and uses it to represent Jack, Ralph, and Piggy in the novel. He uses them to show how they interact with each other in society. He wants the readers to understand that the id makes decisions and actions that feels good for themselves, and not for others. The superego wants to help out society, and follow good morals, but often gets overpowered and ignored by the id. Lasty, the ego is a balance of the two, and listens to both the superego and the

‘lord of the flies,'. In R. Matuz & C. Falk (Eds.), Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol.

     Piggy in the beginning of the book was using his common sense, he was intelligent, he knew what was right from wrong, and he could condone things that made him angry easily. In the beginning of the book, (pg. ) Ralph told everyone his name was Piggy even though Piggy specifically told Ralph that he didn't like to be called that name Piggy later condoned Ralph's action with great ease. Piggy's action's and behavior depended on his glasses. Piggy and his glasses symbolized intelligence, he represents the rational side of civilization. With the glasses it seemed as though Piggy made all the right choices, and he helped Ralph know what needed to be done with the tribe. Without his

Society tends to base one’s judgement on more of a physical build rather than an intellectual mindset. Piggy begins to be bullied to an extent that his glasses have been shattered by the other boys. Although everyone tends to bully his physicality, which is his lack of a good eyesight, what should matter more to the group is the insight he can provide. Even as seen in his final death scene, “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181), we see that the conch throughout the novel, has shown to represent pure government structure. And because Piggy and the conch were both destroyed, society turned into complete chaos. His death is not only symbolic of the end to civilization, but also the way he died was quick and almost meaningless. Piggy died protecting what he believed was right, and his death represents the intellectuals of society who are completely shunned by more dominant figures, which in this case is Ralph. He pursued what he believed was right, however, Jack’s group of boys

In the beginning of the Lord of the Flies we are introduced to two young boys, who have survived a tragic plane crash. The aircraft was an evacuation plane and it was transporting the group of boys out of England. One of the boys named Piggy is trying to catch up to the other boy, Ralph. Piggy is described as being very fat and shorter than Ralph. He wears “thick spectacles” (William Golding 7) and he is the first to determine that they are on an island. Piggy is also the one that knows how to use the conch shell and comes up with the use of it, which is to call everyone else to the beach. He believed the conch created order. Once the conch had been used we are introduced to more boys and they gain interest in Piggy’s glasses. They discover that Piggy’s glasses can start fires and they refer to them as “burning glasses” (Golding 40). The boys also rejoiced when they discovered that his glasses could create the fires. They proclaimed, “His specs - use them as burning glasses!” (Golding 38). The spectacles symbolize Piggy’s intelligence, which distinguished him from the others. Without the glasses Piggy would be blind and he would not know what to do. Although Piggy is portrayed as being physically weak and not having a great chance at survival, he is the only one that seemed to know a few survival skills. He is the one that created the fire, sundial and shelter. Without his glasses he would not be ‘intelligent’. His appearance and personality cause him to be shunned

Piggy’s glasses represented the theme “Loss of Identity” in the book. Piggy’s glasses defined who he was. It set him apart from all the other boys. Once Piggy’s glasses broke, he lost part of his identity. “Ralph made a step forward and Jack smacked Piggy's head. Piggy's glasses flew off and tinkled on the rocks. Piggy cried out in terror: "My specs!" . . . One sides broken” (54). A little later in the book, Jack and his group of hunters stole Piggy’s glasses. This symbolizes another piece of Piggy’s identity being lost. “From his left hand dangled Piggy's broken glasses” (131). After this happened, Ralph decided that he and the rest of the “sane” boys should march up to castle rock to get Piggy’s glasses back. This ended with Piggy dieing which symbolizes the complete loss of his identity. “High overhead, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever. . . The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. Piggy, saying nothing, with no time for even a grunt, traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went. The rock bounded twice and was lost in the forest. Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red.” (141). I think that it is very sad for Piggy to lose his identity throughout the book because

Piggy is one of the smartest boys on the island, however the other boys bully him and don’t take him seriously (or as a joke), this is due to his physical appearance He is fat, wears spectacles, has "ass-mar", is against fun and hunting, and almost irritatingly worthy. He's also a social outcast

From the moment the boys gather on the island, it is evident that Piggy is an outsider. He has glasses and is fat, and not to mention the fact that he as asthma. All of these physical disabilities set him apart immediately, and when he starts acting like a know-it-all, the group ostracizes him even more. Jack looks for any opportunity to stomp on Piggy’s pride. While lighting the very first fire while up on the mountain Golding writes, “I got the conch,” Piggy said indignantly.

Once his glasses break many of the actions made by the rest of the boys are unintelligent and show the true savages that boys can be with each other. In the book Piggy is like an adult figure that stops the boys from being such savages. When the boys are attempting to start a fire to cook food and stay warm, Ralph grabs his glasses and hold them up to the sun and it starts a campfire. Without Piggy’s intelligence the boys would probably have killed each other and if there were only a few boys left then it would be challenging for the military to find the boys. The military would see all the dead bodies and think there were no survivors from the plan crash.

Through the novel, Piggy is a parental figure, wanting peace, rules, and equality. Opposing Jack’s view of savagery. “‘Which is better - to make rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?’” (164) Piggy was exceptionally smart. He identified the conch, beginning the government rule. He was also the only one who knew how to use it. His spectacles expressed his intelligence, representing sight and knowledge. When his glasses are broken then stolen, it represents the loss of civilization, since Piggy is the only one who can still see the reason for civilization. “Seeing is Piggy's greatest attribute. It's the one reason the boys don't ostracize him completely; it's the one way he's useful. Without his glasses, he's useless—and the world he represents is useless, too” (Shmoop, 2014)

Piggy was a stout boy who was different from all the other boys on the island because he had asthma and wore glasses. The glasses throughout the story were used to start a fire, but also

The point of view of this novel works with the plot. And the writing style coupled with his contemptible outlook around the world. Also novel is written from the third person omniscient. And plot of Lord of the Flies is A group of public school boy are marooned on a jungle island with no adults after their plane is shot down in the middle of a war. Jack group starts hunting. Ralph group even killing people. And the growing hostility between them leads to a bloody and frightening climax. Jack is the character that co-exists with the main character. He is leader of the savage group. Ralph is definitely the novel main character. He is leader of the civilized group. Also Simon is a character who from the outset of the novel. The other children mistake him for “the beast” Simon is really good and kind person. The Superego in Lord of the Flies is definitely Piggy. Piggy have physical inferiority but he is smart and he believes in science. “Life..is scientific, that’s what it is. In a year or two when the war’s over they’ll be travelling to Mars and back. (5,105)

Laws? Or hunt and kill? When a plane of young students crashes on an island, they would have to figure out the situation among themselves, without parental supervision. Ideally, you should stick together. However, two groups form. One with Jack focusing on having fun and hunting. And the other with Ralph, focusing on shelter and collecting food. Showing the difference between savagery and civilization. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, clearly uses Freud’s personality theory that a person’s personality consists of three components: the id, ego, and superego. The main three characters that express Freud's theory are Jack, Piggy, and Ralph. Jack represents the Id because of his focus on pleasing his desires, Ralph symbolizes the Ego through his strong leadership and decision making, and Piggy performs as the superego because he acts on what is morally right.

Piggy is a boy in the story who is the smartest in the group, but his heavyweight and asthma prevent the boys from respecting him because he is seen as weak. However, the boys in the story are able to respect his glasses, because they are seen as a sign of intellect and as a way to make fire. The glasses become crucial to the survival of the children.