preview

Piggy's Allegories

Good Essays

Many stories have underlying messages woven throughout, known as allegories. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, many allegories are present, yet the dominant one by far is the allegory of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis believed that the personality was composed of three parts: the id, the superego, and the ego. All three parts of the personality are present within his book, represented in Golding’s characters. In this story, the allegory of psychoanalysis is represented by Jack as the id, Piggy as the superego, and Ralph as the ego.
In the story, the id, or the instinctual part of the personality, is represented by Jack. The id often comes into conflict with the superego, stated here: “Severe conflicts …show more content…

An example would be when he says, “’I’ll say, not because you’re strong, but because what’s right’s right. Give me my glasses, I’m going to say – you got to!’”(171). Piggy demonstrates the qualities of a superego here by reinforcing his morals and believing in always doing the right thing. To Piggy, it did not matter that it was his glasses, to him, it mattered that Jack returned what he stole, because it was wrong and he should have asked first. “The importance of the fire to rescue is often stressed, but the natural consequences of failure are voiced only by Piggy.” (Olsen 5). As the superego, it is only natural that Piggy would be the first one to notice and warn the others about consequences and failure, mentioning several times the importance of surviving and getting rescued (and the consequences of failure to do so.) Piggy’s natural ability to voice the possible consequences shows how he is very rational, stressing the need to survive and get home instead of wasting time on playing around. In conclusion, Piggy’s ability to act rationally and as a conscience proves that he represents the superego of the …show more content…

This is shown very often throughout the book, an example being: “You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig…’” (81). Here it is shown that Ralph chose Piggy’s suggestion over Jack’s. While the importance of both are implied, Ralph decided that the smoke should be a higher priority than hunting. This is similar to how the superego and the id both tell the ego to do things, but the ego makes the final decision over which to listen to. Another great example of this is when Piggy dies and Jack gains full control over the island. (181 – 200). Once the moral part of Ralph dies, the savage part of him has nothing to hold it back anymore and he losses himself. This is represented psychobilly as the id has nothing to fight against, causing the ego to lose balance as its only option is to listen to the id. In conclusion, Ralph’s excellent ability to balance differences of opinion and the clear effects of when one side of him rampages offers support of him representing the

Get Access