An Allegory of Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory in...

Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychologist, once said that â€Å"the ego is not master in its own house.† The novelLord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is an allegory for Sigmund Freud’s theory on the superego, the ego, and the id, and the constant struggle between the three psyches, which leads to a man becomingcrazy. The three characters in the novel which represent the three psyches are; the Lord of the Flies, Ralph, and Simon. The island that the boys are stranded on can be interpreted as the mind of the man. Simon’s death and the hunt for Ralph are both plot events that symbolize the struggle between the three psyches. The above quote is indicating that the ego is the consciousness in our mind, and though one would think that†¦show more content†¦At this point the boys have gone crazy and have no longing for civilization, and their fear of guilt is nonexistent. This plot event symbolizes that the id in the patient’s mind is now trying to destroy the ego. At this point of time, Simon, who is the superego, is murdered by the rest of the boys on the island. Now that the man no longer has a superego, the ego cannot do anything except please the id, therefore the id is winning, because of its overpowering desires. In the conclusion of the novel, when Jack and his tribe are about to kill Ralph, they all stumble upon a naval officer who had come to rescue them. This event represents that the mind has gone completely insane, and it has lost its superego. The naval officer represents the external help from a doctor or from society that the mind receives. When the officer arrives, all the boys start to cry; because they realize that what they have been doing is wrong. This could symbolize that the patient is recovering by the help of the doctor. These two plot events greatly support the allegory of a patient who is going crazy due to the struggle occurring in his mind. In the mind there are three psyches, the id, the ego, and the superego. They are always at struggle with the other. An allegoryof an insane person’s mind that loses his touch of humanity and almost falls