Jack : Id : : Ralph : Ego
by: Writer in the Dark
The id, ego, and super ego, are all directly
comparable to characters in William Goldings novel Lord of the Flies.
The most obvious comparison would be jack and the id. The id is completely driven
by pleasure instinct. Jack is motivated similarly. Throughout the book, Jack
only wants to hunt and play games, one of which ended up in the death of someone.
The id, if not restrained, would result in destruction and even self destruction
for the purpose of primal pleasure and instinct, particularly sexual instinct.
In Lord of the Flies, when Jack and his followers were stabbing the pig, it
was a reference to sex, in turn referencing Jack to the id through destruction
and sex.
Ralph compares to the ego, as he establishes order
right away and follows a logical plan of action. The ego restrains the id and
channels the desires from the id through logic. This is the same role Ralph
played in the novel. Ralph had to satisfy the wants and needs of the entire
group and maintain order; meanwhile, Jack was encouraging chaos. Ralph did this
very well; he established rules and kept the colony intact for a while. He kept
his sight on future goals, such as getting rescued. He insisted that the fire
be kept burning as a distress signal and that only the people with the conch
shell at meetings could speak. This kept order, as the ego is meant to.
Finally, Piggy is compared to the superego, looking
out for the best interests of the entire group, keeping everything equal. Piggy
was always very moral and conscientious throughout the novel. Ironically though,
in the novel, Piggy was not at all treated equally by Jack. Jack resented him.
This is a strange reversal of roles from the relationship between the id and
the superego. The superego is a control agent for the id, but Piggy did not
succeed in controlling Jack at all. Jack had power over Piggy to a great extent,
which would be expected in reality, but the id does not have power over the
superego or the ego, which was the major deciding element for the end of the
book.
In the human mind, the ego and superego both have
a good degree of control over the id, in order to keep it contained. Otherwise
it would cause way too much destruction and may lead to self-destruction. In
Lord of the Flies, however, Ralph and Piggy did not have enough control over
Jack to contain his destruction and eventually he took over the group and cause
extreme damage. This was the difference between the Freudian theory and the
novel. Had Piggy and Ralph had control over Jack as the ego and superego have
over the id, the novel would not have ended so tragically. If the superego and
the ego did not have proper control over the id, the human mind would destroy
itself and others, as Jack did when not controlled by Piggy and Ralph.