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... e reality principle and satisfies the urges of the Id in a reasonable manner or suppresses them. Another quote from David B. Stevenson, it describes the role of the Ego. The reality principle simply means an understanding of what is allowed by society and is realistically possible. To satisfy an urge in a reasonable manner is to, for instance, in the desire of meat, catching a fish or a crab instead of brutally murdering a mother pig.
The more Super Ego side of the Ego can be seen when Ralph says, You pinched Piggy's specs. Youve got to give them back You played a dirty trick-wed have given you fire if youd asked for it You could have had fire whenever you wanted. But you didnt. You came sneaking up like a thief and stole Piggy's glasses (page 176)! Ralph understands that stealing is wrong and demands that Jack return Piggy's glasses so that he can see, two very righteous things indeed. One could consider Ralph a Super Ego, but he has his Id-like moments like all other Ego-driven people.
This is seen not only when Ralph insults Piggy when he mentions his asthma by saying Sucks to your ass-mar (page 13), but he betrays Piggy's trust by telling the other children of the island, against his wishes, Hes not Fatty, his real names Piggy (page 21)! Piggy, after telling Ralph that Piggy was the nickname given to him by people back home, asked Ralph not to tell anybody else. Ralph telling others of the nickname was wrong and did not bring Piggy's feelings into consideration. The Ego is the Freudian Division of the Human Mind that is caught between the crossfire of the Super Ego and the Id.
Aside from using characters to personify the Freudian Concept of the Human Mind, William Golding attempted to say things about the human psyche through events in the novel Lord of the Flies. Throughout the novel, it is shown that the Id is constantly trying to overpower the Ego and the Super Ego. After Simon stumbled out of the forest, The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill.
The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws (page 153). The beast was obviously Simon (the Super Ego) and the crowd of boys who murdered him were at the time attending a gathering headed by Jack (the Id). The Id had overpowered the Super Ego. Another incident similar to this was when Roger (working for Jack) killed Piggy by rolling a boulder down the side of the rock they were perched atop.
The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee[he] traveled through the air sideways from the rock, turning over as he went Piggy fell forty feet and landed on the square red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy's arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pigs after it has been killed (page 181). Again the Id (Jack) has defeated the Super Ego (Piggy). Theyre going to hunt you tomorrow (page 188).
These are the words of Sam and Eric, informing Ralph of Jacks plans with him. The next day Jack and his tribe actually fulfilled that goal, armed with spears, an island set completely on fire, and a stick sharpened at both ends. If a naval cruiser had not arrived to rescue the castaways, Jack (the Id) would have killed Ralph (the Ego), completing the Ids destruction of the other two Freudian Divisions of the Human Mind, the Ego and the Super Ego. By having the Id being the supreme ruler of the island in Lord of the Flies, Golding was trying to say that humans are truly evil people and without any parental or higher influence they will destroy themselves by destroying the Ego and the Super Ego, leaving only the primal mindset of the Id. In conclusion, the human mind can be broken into three parts, the Id, the Ego, and the Super Ego (this idea is the Freudian Concept of the Human Mind). The Id is the pot of primal desires, the Ego is the tamer of the Id, but keeps the Super Ego in consideration, and the Super Ego is the list of values, what is acceptable by society, and what has been learned by parental figures.
Characters from William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies can fit into this Freudian concept of the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. Jack embodies the Id with his violent urges to kill, Piggy and Simon embody the Super Ego with their logic and emotional understanding, and Ralph embodies the Ego, caught between the Id and the Super Ego, the bad and the good. In our society, the majority of people are dominated by their Ego; they understand what is right and wrong, but fail to completely understand emotions. This statement can be proven as easily as tuning a television set to CNN.
On the news, one will see the extreme best of people (the Super Ego) in bits on Mother Teresa or organ donors, or the extreme worst (the Id) in bits on international terrorism or gang wars. One will rarely see bits on everyday people as they are run by their Egos and are quite common. People who are Ego-based hardly ever do anything extreme or severe, so are not worth reporting on national news. The society of the island in the Lord of the Flies was Id-run and ended in a short period of time, while ours is Ego-run and has lasted thousands and thousands of years, so according to this chart, theres no telling what a Super Ego-run society would be like, though no doubt much better than the other two. There is much to be learned from the now-debunked Freudian Concept of the Human Mind and Golding's application of the concept to his novels characters and the microcosm in which they reside.
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Research essay sample on Lord Of The Flies Super Ego
