Man's Evil Nature in Lord of the Flies by Golding

Essay by Anonymous UserCollege, Undergraduate January 1996

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When young boys are abandoned on an uninhabited island without adults, even they are capable of murder. This is the scenario depicted in the British author, William Goldings novel, Lord of the Flies, written and published in 1954 during World War 2. Comparing the characters of Jack, Ralph, Piggy and Simon with Freud's theory of id, ego and superego, one can prove that man has an underlying evil nature. The characters are represented with Jack as id, Ralph as ego, and Piggy and Simon as superego.

Freud's theory of id, ego and superego influences the spheres of ones being. The id represents violence, and the drive to kill. The id is the desire to hurt others, and to dominate. In contrast the ego persuades one to make actions that make one's actions acceptable by others around them. It also controls the need for acceptance and the need to be in control.

Though different, the superego lies within one's spirituality and need for order. It values rules, and commandments.

Jack as id, represents the carnal drives in man. He illustrates this through painting his face. By painting his face, Jack suppresses his ego and superego, causing Jack to be capable of acts of violence without having any repercussions. Jack portrays this violence in different ways. First, Jack enjoys hunting because he gets to kill pigs. Often, in Lord of the Flies, Jack is consumed by killing pigs, and desires nothing more. The drive to kill rules his thoughts. In Jacks statement ''We're strong-we hunt! If there's a beast we'll hunt it down. We'll close in and beat and beat and beat-''(83), he demonstrates his carnal desire to hint and kill. Next, Jack also strove to control others. He would even resort to torture, ''What d' you mean by...