Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Criticism Theory What dominates your personality? Have you ever questioned what makes us behave the way that we do? In the 1900's Sigmund Freud developed the structural model of personality. In his well developed theory named Psychoanalytic Criticism, Sigmund Freud stated that there are three parts to our mind. Freud published two books that introduced the public to the unconscious mind. We are all born with our id. It is the part of the personality that contains our primitive impulses. The id is based on our pleasure principle and contains all of our basic wants and feelings. The second part of the personality is the ego. The ego maintains a balance between our id and superego. The job of the ego is to meet the desires of our is while still taking into consideration the true reality of the situation. The last part of our personality is the superego, which develops by the time that we are five. The superego is the part of our personality that represents our conscience. Freud concluded that the principled part of us develops due to the moral and ethical restraints that are placed by our parents. Every person's identity and personality contains an id, ego, and superego which are used every day. However, we are all dominated by our id, ego, and superego. This domination is a reflection of the environment that we are raised in. In William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, the young boys must survive alone on the island where their plane has landed. The boys must rely on their ids, egos, and superegos if they want to be rescued. Piggy knows right from wrong and always follows what his conscience tells him. Piggy's superego is a direct representation of the way he was raised at ... ... middle of paper ... ...go all have diverse functions that together create our personality. Our personality is similar to a movie. A movie needs all the scenes in order for it to flow and appeal to others. However, there is always a certain scene that dominates. Our personality is formed from three different parts that make us behave the way that we do. One part of our personality dominates the others. Piggy was dominated by his superego. He knew right from wrong and always followed his conscience. Piggy's superego caused conflicts on the island which could not be completely resolved. Our id, ego, and superego influence society. Piggy's personality and beliefs influence the other characters in the novel. Everyone has a different personality that consists of impulses, feelings, and conscience. Freud's theory has forever changed the way that we analyze others as well as ourselves.
In modern times television shows sometime play programs where someone goes out to the wilderness and tries to survive using their instincts. These instincts can be classified as theories of psychoanalysis which symbolize the Id, Ego, and SuperEgo. The show focuses on how much people are able to give up for survival, similar to eating food that you would normally not eat or acting in a way you would not in a normal situation . In Lord Of The Flies, Golding uses the Freudian Theory of the Id, Ego, and SuperEgo to make a second level of the story to deepen the meaning of the book as well as backing it up with the science of psychology to illustrate how the children in the island cannot control their emotions and regress from civilization.
In much the same way, Piggy's demeanor and very character links him to the superego, the conscience factor in Freud's model of the psyche. Golding marks Piggy with the distinction of being more intellectually mature than the others, branding him with a connection to a higher authority: the outside world. It is because the superego is dependent on outside support that Piggy fares the worst out of the three major characters in the isolation of the island. Piggy is described as being more socially compatible with adults, and carries himself with a sense of rationale and purpose that often serves as Ralph's moral compass in crisis; although Ralph initially uses the conch to call the others, it is Piggy who possesses the knowledge to blow it as a signal despite his inability to do so.
