The Novel "Lord of the Flies"

Sigmund Freud came up with the idea that human conscience can be broken down into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. Everybody has all three parts, if some are more prominent than others. The id is the part of the psyche that is unconscious and the source of primitive instinctive impulses and drives. The ego contains consciousness and memory and is involved with control, planning, and conforming to reality. The superego is the part of the mind that acts as a conscience to the ego, developing moral standards and rules through contact with parents and society. The superego and the id often conflict with one another and only the person himself can force either one to prevail. Situations, such as being stranded on a deserted island with a group of boys as in Lord of the Flies, can also force one's psyche to combat with itself, either moving towards the id, or the superego. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses various characters to show that this dynamic can change a person so severely, that they will either become savage, or their superego will be strong enough to predominantly override the push towards the id.…