Superego In Regarding Henry

Within a person’s mind, there is the id and the super ego. They represent the “angel” and the “devil” on the shoulder. The id is the part of the conscience that contains the impulses of a person’s actions. The superego gives us morals and the ability to think through situations. In “Regarding Henry”, Henry shows both the id and the superego and how both can result in positive and negative consequences.
Henry, the main character of the film, is shot in the head and his life completely changes. Before the shooting, he is a respected lawyer and a questionable father. He shows how powerful the id is, thus showing the negative side of his personality. Early in the movie, he tries to apologize to his daughter, but then ends up making it about himself,

therefore, portraying the selfishness related to the ego. This is an example of the negative consequences of the id part of the brain. Henry naturally makes everything about himself due to his self-justifying thoughts. Another example of a negative action caused by the id is related to his job. As a lawyer, and a good one at that, he will do anything to win the case. In the Matthews v East Shore Hospital case, he lies about having evidence that would support the Matthews family. As you can tell in the movie, he doesn’t even realize the degree of his actions and the lie doesn’t faze him. The id can also be positive, like when he used his impulse to buy the puppy for his daughter after the shooting. As a matter of fact, he remembered that his daughter asked for a puppy out of all things after his incident. In addition to the id, the superego can also be positive and negative.
The superego is a person’s morality and values they keep close to them and follow. In the light of realizing how bad keeping the Matthews evidence was, Henry takes the evidence to the Matthews family near the end of the movie. Due to the personality shift Henry obtained, morally, he felt like he needed the family to know. This represents the positive side of the superego. In the same fashion, Henry shows his new morals by forgiving his wife. Before the incident, their marriage wasn’t holding, thus the wife cheated on Henry with Henry’s best friend. After Henry gained his new way of thinking, he was able to forgive her for what she did. Relating to the same situation, he doesn’t tell her about how he cheated on Linda from the office. By Henry not confessing as wall, the id sort of takes over on that decision. Showed by this confession, the id and the superego are interchangeable when making decisions.
The id and the superego are too complex to control. They involve and person’s impulses and moral, in order to make personal decisions. In addition to this, it means both of these “systems” can be positive and negative for Henry in the film, which is shown by the before and after of the incident.