The Central Message in Lord of the Flies

How does the Id, Ego, and the Super-Ego of the human mind affect a society of people? This is the central message and question that is addressed in the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. According to the Freudian Theory the human mind is separated into three different parts, the Id, the Ego, and the Super-Ego. The Id part of the human mind is the area that gives into the indulgences of the person and doesn't think very logically. On the other hand, the Super-Ego is the extremely logical and knowledgeable side of the person. A combination of the Super-Ego and the Id results in the Ego, the part of the human mind that is basically a balance of the Id and Super-Ego. These different parts of the mind can affect a society of people in different ways. Each character in Lord of the Flies represents one of these specific parts of the human mind. The three major characters who do this are Piggy, Ralph, and Jack. Piggy represents the Super-Ego, Ralph represents the Ego, and Jack represents the Id. By viewing the characters' thoughts and actions in Lord of the Flies, it is apparent that the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego can create harmony and/or destruction in a society of people.

Upon the intro of Lord of the Flies, it is clear that Piggy is the Super-Ego. When Piggy and Ralph locate a conch Piggy says, "We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us-" (16). Piggy is stating that by blowing the conch, the other children lost on the island will come. This quote clearly shows his knowledge and cleverness. However, some people on the island do not find Piggy's knowledge valuable, they begin to severely dislike him and find him rather annoying. Jack is one of these people and he shows it throughout the novel by calling Piggy names and frequently telling him to shut up. Piggy's cleverness only gets him an enemy in Jack. Ralph is another person who finds Piggy's knowledge irritating. However, Ralph isn't as aggressive as Jack is, and simply chooses to ignore Piggy's suggestions and helpful remarks. He acts as if Piggy's suggestions don't matter since Ralph wants to seem chiefly and intelligent by himself. At first, everyone on the island listens to Piggy's helpful suggestions and uses them. This results in some degree of harmony and well-being on the island, though the tension between Jack and Piggy is apparent. Everything seems to be okay on the surface, but as the novel progresses on everyone begins to dislike Piggy more and more, until the only friend Piggy has left is Ralph.

Jack is a major contributor to the destruction on the island. He only wants power and to do what he wants to do. In the beginning of the novel when everyone is electing chief, Jack brags about how great he is, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." (22), attempting to convince everyone that he is the right boy for the job of chief. Jack doesn't even stop to think about all the things he'll have to do as chief, and automatically responds to his power-hungry Id. Frequent lashing-outs at Piggy also display Jack's Id and how he doesn't want anyone to overcome his knowledge. Probably the best representation of Jack's Id is his desire for hunting the pigs on the island. He throws his duties aside, which was mainly to keep the fire on the island lit, and goes off hunting with a group of boys. When he returns from his hunting expedition he and his companions go on and on about the bloody carnage of the pig, Jack exclaims "You should have seen the blood!" (70) Ralph is not pleased by Jack's behavior at all. In fact he is infuriated and lashes out at Jack for not keeping the fire lit and doing his job. This is the start of the rift between Jack and Ralph. The hatred between the two eventually grows so big that Jack goes off to create his own group where he can dominate and be chief. Even as the children from Ralph's group begin to leave for Jack's one by one, Jack is still not satisfied. Jack knows that to be the only powerful person on the island he will have to do the ultimate destructive thing on the island, eliminate Ralph. Even though he does not succeed in killing Ralph, he succeeds in wreaking some havoc by alienating Ralph from the group.

Ralph is an excellent representation of the Ego. He represents the Ego since he is the one who is most balanced by his Id and Super-Ego throughout the novel and doesn't let either side dominate him. He thinks logically, however he does give in to minor indulgences, such as joining in to make fun of Piggy. When Piggy first tells Ralph that people used to make fun of him and gave him the nickname "Piggy", he makes Ralph promise him that he won't tell anyone his nickname, so that everyone would call him by his proper name, not Piggy. When Jack calls Piggy, "Fatty" Ralph can't help but join in the fun and tell everyone the cruel nickname, "his real name's Piggy!" (21) Ralph gave in to the feeling of being included, but he realizes what he has done is wrong when Piggy comes up to him and reminds Ralph that he had promised not to tell anyone his nickname. Since Ralph's mind is so balanced, he is clearly a great candidate for the job as chief. He gives everyone assignments to keep the island in harmony and peace, but yet people like Jack, begin to find Ralph rather controlling. Desperate to maintain his power, Ralph stands strong when Jack goes off to make his own group, but he begins to doubt himself and can't help but want to go over to Jack's side once he is completely alienated from the group. Piggy also helped to balance Ralph's mind as he provided him with comfort and knowledge when he was confused and alone, but once Piggy is killed, Ralph loses that comfort and loses the balance in his mind. Jack's Id has finally succeeded in breaking down Ralph and making him feel alienated. Ralph struggles to keep his Ego balanced and to survive on the island, but he becomes increasingly paranoid and fearful of everyone on the island around him, since he has no friends. Resulting from the hatred between Ralph and Jack, the whole island is eventually consumed by destruction and peace is nowhere to be found until they are rescued.

Every human mind contains the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego. The characters in this book embody each part of the Freudian Theory and affect the society on the island in many different ways. Piggy as the Super-Ego tries to keep the society in peace and harmony, while Ralph struggles to create a balance among everyone. Jack on the other hand, only creates destruction and distress among everyone. These three characters create a mixture of harmony and destruction, until harmony is eliminated entirely, and destruction threatens to consume the island wholly. The characters' representations of the Id, Ego, and Super-Ego show how these different parts of the human mind have an effect on a society of people and can cause harmony and/or destruction.

Works Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 1954.