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Lord of the Flies is a novel by William Golding about a group of boys who are marooned on an island. As the story progresses, the boys slowly transform into savages and lose their civility. The Freudian Theory addresses the three human personalities: id, ego, and superego. The id personality is based on desire and instinct, the ego personality is based on reason and common sense, and the superego is based on what is morally correct. William Golding utilizes his allegory, Lord of the Flies to emphasize the different aspects of the human psyche through the various characters.
One of the main characters, Jack, represents Freud’s id personality. Jack’s actions are fueled by his desire for power and control, and he uses the fear of the beast to support him and his hunters. For example, when he says “Bollocks to the rules! We’re strong-we hunt! If there’s a beast we’ll hunt it down” (Golding, 79). Here, Jack puts down Ralph’s rules and aggrandizes the power of him and his hunters. Jack’s emphasis on the strength of the hunters makes the other children feel safe, which later encourages them to join Jack’s tribe. Another example of Jack embodying the id personality is when the hunters kill the sow. Golding depicts the killing as a rape, with Jack “finding the throat… and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her” (Golding, 120). This “rape” alludes to the Freudian id personality because Jack and his hunters substantiated their desire to kill the sow. Furthermore, Jack and his hunters followed their primal instincts to kill and spill blood. Jack achieves his power by taking advantage of the other boys’ desires, or id personalities. Jack takes advantage of this by announcing, “Me and my hunters, we’re living along the beach by a flat rock. We feast and hunt and have fun. If you want to join my tribe come and see us” (Golding, 125). Jack’s message entices the boys’ desire to have fun instead of following Ralph’s rules. This enticement transfers the power from Ralph to Jack, thus fulfilling his never-ending id desire for power. Lastly, at the end of the book, the confrontation between Jack and Ralph demonstrates the evil, id personality of Jack. At the climax of the confrontation, Jack “viciously, with full intention, hurled his spear at Ralph” (Golding, 163). The three words: with, full, and intention, show that Jack’s desire to eliminate any form of competition has fully overcome him and he only acts on his desire and instinct for power.
On the other end of the spectrum, characters like Simon and Ralph represent the ego and superego personalities of the Freudian Theory. Throughout the novel, Ralph stands up for Piggy when no one else does. For example, towards the end of the novel, Ralph confronts Jack about Piggy’s specs, stating, “You pinched Piggy’s specs, you’ve got to give them back. You played a dirty trick- we’d have given you fire if you’d ask for it” (Golding, 159). Here, Ralph shows his ego personality because he is reasoning with Jack for Piggy’s specs and also trying to find a logical situation where the two tribes could share the fire. Simon, throughout the novel, embodies the superego personality. For instance, when Jack refuses to give Piggy meat, Simon “shoved his meat over the rocks to Piggy, who grabbed it” (Golding, 62). Simon acts on what is morally correct; in this case, he gives food to starving Piggy, even though it means he won’t be able to eat anymore. Furthermore, Simon is always helping and supporting Ralph, even when no one else is. Frustrated from attempting to build the huts, Ralph acknowledges that “all day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing” (Golding, 41). Simon helps Ralph even though none of the other boys are because he is doing what is right, which is following Ralph’s orders. After all, he was voted chief. Most of the other boys do not exhibit superego qualities because although they voted Ralph as their leader, they do not listen and give him the respect he deserves.
Along with the Freudian Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs encompasses the variety of characters’ personalities. Maslow believed that what first motivates our behavior are our physiological needs: food, water, warmth, and rest. Ralph fits into this category because he constantly advocates that “the first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach” (Golding, 36). Here we see Ralph addressing the physiological needs of the group: warmth and rest. This continually motivates Ralph to build shelters, even when the other boys are playing and having fun. The failure of the group to have the physiological needs led to the group’s split. Jack fits into the self-fulfillment category: achieving one’s full potential. Jack’s goal is self-fulfillment, but because the boys don’t have the basic needs mentioned earlier, all that ensues is death and destruction, such as the death of Piggy and the destruction of the island. Another reason why the group wasn’t successful is because they didn’t have the basic needs of security and safety. Jack prohibits safety and security when he says, “If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down” (Golding, 79). Jack’s “if” implies that there could be a beast, which preys on the littlest fears of the beast. However, Jack’s emphasis that his hunters are strong, encourages other boys to join his tribe so that they can be safe from the beast in their “fortress” on the rocks.
William Golding uses his novel, Lord of the Flies, to allude to the different personalities of people. He also has the characters serve as symbols for the Freudian personalities of id, ego, and superego, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The Freudian Theory states that people act either on instinct and desire, reason and common sense, or on what is morally right. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs. Maslow believed that once a basic need level is fulfilled, the next level up is what motivates us. The boys’ failure as a group to survive successfully comprised of some boys’ id personalities and the lack of fulfilling basic needs before moving on to other needs. As the Lord of the Flies progresses, the boys lose their grip on civility, and their moral compass, and ultimately degrade into savagery.
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