Piggy’s personality is superego, as he is very judgmental towards those who oppose his views. After Jack’s tribe steals Piggy’s glasses, Piggy attempts to reason with them and get his glasses back. During the altercation, Piggy’s temper escalates and yells at the tribe, “which is better – to be a pack of painted ******* like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is? (200). Piggy’s personality is heavily influenced by the superego aspect, as he judges everyone in Jack’s tribe. Piggy has a strong dislike towards Jack’s tribe because of how they have become savages. Piggy is Ralphs best friend and believes that getting rescued should be the priority. Nobody in Jack’s tribe shares the same views as Piggy, so Piggy judges them on their decisions. Jacks tribe is full of savages, and they are acting in a way that is not imaginable to Piggy. So due to Piggy's Superego personality, he judges them. Then, Simon acts appropriate in society, because of his Superego personality. Nearing the beginning most of the boys are playing with each other, and nobody seems focused on survival. While Ralph is building the shelters, he makes remarks to the other boys that, “Simon. He helps” (55). Simons personality is superego because, despite all the other boys playing and enjoy their time on the island, Simon is doing what needs to be done. The boys are on an island with no way to
Individuals with strong morals can overcome a mentally challenging situation or environment. In the novel The Lord of the Flies, Piggy was one of the two people on the island to keep
“Freud described the Ego as being like a rider on a horse (the Id), trying to hold the horse in check. It mediates between the Id and the outside world, in the sense of being aware both of the Id's energies and of what the outside world will allow. The Super Ego is a sort of conscience, the place where injunctions to behave properly, learned or inherited from people like parents, teachers and priests, reside. Freud says the person is the focal point of a struggle between our desires (Id), what is realistic (Ego), and the views of others (Super Ego).” David B. Stevenson of Brown University is responsible for this quote that gives a simplistic idea of the Freudian Division of the Human Mind. The description is fairly self-explanatory, but a better understanding of the three concepts can be made by thinking of Satan as the Id, Jesus as the Super Ego, and humans as the ego, caught between the two forces. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, these Freudian concepts can be applied to the characters of Jack, Piggy, Simon, and Ralph. Jack fits into the concept of the Id overpowering the Ego and Super Ego, as is seen in his violent urges and carrying out of killing things and the negative steps he takes in getting there. Piggy and Simon fit into the concept of the Super Ego, in the sense that Piggy is logical and proper in his actions, and Simon cares about other people and is empathetic and good-willed in his ways. Ralph fits into the concept of the Ego, as he is caught between the Super Ego (Piggy and Simon) and the Id (Jack). Ralph knows what is right and what is wrong, but at times he can be mean or not feel sorry for people. An in-depth analysis of how each character exemplifies each Freudian division is well deserved.
The id: something as simple as two letters, yet so transcendent and drastic; it causes unimaginable and disturbing actions by people. The id, along with the ego and superego are all part of a proposition known as the psychoanalytic theory constructed by Sigmund Freud. Lord of the Flies written by William Golding speculates that the ego has to deal with the inappropriate desires of the id, as well as the conscience, socially correct demands of the superego. Although the characters in this novel are indeed little boys, Golding portrays some of these characters as cold-blooded hunters and represents specific characters as the three parts of the psyche: the ego, superego, and the id. The evolution of their new identities acts as a defense mechanism freeing them from reality.
This topic is important because it talks why an individual acts good or evil. Adding on to that, the ego and id are included in this novella. The id is the aggressive side of a person. We could say the id is the bad side rather than the good one. A well-known man, named Sigmund Freud has been studying Ego, Superego, and id on an individual.
In order to complete this assignment one must look at too distinct characters. One is Piggy. Piggy represents the law and order of the adult world. He is the superego, the part of man’s personality, which attempts to act according to an absolute set of standards. Throughout the novel, Piggy attempts to condition the island society to mirror the society they all lived in when they were in England. Piggy’s continual references to his auntie demonstrate this philosophy. He tries to pull Ralph towards the reason-oriented side of human nature. The Other Character in the combination is Ralph. Ralph, a tall, blond, twelve-year-old boy, establishes himself as the leader of the boys when he blows the conch shell to call the first assembly. Throughout the story, he struggles to maintain order, forced to compete with Jack for respect.
Piggy was the one boy in the novel who has all the knowledge. Despite his asthma and obese problem, Piggy never failed to contribute his cerebral and intelligent ideas. He came up with all the ideas on how to survive and tried to keep the group organized and civilized. The glasses of Piggy symbolized his knowledge and smartness.
The ego struggle to keep the id happy. The ego meets with obstacles in the world. It occasionally with objects that actually assists it in attaining it goals. The ego keeps a record of the obstacles and aides. It also keeps a record of punishments and rewards administered out by the two must influential objects in the world of a child, its mom and dad. This record of things to avoid and strategies to take becomes the superego. As stated earlier the primary function of the id is to satisfy its immediate instincts, drive and urges it superego that links the mind to society and reality. As Freud (1960) states \"superego is however, not simply a residue of the earliest choices of the id; it also represents an energetic reaction formation against those choices\" (p.24).
