Lord Of The Flies Piggy Analysis

Psychoanalytic Criticism of Piggy
The ‘Superego’ of one’s conscience can otherwise be known as the manners and kind side of a personality. It is considered the opposite of the ‘Id’ which is the wild side that drives a man to do sorts of unspeakable things. Within William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, Piggy, is one of the only characters on the deserted island that appears to not contain his ‘Id’ side. Although, many moments in the text give us evidence that Piggy is very in touch with his Superego. Piggy can be pushed to his limits and still rarely shows any sort of aggression. Very early in their relationship Ralph tests Piggy and presses his numerous buttons, but even while getting made fun of for his name Piggy is still “pleased despite himself at even …show more content…
Easily his ‘Id’ side could have roared out of him but, even this early in the book readers begin to notice that he may not have that compulsive side. The characters in the book that do contain the ‘Id’ often are portrayed as fearless, but with Piggy it is a different story. Piggy never challenges his own personal boundaries even within the social setting of the island because he believes “if you’re scared of someone you hate them but you can’t stop thinking about them” and this very thought terrifies him (Golding 93). To the reader Piggy appears skittish at times and this is because he is fearful of practically everything around him and has too much Superego to access that bestial side and face his fears. As the text moves on readers see Piggy often depends on others, such as Ralph as his home base of protection and seems to never defend himself. While Ralph and Jack are fighting just below castle rock, letting their ‘Id’ take over, Piggy still is in search of for Ralph as protection. Ralph was supposed to guide him, but now that he is away Piggy “embrace[s] the rock, pressing himself to it” because he does not have any motive to propel