Freudian Critisizm - Lord of the Flies
Sigmund Freud was the father of psychoanalysis. He analyzed the human mind and tried to figure out why humans react the way they do in various situations. Freud believed that in their brains, humans have an id - instincts such as eating, drinking, having sex, destroying, and fighting - an ego - their reality principle, and their ability to satisfy the id safely - and a superego - their conscious, their learned parental values, guilt, and morals. In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the freudian perspective plays a major role in the story in that Jack represents the id, ralph, the ego, and Piggy, the superego.
First, Jack represents the id because he displays vicious animal characteristics, and only fulfills basic human needs. After putting a mask of red and black clay on his face, Jack begins to dance around and all of a sudden, "his laugh became a bloodthirsty snarl" (58).
This suggests that no longer is Jack laughing as a human would laugh, but how an animal would snarl at its prey. Clearly he is tapping into his id and displaying the actions of a predator. He displays these animal characteristics again when he is killing a sow. Jack is killing the pig and as he is grabbing it, "the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream. Then Jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands" (123). The way Golding writes the sow was screaming suggests that Jack is no longer just killing animals, but is due to kill human beings. Jack has completely lost sight of simply hunting for food and now hunts because he innately loves to cause harm and kill.
Second, Ralph represents the ego for he satisfies the id, but...