THE PERSONIFICATION OF THE ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO IN LORD OF THE FLIES

Sigmund Freud claims “A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes, but to get into accord with them; they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world” (Davidson) Truth is, most have experienced an internal conflict between what feels like different personas contained in every human. This constant struggle may very well be what makes humans, human. Sigmund Freud attempted to contextualize these personas with his famous psychoanalytic theory He did this by splitting the human psyche into three parts: the superego, ego, and id Within his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding creates an elegant yet chaotic world to display this very nature of the human psyche. Golding’s work includes skillful representations of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory through his principal characters, where Piggy portrays the superego, Ralph portrays the ego, and Jack, the dark and sometimes savage id

Through Piggy’s civilized behavior and actions, Golding presents the superego Psychology Professor Saul Mcleod describes, “The superego is a part of the unconscious that is the voice of conscience (doing what is right).” The superego is what drives people to follow the moral compass. So regardless of logic, the superego will always aim to do the “right” thing. An analysis of Lord of the Flies claims, “Piggy serves the role of superego either by continuously struggling to impose the rules or limiting the instinctive cravings of callousness and dominance over others” (Qadir et al 10) From the beginning, Piggy continuously attempts to maintain order by guiding the other kids on the island. Piggy complains, “Cos the smoke's a signal and we can't be rescued if we don't have a smoke” (Golding 173). Piggy clearly shows his concern for everyone and like a proper representation of the superego, he decides to take action based on the effects the smoke has on the group At one point, the boys accidentally cause a forest fire and react to it by giggling in excitement. Piggy, however, loses his temper at this behavior and challenges his peers: "How can you expect to be rescued if you don't put first things first and act proper?" (Golding 55). Piggy illustrates his prioritization of the “rules,” which are meant to keep order within the group; yet, they do not necessarily take care of Piggy himself