Id, Ego and Superego in Literature Essay

Within Joseph Conrads feeling of Darkness, Marlow asserts that the mind of man is subject of anythingbecause everything is in it, on the whole the go forthgoing as well as all the future (HOD 109.) As Marlow excursions deeper into the congou he is forced to adapt to the jungle environment and in the do by he begins to lose his understanding of societal rules and ideals. His psychological self is coerced into adapting to the coarse environment of the Congo hence disturbing the balance between his id, egotism and superego. William Goldings ecclesiastic of the Flies similarly deals with this deteriorating awareness of societal standards in foreign environments, merely does so with a group of young boys on an uninhabited island. Throughout Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness and William Goldings Lord of the Flies Marlow, Kurtz and the boys clearly demonstrate the capacity of the piece mind in reflection to the principles of Sigmund Freud according to his definition of the id, eg o and superego.Read more scallywag quotes lord of the flies essayIn Heart of Darkness, Marlow demonstrates the capability of the human mind as he makes his journey up the Congo River and adapts to the rag environment that surrounds him. While adapting to his environment, Marlow begins to disregard societal standards and hence his psychological find is altered in that Marlows ego and super ego lapse in his overall nature, resorting to the pleasure principle that we now call the id. Marlows id begins to cease control of his personality and his innate instinctive nature is released. It is this dissymmetry of his psychological self which acts as an instigator for the evil found in him and all men. When Marlow evidences that Going up that river was like traveling back to the earlier beginnings of the world, (HOD 105) he is trying to tie his journey up the river as a representation of his discovery of the innate wickedness present in all mankind. The disappearance of Marlows super ego is imminent throughout his journey up the Congo. The presence of permit, rescript, and fine-tune people begin to fade vindicatory as his concepts of right and wrong are lost as he journeys further on and therefrom the innate wickedness of man emerges. Marlows savagery is the result of adaptation and the growing disproportion of his id to his ego and super ego.His disregardless of his ego and super ego can be seen when he says, but if you try to shout Ill smash your head withI get out throttle you for good (HOD 148.) This statement confirms that Marlowis straying further from the ideals of society and shows that Marlows perceived self is making a transition from being polish (superego) to bonny a savage (id.) When Marlow meets Kurtz, he finds a man that has entirely thr take off the restraints of his own ego/superego and has deteriorated into the primitive state of the id. consequently Kurtz serves as an excellent example of Marlows assertion in that he has forgotten s ociety to such an extent that he does not veritable(a) remember his life in Europe.Kurtzs isolation in Africa as well as his unbelievable power over the natives corrupted him and lot him to condone unspeakable acts such as cannibalism and human sacrifice (destruction/death instinct=pleasure for Kurtz.) In Heart of Darkness, Kurtzs last words depict his terror and his realization of his final fate, The horror The horror (HOD 154) Kurtz realizes how far he has strayed from society, and finally admits to his evil acts in Africa. Hence, it was the imbalance of the characters psychological selves due to work shift from society (society gave them the sense of right and wrong) that caused the innate evil to reveal itself in the characters Marlow and Kurtz. The augmented id created a disproportion between the other counterparts of the psychological self and thus facilitated the intrinsically evil nature of all men including Marlow and Kurtz.In William Goldings Lord of the Flies, the boys are reduced to an instinctive and almost animalistic state due to the lack of authority and society, as well as the lead to adapt to a new primordial surrounding. The boys are stranded on an island by themselves and moldiness adapt in order to assure their survival. When they outset arrive the boys act in an orderly fashion, and begin the construction of a governmental system to parallel a functional society. This system is model of the boys super egos. This system soon fails however, when the boys learn that they must revert to their animal instincts (id) in order to survive. This transition from being civilized to becoming savage is revealed in the book when the fibber states, They bumped Piggy, who was burnt and cry and danced. Immediately, Ralph and the crowd of boys were united and relieved by a storm of gag (LOTF 149.) This example simply depicts the great change that has occurred among the boys in that they further stick out Piggys burn wound on the account of water iness while playing a savage like game.The fact thatnone of the children apologize for their acts further prove the transition of the boys from being civilized to becoming savage-like. The simple fact that a group of choirboys, who were exemplary individuals, could change into savages that pop up one another further proves Marlows assertion that the mind is capable of anything. At the end of Lord of the Flies, the boys come to realize the transformation of their initial choirboy natures when they are confronted with authority in the form of a naval officer. The narrator states that One of them came close to the officer and looked up. ImIm but there was no more to come (LOTF 201.)Percival has changed so much throughout his time on the island that he cannot even recall his own name. On the whole, triple characters can be linked with each of the three psychodynamic principles Jack represents the id with his constant desire to hunt and kill (death drive,) Ralph represents the ego wit h his attempts to pay off both sides of his own mind and others on a greater aim while keeping in touch with reality, and Piggy represents the superego by acting as the conscience for the group, maintaining the very principles that the boys have lost. If one were to look at this novel as an analysis of the individuals one would perhaps miss out on the greater picture. By combining the characteristics and actions of all the characters you can real see the greater picture of what Freud describes in his theories.Both Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness and William Goldings Lord of the Flies contain characters that are changed from civilized beings, that are able to balance the urges of the id and constraints of the ego/superego, into savages. Within the novels the lack of authority and society as well as the presence of a fundamental surrounding causes the innate evil within man to awaken. By removing societal pressures and surroundings, the instinctive id nature overpowers mans ego a nd super ego. This disturbance in rest causes the innate evil found in all people to unmistakable itself.Freuds conception of the human psyche illustrated that the majority of what we experience in our lives, the underlying emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses are not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what drives us is buried in our unconscious. standardised mentioned above, these choirboys and sophisticated Europeans never imagined that they would beacting as they did when they reached their respective destinations. The colossal unconscious id took over in many of the characters but when brought back into society returned to their previous balances.Books usedWilliam Goldings Lord of the Flies, published in 1959 by Perigee TradeJoseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, published in 1997 by mess hall Market Paperback