Lord of the Flies

In William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, the unbalanced psyche of antagonist Jack deems him susceptible to be dominantly ruled by his Id which is displayed through Jack's characteristics and savage actions. Jack's characteristics of egocentrism, excessive usage of primal instincts, irrational fears, and repression prove that Jack's Id is dominant. This example of Freud's theory proves that the elements of psyche must be balanced in order for civilization to avoid savageness.

One example of what makes Jack's Id dominant is his egocentric behavior. "I'd like to catch a pig first-- He snatches up his spear and dashed it into the ground. The opaque, mad look came into his eyes again."(53) This quote portrays that Jack places his selfish desire to kill a pig ahead of other practical priorities such as building shelters and maintaining the signal fire. By putting his own selfish needs before the needs of the group in order to satisfy his desire to kill a pig, Jack is representing the self-centered characteristic involved in Freud's definition of Id. Jack's action of dashing his spear into the ground represent his violent thoughts and dangerous obsession with hunting. This distinguishes Jacks' selfish needs from the needs of the group. The mad look in Jack's eyes revels his obsession with the hunt in that Jack is not hunting to provide meat for the group, but he is hunting in order to satisfy his obsession and feed his selfish desires. These are all examples of the egocentrism portion of Freud's Id characteristic.

A second characteristic of Jacks' is savageness which also proves his Id dominant psyche. "... The mask was a thing of its own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-consciousness."(64) This quote displays for the reader that when Jack had the face paint on, he was savage and unaware because his primal instinct had liberated him form civilized expectations and rules. "Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife...Then jack found the throat and the hot blood spouted over his hands."(135) This quote is taken from when Jack viciously killed a pig, and this displays Jack's dominant primal instincts which make Jack irrational and savage. "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"(152) The chant in which Jack leads everybody also displays his savageness because when the boys chant they behave like animals in that their blood lust sky rockets, they do a tribal like dance, and they provoke each other to commit violent actions, such as killing Simon. These examples of Jack's savageness exhibit Jack's dominant Id characteristic.

A third example of how Jack's characteristics have led to actions pertaining to Freud's Id category is Jack's irrational fear of the beast and his repression of that fear. "This head is for the beast. It's a gift." (137) This quote is taken from when Jack skewers the head of the dead sow on a stick and fixes it into the ground as an offering for the beast. Jack's irrational fear of the beast pertains to the offering because though the beast is not real, Jack's fear of the beast is real and he subdues that fear by providing the offering to the beast. This offering also represents Jacks repression of fear because he leaves the