Cause and Effect: People Don’t Change, Things Change People When considering the circumstances of William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, it is presumable that one’s actions and thought process may revert to a) relying on natural instinct, meanwhile others may hold on to definitive organization, or rely on basic sensibility in order to survive. These strategies are exemplified in each department of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality, having emphasized influence in id, ego, or superego, and the characters of Lord of the Flies clearly have their own (albeit subconscious) predisposition to one. We see this in the aftermath of their fluctuating societal situation. Because of the unstable governing, rivaling alphas, Ralph and Jack, have adjusted their judgement and behaviors according to their roles and nature, and have developed quite
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However his inferiority complex left him unsatisfied, threatened, seen as “Suddenly Jack shouted in rage, ‘Are you accusing—?’”, so he was compelled to go unruly when reprimanded (Golding 51). His actions are quick—a sign of influence from the id, however once he overthrows Ralph, he becomes more planned in his executions, giving distinct orders rather than acting out himself. When Jack did not have the right to command, he could not use his ego to direct his desires, and resorted to his id to harness this pleasure (of power) and enact his aggression and resentment toward Ralph. But as rogue chief, he is now able to demonstrate his ego, “‘Tomorrow,’ went on the chief, ‘we shall hunt again’” (Golding 160). It is also clear that his superego is virtually nonexistent—he doesn’t consider the greater good, and is willing to abandon all principles to enforce his personal intuition; the id feeds the monstrous engorged
However his inferiority complex left him unsatisfied, threatened, seen as “Suddenly Jack shouted in rage, ‘Are you accusing—?’”, so he was compelled to go unruly when reprimanded (Golding 51). His actions are quick—a sign of influence from the id, however once he overthrows Ralph, he becomes more planned in his executions, giving distinct orders rather than acting out himself. When Jack did not have the right to command, he could not use his ego to direct his desires, and resorted to his id to harness this pleasure (of power) and enact his aggression and resentment toward Ralph. But as rogue chief, he is now able to demonstrate his ego, “‘Tomorrow,’ went on the chief, ‘we shall hunt again’” (Golding 160). It is also clear that his superego is virtually nonexistent—he doesn’t consider the greater good, and is willing to abandon all principles to enforce his personal intuition; the id feeds the monstrous engorged