Lord of the Flies Freudian

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Hnrs. Wld. Lit. 0 28 October 2012 What’s Inside’s Us, Drive’s Us Internal forces that determine how people act cause many of the conflicts that plague mankind. These forces are clearly expressed in English author, William Golding’s (1954) fictional novel, Lord of the Flies. Golding depicts a story about a group of civilized English boys that are stranded on a desolate island, faced with the fight against natures’ will to survive. Certain characters in the story develop specific and quite different roles of leadership that either lead to the prosperity or doom of the boys. In a uniquely coherent manner the characters’ roles portray the three Freudian forces, the id, ego, and super ego. The Freud theory holds a significant purpose as, “Freud developed the theory to explain competing forces with the human mind or psyche” (Ayres). The Freudian theory presents three internal forces that if kept in balance lead to a mentally stable lifestyle. The id represents the gratification of oneself and the raw force within us all. The id characterizes the physical expression that “…is hard to control and acts impulsively” (Ayres) correlating with emotion and aggression. The ego epitomizes “the conscious voice of reason” (Ayres) that struggles to maintain a socially adequate position while acting as a safety cushion between the id and super ego. The ego seeks the consent and approval to become more amiable to man. The super ego represents the innate force that preserves the “social, political, and religious rules and norms in an individual” (Ayres), and opposes the internally impulsive id. Moreover, the id intends to decimate all rules and order to gain power over others while the ego tries to maintain peace by controlling the impulsive id from beating on the defenseless super ego. The id represents hedonistic instinct that may cause many conflicts with the ego and super ego.
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