Lord of the Flies Response to Literature
Oscar Ocampo
Mr. Woodworth
Language Arts 10
December 18, 2009
Response to Literature
Every great society has strived and prospered due to the laws and principles the civilization has lived by. But when a society removes these principles that are laid out what could result? In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, as a result of a terrible war a plane crashed landed, killing the pilots and leaving a small group of boys stranded on an island leaving the boys with no ascendancy. The groups of boys do well at the start when they establish an organized method to keep an ongoing signal fire going, problems soon arise as the kids begin to lose the liberation they had once practiced. As we scrutinize the Lord of The Flies and apply Freudians theory we can personify each of the three elements that make up his theory with the three main characters Jack, Ralph and Piggy that can also represent: the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego based on Freud’s Personality theory.
The best well known psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud, a Viennese physician, believed that the mind could be separated to three parts the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego. The Id is what we are born with it is the pleasure principle, representing what we desire at the moment in an unconscious state of mind without releasing the reality of the circumstances. In The Lord of the Flies the Id would symbolize Jack as he wants his ambitions met without thinking about their actual situation they are in. We can see this when Jack’s only interests is to go hunt and in his arbitrary choice he tells Samneric to leave their post to help kill the pig. This results in the fire burning out. The glorified Jack than returns to gasconade to Ralph of his accomplishment he tells him, “We got in a circle… We crept up… The pig squealed” (Golding 69). He does not realize the significance of leaving the fire unattended; as his needs are met he could not see anything wrong with his actions. Although,
Mr. Woodworth
Language Arts 10
December 18, 2009
Response to Literature
Every great society has strived and prospered due to the laws and principles the civilization has lived by. But when a society removes these principles that are laid out what could result? In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, as a result of a terrible war a plane crashed landed, killing the pilots and leaving a small group of boys stranded on an island leaving the boys with no ascendancy. The groups of boys do well at the start when they establish an organized method to keep an ongoing signal fire going, problems soon arise as the kids begin to lose the liberation they had once practiced. As we scrutinize the Lord of The Flies and apply Freudians theory we can personify each of the three elements that make up his theory with the three main characters Jack, Ralph and Piggy that can also represent: the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego based on Freud’s Personality theory.
The best well known psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud, a Viennese physician, believed that the mind could be separated to three parts the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego. The Id is what we are born with it is the pleasure principle, representing what we desire at the moment in an unconscious state of mind without releasing the reality of the circumstances. In The Lord of the Flies the Id would symbolize Jack as he wants his ambitions met without thinking about their actual situation they are in. We can see this when Jack’s only interests is to go hunt and in his arbitrary choice he tells Samneric to leave their post to help kill the pig. This results in the fire burning out. The glorified Jack than returns to gasconade to Ralph of his accomplishment he tells him, “We got in a circle… We crept up… The pig squealed” (Golding 69). He does not realize the significance of leaving the fire unattended; as his needs are met he could not see anything wrong with his actions. Although,
Cited: Page 1. Golding, William. The Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group 2. “Freud’s Personality Factors” Chasing Minds. 17 December 2009. 3. “Freud’s Personality theory” PageWise. 17 December 2009. 4. “Freudian Theory” Terms-Papers.US. 17 December 2009 < http://www.term-papers.us/ts/ha/skx72.shtml> ----------------------- Ocampo 1