William Golding's Lord Of The Flies: Psychological Analysis

Sigmund Freud is the creator of the structural model of personality that explains why people behave the way they do. He claims a person’s personality is made up of three parts: the Ego, the Superego, and the Id. The Id is the part of our self that is made up of our desires. The Superego helps us differentiate between right and wrong. The ego is the balance of the Superego and Id. In 1954 William Golding wrote a book about a school of boys that were stranded on a tropical island island after a plane crash. Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, the main characters, Ralph, Piggy and Jack, all showcase their personality and the struggle between the three parts in the human psyche and the chaos that comes with the loss of one of these parts.
Ralph is the ego. The ego is the part of the mind that restrains our savagery and keeps our superego at bay. The ego knows what he wants and what he should do, however he does what he has to do whether it is good or bad. On page 79, Ralph says “By myself I went, thinking what’s what. I know what we need.” Ralph is the one that is doing everything he can that benefits the group. He is the leader so he has to be the voice of reason. He has to think before he acts because he has to think about everything and everyone else around him. Knowing what needs to be done and doing it because it is what is needed, is what the ego is all about. Ralph is the one that oversees both Piggy and Jack, he controls Jack and makes sure that Piggy is never left out. He knows that without Piggy, he would not be able to lead the group. Ralph says “ ….I can’t think. Not like Piggy.” Piggy could’ve been the leader but no one would have listened to him. Unlike Piggy though, Ralph had that sense of authority that the id gave him. Being able to balance between the two people is the reason why Ralph is the representation of the ego. If Ralph were to be gone then Jack would’ve taken control of Piggy long before he died. Overall without all three, the island would be complete chaos. However the only way to maintain that balance is if none of the parts overpower the over. The id rose to power after the superego died, this left the ego vulnerable. The ego falls prey to the id and its aggressive and undesirable ways. This led the island and the boys to destruction because there was zero sign of civilization due to the loss of control within the boys, just like the mind would self destruct if the three aspects of personality were to