Lord Of The Flies Ego Analysis

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Broken Innocence William Golding’s most famous novel, Lord of the Flies, explores mankind’s potential for evil. Lord of the Flies is about a group of english boys between the ages of 6 and 12 that got stranded on a once beautiful deserted island at the time of world war 3. The boys fight, experience death, and a fearful beast along the way. These once innocent children became uncivilized and heartless. Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality of the id, ego, and superego relate to the characters of Golding’s Lord of the Flies.
The Id is described as only component of personality that is present from birth, this aspect is unconscious and strives for immediate gratification for all wants and desires. If not given, the result is tension. This can also be described as the pleasure principle (Cherry). An example of the id in the Lord of the Flies is Jack, he is one of the many boys on the island and one of the main characters, he is ignorant and only thinks about himself. “‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp,’” (Golding 18) Jack is also the kid that cares …show more content…
The ego wants to support the Id, but in correct, social way. It will let the id sink in, but at the appropriate time and place, this is called “delayed gratification.” Mostly what the ego does is help the mind stay in control (Cherry). An example of Freud’s ego personality theory from Lord of the Flies is Ralph. He is the leader of the group and focuses on getting rescued, being mature and doing things the correct way. Ralph organizes fires in hopes of getting rescued one day, he builds shelters and hosts meetings to help the tribe stay together as one. No matter the situation, Ralph stays responsible. “I've been along. By myself I went, thinking whats what. I know what we need. An assembly to put things straight,” (Golding
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