Lord Of The Flies Critical Analysis

Lord of the Flies is “an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature” (Themes). Many times society will trump human nature, and other times it may be engulfed by it. Freud Sigmund Psychology expresses these thoughts using the terms id, ego, and superego. Freud states that the id is the instinctive and primitive part of a personality, and ego is “that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world” (Freud). Sigmund Freud also uses superego to represent the values and morals that are taught through someone else. Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies during a time of war. In times of war, people become killers and savages to “protect” the country they are fighting for.

Freud calls this the id, which is the “aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors” (Engler). The id appears within the boys at many different points throughout the novel. During the hunt of the mother pig, the boys do not just kill the pig quickly to get the meat; they torture the mommy pig by stabbing and poking at it. Even after the pig had been tortured to death, Roger decided to stick a spear up the mother pig’s anus, “’Right up her ass’” (121)! Golding uses the language of rape to represent the disrespect for life, motherhood, and authority. These innocent children began to lose their innocence and superego throughout this scene. The children’s id also begins to come out during the death of Simon. The id “operates on the pleasure principle which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences” (McLeod). Everyone joins in a hunting dance that eventually leads to them losing control of their body and mind and killing Simon. “There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (136). The id was shown by the tearing and ripping of Simon’s body that was done by the boys. Roger represents the id the most compared to any other character though, not only did he torture a mother pig to an extreme, he also killed Piggy. Since society was no longer present, they could no longer condition his arm and stop him from hurting someone. Instead of Roger throwing pebbles at Henry and missing, he throws a boulder straight at Piggy. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee” (163). Roger’s instincts took over, and what used to be morality ends up turning into instincts alone and results in the killing and murder of