Civilization In Lord Of The Flies

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What happens to man’s ideas when rules disappear? Which areas of personality prevail, and which crumble in the absence of civilization? William Golding’s Lord of the Flies explores this idea through a group of British schoolboys who crash-land on a deserted island. They quickly compensate for the lack of adults by electing a chief, Ralph. However, a group of boys led by Jack succumb to their primal instincts and decide to become savage hunters. Soon enough, most of the boys follow their example, including Roger, who grows to be particularly cruel. Ralph and Piggy, who have a deep appreciation for rules, reject this practice and attempt to remain civilized. The descent into madness and savagery of most of the island’s inhabitants invites the…show more content…
He hunts with the other boys, but also delights in mutilating his prey in a perceivably sexual way. His nature is best shown in his treatment of a sow hunted by the savage boys. After the sow was hurt enough to make a clean kill, “Roger found a lodgment for his point and began to push till he was leaning with his whole weight. The spear moved forward inch by inch and the terrified squealing became a high-pitched scream [...] ‘Right up her ass!’” (Golding 135-136). Roger’s actions in this passage suggest that he enjoys what can only described as the rape of the sow. The reasons for his actions are simply to satisfy a sexual and violent drive. Roger’s actions are driven by the unconscious part of the human psyche, or the id. Essentially, the id, “[…] is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories” (McLeod). When compared to Freud’s definition, it is clear to see that Roger’s motivation for violating the sow shows that he is representative of the id in the novel. He prominently displays sexual desires as the motive for his actions in this passage, which, along with violence, form the essence of the id. Furthermore, Roger also shows the violent, instinctive, and rash side of the id. The peak of this behavior is the murder of a fellow student, Piggy. Standing guard over a negotiation between Jack, Ralph, and Piggy…show more content…
Roger’s violent and sexual desires connect with the id’s instinctive and impulse-oriented nature, the superego correlates perfectly with Piggy’s appreciation for society’s rules and limitations, and Ralph fulfills the ego’s purpose by constantly compromising the two others and reaching a realistic conclusion. These characters’ actions are mainly fueled by those certain parts of the human psyche, as seen by Golding’s descriptions of these actions, background information about the characters, and use of symbolism, especially the conch, to reinforce the connections. These literary representations of the psyche, especially Piggy and Roger, show the unhealthy and sometimes insane qualities people display when they are controlled by purely one of the three main parts of personality as Freud outlined them. Roger’s murderous tendencies, Ralph’s constant struggle to compromise, and Piggy’s neurotic and nervous behavior serve as a reminder that humans are incredibly complex, and basing entire personalities on one driving factor will only cause suffering to one’s self and
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