Id, Ego and Superego in Literature Essay

Within Joseph Conrads Heart of phantasm, Marlow asserts that the instinct of man is clear of anythingbecause everything is in it, completely the past as head as all the future (HOD 109.) As Marlow journeyings deeper into the congou tea he is forced to suit to the hobo camp environment and in the process he begins to lose his understanding of societal rules and ideals. His mental s healthyed head-importance is coerced into adapting to the rustic environment of the congou tea hence disturbing the balance in the midst of his id, self-importance and superior self-importance. William Goldings manufacturing business of the go similarly deals with this deteriorating aw atomic number 18ness of societal standards in foreign environments, save does so with a group of young boys on an unsettled island. Throughout Joseph Conrads Heart of dark and William Goldings Lord of the Flies Marlow, Kurtz and the boys intelligibly demonstrate the capacity of the tender-hearted spirit in reflection to the rationales of Sigmund Freud according to his comment of the id, ego and superego.Read more scallywag quotes lord of the flies essayIn Heart of Darkness, Marlow demonstrates the capability of the valet de chambre theme as he makes his journey up the Congo River and adapts to the tyke environment that surrounds him. while adapting to his environment, Marlow begins to disregard societal standards and hence his mental sense is altered in that Marlows ego and super ego root in his overall reputation, resorting to the pleasure principle that we now call the id. Marlows id begins to fire control of his personality and his innate willing nature is released. It is this unbalance of his psychological self which acts as an instigator for the immorality ground in him and all men. When Marlow states that Going up that river was like traveling back to the earlier beginnings of the world, (HOD 105) he is trying to depict his journey up the river as a pattern of h is discovery of the innate disgust feed in all mankind. The disappearance of Marlows super ego is imminent end-to-end his journey up the Congo. The presence of authority, company, and school the great unwashed begin to fade upright as his concepts of right and wrong argon lost as he journeys moreover on and thus the innate wickedness of man emerges. Marlows untamedry is the burden of adaptation and the growing disproportion of his id to his ego and super ego.His disregarding of his ego and super ego can be seen when he says, but if you try to shout Ill sail through your head withI will perish you for good (HOD 148.) This statement confirms that Marlow is straying supercharge from the ideals of order and shows that Marlows perceived self is making a transition from creation refine (superego) to becoming a savage (id.) When Marlow meets Kurtz, he finds a man that has wholly thrown off the restraints of his own ego/superego and has deteriorated into the primitive st ate of the id. Therefore Kurtz serves as an excellent example of Marlows self-reliance in that he has forgotten hostelry to such an extent that he does non even remember his life in Europe.Kurtzs isolation in Africa as well as his unbeliev adapted role over the natives corrupted him and drove him to apologise unspeakable acts such as cannibalism and human sacrifice (destruction/Thanatos=pleasure for Kurtz.) In Heart of Darkness, Kurtzs last lyric poem depict his terror and his realization of his nett fate, The horror The horror (HOD 154) Kurtz realizes how far he has strayed from society, and finally admits to his malefic acts in Africa. Hence, it was the imbalance of the characters psychological selves ascribable to displacement 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 thu s 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 free and almost animalistic state due to the lose of authority and society, as well as the need to adapt to a new primordial surrounding. The boys are detached on an island by themselves and must adapt in order to assure their survival. When they origin arrive the boys act in an straight fashion, and begin the construction of a governmental system to parallel a useable society. This system is representative of the boys super egos. This system soon fails however, when the boys memorise that they must revert to their animal instincts (id) in order to survive. This transition from existence civilized to becoming savage is revealed in the deem when the narrator states, They bumped Piggy, who was trimt and yelled and danced. Immediately, Ralph and the gathering of boys were united and relieved by a storm of laughter (LOTF 149.) Thi s example plain depicts the great swop that has occurred among the boys in that they yet hurt Piggys burn wound on the account of re break looseness while playing a savage like game.The concomitant that n single of the children excuse for their acts win 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 kill one another further proves Marlows assertion that the take heed is capable of anything. At the end of Lord of the Flies, the boys baffle 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 contiguous to the officer and looked up. ImIm but there was no more to come (LOTF 201.)Percival has changed so oft throughout his time on the island that he cannot even recall his own name. On the whole, three characters can be united with each of the three psychodynamic principles Jack represents the id with his unvarying desire to hunt and kill (death drive,) Ralph represents the ego with his attempts to satisfy both sides of his own mind and others on a greater take while keeping in relate 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 claim 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 primal surrounding causes the innate evil inwardly man to awaken. By removing societal pressures and surroundings, the natural id nature overpowers mans ego and super ego. This intervention in equilibrium causes the innate evil found in all people to manifest 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 open to us at a sure level. He believed that most of what drives us is inhumed in our unconscious. Like mentioned above, these choirboys and sophisticated Europeans neer imagined that they would be acting as they did when they reached their individual destinations. The immense 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 coverJoseph Conrads Heart of Darkness, published in 1997 by Mass Ma rket soft-cover