This is evident by his wise words, “Life, is scientific, that’s what it is. In a year or two when the war’s over they’ll be traveling to Mars (...) frightened of people” (Golding 84). This shows that he is intelligent enough to apprehend that he can not let fear overcome his understanding of the reality of the world. His cleverness allowed him to come to conclusions that realistically makes sense but only he could grasp on to the idea because he was brighter than the others. Another example that highlights his maturity is when he quotes “Ralph -- remember what we came for. The fire. My specs” (Golding 177). This displays that no matter what the circumstances are, his focus is always important and he does not get distracted with silly disputes. Piggy’s intentions and objectives are pure and unselfish because every decision he makes is for the sake of their well-being. Fortunately, these altruistic characteristics of Piggy illustrated his position of The Superego and his powerful perspective in rough situations are greatly
The basis of this approach is that psychological factors play a major role in determining behaviour and shaping personality. Freud argued that personality is composed of three major systems the id, the ego, and the superego. The id (biological part of personality) is present at birth and consists of inherited instincts and all psychological energies. The id operates according to the pleasure principle, seeking to reduce tension, avoid pain and obtain pleasure. The ego (executive part of personality) is conscious part of the mind, the “real” us.
It is driven by the reality principle by attempting to rationalize the situation and acts accordingly in order to achieve satisfaction while doing it in a socially acceptable manner. The ego is ‘like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse’ (Freud, 1923). For example, while out at a restaurant Tom is thirsty but knew that the waiter would return to refill the water glass, so he waited until then to get a drink, even though he just really wanted to drink from Mrs. Smith’s glass. The super ego sits, omnipresent, at the top and acts as a moral compass for both the id and ego. McLeod (2008) states that the superego attempts to manage the urges of the id and convince the ego to think and act towards moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection. There are two aspects of the superego: the ego ideal and the conscience. The ego ideal is the general idea one has of how to behave to be classified as an upstanding member of society; it includes norms, rules and standards for good
The Id “knows no judgments of value: no good and evil, no morality (Freud, The Dissection of the Psychical Personality, 2004, p. 84).” This means that the Id is the part of the personality that is unorganized in the processes and only contains the instincts for biological needs for the person to live. Since the Id has no sense of morals, does not know good or evil, its main goal is to get the person whatever it needs by any means possible to thrive. The way to remember that the Id has no judgments of value is to think of it as a child. A child wines and cries until they receives food, drink or human touch. The child is so unruly that it needs somebody to control it and this would be the Ego. The Ego’s functions on the reality principle that means it keeps the Id under control by organization of the processes in the personality. The Ego is the mediator between the Id and superego which will be discussed later. Since the ego is considered a mediator it could be remembered as the brains of the operation. It keeps the Id under control by educating it and showing that if a need must be met there is a specific way to obtain it. Next is the Superego, Freud considered “the origin on conscience,” meaning that the Superego specific function is to act as the person’s conscience between good and evil (Freud, The Dissection of the Psychical Personality, 2004, p. 74). The Super ego balances out the Id
Freudian Theory suggests that every being is made up of three parts. Firstly, the id, our most primitive selves, contains our basic instinctual drives and acts to make ourselves happy. Secondly, the ego, which is based on the reality principle, is the mediator between the id and the super ego, and helps people determine what can realistically occur, taking into consideration the repercussions of every action. Finally, the super ego is an internalisation of authority, and is thought to originate from parental guidance as they are the first authority figure we are exposed to. Within a civilisation, this super ego restrains natural, Id desires and demands that we succumb to social pressures of what is right and wrong in society, and makse us feel guilty for even thinking about doing otherwise. The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, gives examples of all three of these parts of the human psyche. Through Caliban, Miranda and Prospero we can see examples of how the Super Ego restrains the basic instincts and drives, leading to unhappiness and malaise in civilisation.