Comparing Golding And Lord Of The Flies

Many authors use Freud’s theories as a basis for character construction. William Golding and George R. R. Martin are two such authors. Golding’s Lord of the Flies is about a group of British schoolboys who get stranded on a desert island and gradually descend into savagery. Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire follows the power struggles of the many noble houses of Westeros. A Song of Ice and Fire and Lord of the Flies both employ Freudian psychoanalytic theory in the development of several of their characters to demonstrate similarly pessimistic views on the nature of man. Golding uses the characters of Piggy, Ralph and Jack as the Superego, Ego and Id to demonstrate the darkness of man, while Martin’s subtler use of Freud’s concepts

Piggy, first presented as a singularly weak figure, is the voice of reason throughout the book, and progressively becomes weaker as others cease to listen to him until his demise. As Ralph observes, “There had grown up tacitly among the biguns that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labor” (Golding 65). Piggy, as a chubby asthmatic boy with glasses, is viewed by the other boys as a figure not worth their respect, even though most of what he says is reasonable. One source explains the way in which Piggy “relies too heavily on the power of social convention. He believes that holding the conch gives him the right to be heard. He believes that upholding social conventions gets results” (Character Analysis: Piggy). Eddard (Ned) Stark, by contrast, is first introduced to the reader in a display of disciplinary strength, executing a deserter. He too loses power, as he his thrust into foreign situations he is not equipped to manage, and dies as a direct result of his honorable conduct. In a meeting of the small council, when the council members discuss a tourney requested by the king, Ned asserts that he must speak with the king as the event “is an extravagance the realm cannot afford,” to which another council member replies, “Speak to him

Ralph is initially firmly in control as the leader of the boys, but the power dynamic shifts away from his calm leadership. Jack’s primal approach gains popularity the longer the boys are isolated from society, and Ralph is not entirely above it. After the boys break into two camps, and Jack’s tribe has the hunting dance, Ralph responds to Piggy’s assertion that they were scared by saying, “I wasn’t scared…I was---I don’t know what I was” (Golding 156). Ralph feels immense guilt and confusion over his involvement in Simon’s death, not wanting to admit that he was entirely at fault, but knowing that his actions were not out of his hands when he participated. “As order and rules go by the wayside, so does the order within Ralph's own head. He can remember that he wants a signal fire, but he can't remember why.” (Shmoop Editorial Team). This source describes the way in which Ralph is affected by the time spent away from his home’s societal structure. Not even Ralph is impervious to the deterioration of social order on the island, even though he is, aside from Piggy, the most rational character in the text. Jon Snow gains a solid position within the Night’s Watch, and values his duty above all else, but when he is ordered to break the oath of the Watch he is forced to compromise his honor. When Jon joins the Wildlings as part of his