In 1923, a man by the name of Sigmund Freud forged the concept that the human psyche had multiple parts or layers, three to be exact. In the Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses psychological allegory to illustrate that people who are exposed to a society with no structure have their true human psyche comes out. This comes in these three forms: Id, Superego, and Ego. In Lord of the Flies, after the group of boys had been stranded on the island for a number of days, certain boys’ true personalities were revealed. One of these boys whose inner psyche is shown is the runt of the litter, Piggy. The element of his personality that is most prominent is the superego. After the boys had been trapped on the island for a while they begin to slack
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Ego is the aspect of the psychological personality that keeps the psyche in check between the unrealistic id and what is realistic. Ralph’s ego is very notable throughout this novel because he balances his id and superego well. At one point Ralph replies to someone “‘This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll have fun.’”(27). From what he says, Ralph is able to incorporate some fun whilst them having to wait for someone to rescue them. Having ego be the psychological aspect that enables him to compromise with his id and discover a fitter way to behave. Also, Ralph is said to be “genuinely interested” for the “welfare of the entire group”; he also gets “along with all kinds of people”(Telgen). Ralph is able to care for everyone in the group and enjoy them all because having ego be his most prominent element allows him to think clearly and keep himself in check from doing something drastic as Jack constantly does. Ego can be considered the best psyche to have in the situation that the boys are in because it considers social realities to make decisions despite there being a lack of a societal structure. These three aspects of the human’s psychological personality keep each other in check. This is true for most people who live in an average functioning society, but when you remove a person from their normal surroundings, and remove the consistency from the life they are custom to living;
Ego is the aspect of the psychological personality that keeps the psyche in check between the unrealistic id and what is realistic. Ralph’s ego is very notable throughout this novel because he balances his id and superego well. At one point Ralph replies to someone “‘This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come to fetch us we’ll have fun.’”(27). From what he says, Ralph is able to incorporate some fun whilst them having to wait for someone to rescue them. Having ego be the psychological aspect that enables him to compromise with his id and discover a fitter way to behave. Also, Ralph is said to be “genuinely interested” for the “welfare of the entire group”; he also gets “along with all kinds of people”(Telgen). Ralph is able to care for everyone in the group and enjoy them all because having ego be his most prominent element allows him to think clearly and keep himself in check from doing something drastic as Jack constantly does. Ego can be considered the best psyche to have in the situation that the boys are in because it considers social realities to make decisions despite there being a lack of a societal structure. These three aspects of the human’s psychological personality keep each other in check. This is true for most people who live in an average functioning society, but when you remove a person from their normal surroundings, and remove the consistency from the life they are custom to living;