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GiaPiazza

English4H
LOTF
Essay
October9,2015
UnleashtheBeast

LifeisaconstantbattlebetweentheAngelandDevilonyourshoulders.Inevery
situation,thereisanoptiontochoosethemoralorimmoralthingtodo.SigmundFreud
proposedtheideathatthehumanbrainiscomposedofthreeparts:theID,Ego,andSuperego.
TheIDistheinnerbeast,theSuperegoistheAngelonyourshoulders,andtheEgoisthe
voiceofreasonandmoralitysomewhereinbetween.FreudsideaisrepresentedinWilliam
Goldings
LordoftheFlies
throughthemaincharacterspersonalitiesanddecisionswhich
provesthatallpeoplehavethepotentialtoresorttotheirID,despitesuperficialviews.

JackMerridewisaverystrongpresencein
LordoftheFlies
.Hispersonalityrivalswith
manycharactersforthefactthathetendsforfollowhisID.Heoftenactsimmorallyand
savagelike.Despitehisbarbaricandrebelliousfront,hestillprovestobesometimesfollowing
hisego,maybeevensuperego,suchasbeingtheleaderofthechoir.Fromwhatisportrayedin
thenovel,heseemedtobeagreatleaderandnotrulingwithasmuchfearashedidonthe
island.Hewasseeminglyagreatrolemodelfortherestoftheboys.Nonetheless,hewas
unquestionablymoreintouchwithhisID.Listenyouall.Meandmyhunters,werelivingalong
thebeachbyaflatrock.Wehuntandfeastandhavefun,(Golding140)Jacksaidwithstrong
forceandpower.Thisproveshisdemandingnature,andeventhefactthathehuntsmorefor
funthansurvival.Hismainconcernisnottogetofftheisland,butcontinuetoplaythisgame

whereheissohecanruleandbeincharge.Jacksgoalsandprioritiesgreatlycontrastedfrom
whatRalphdeemedmostimportant.

Ralphisoftenthemediatorbetweencharacters.HetriestobalancebetweenhisIDand
hisSuperego,butfallsmostlyintohisEgo.Hetendstomakerationaldecisions,howeverthey
cansometimesbeviewedasswayingonewayortheother.Forexample,inthenovel,Ralphis
oftenseenasthegoodguybecauseheisalwaysdoingwhathecantomakesuretheboys
haveasafeenvironmentandaredoingwhatevertheycantogetrescued.Hetendstobethe
voiceofreasonontheisland,makingsurethateveryonedoeswhattheyaresupposedto,no
matterhowmuchtheboysresenthimforit.However,Ralphtoowasfightingtogetnearthat
brown,vulnerableflesh.Thedesiretosqueezeandhurtwasovermastering,(Golding114115)
asRalphjoinedJackandthehuntersinhuntingthepig.InastudydonebyProf.Robert
Cialdini,hesetouttoprovethatpeopleoftenstereotypebecausewemakethestereotypes
aware,sopeoplethinkthatitisokay.HetheorizedthatpeoplecometotheconclusionthatIf
everyoneelseisbiased,wedontneedtoworryasmuchaboutcensoringourselves(Grant).
Ralphfellintothemobmentalitythatdrivessomanypeopletocommitcertainactsthatthey
wouldntnormallydo.Jackwasneverreprimandedforthemaliciousthingsthathedidorsaid,
soheinfluencedmanyotherboysontheislandtodosimilarthingsthattheybelievedwere
justifiable.

Piggyisoftenseenasthemostangeliccharacter,frequentlyleaningtowardshis
Superego.However,manyofhisactionsprovestillthateventhepeoplewiththehighestmoral
valuescancommitactsofevil.In
LordoftheFlies,
Piggyisalwaystryingtodowhatismorally
correctandalwaystryingtomaintainpeaceandorderbetweentheboysontheisland.

Although,despiteallofhisgooddeeds,evenhefallsintojoiningthemurderofSimon.Piggy
continuouslysaysItwasanaccident,(Golding157)inattempttoconvincehimselfandRalph
thattherewasnomaliciousintent.Helatersays,Thatsright.Wewasontheoutside.Wenever
donenothing,weneverseennothing(Golding158).Piggyshowsthatheistrulyguiltybecause
hebelievesthatitisfaultandhealsotriestocoveruphistracksandpretendheknowsnothing
aboutit.Hewasdrawninbythemobmentalitycreatedontheisland.
JaneElliott,athirdgradeteacher,provedmobmentalityapowerfulforceinanexercise
shedidwithherstudentsin1968.Elliottwantedtoteachherstudentsaboutracismandthe
reasonMartinLutherKingJr.wasshotthepreviousday.Shecategorizedherstudentsinto
blueeyedstudentsandbrownorgreeneyedstudents.Shetreatedthestudentswithbrown
eyesmuchbetterthantherestofthestudentsbecausesheclaimedthatbrowneyedpeopleare
moreintelligent.Browniescoulddrinkdirectlyfromthewaterfountain,gotextrarecesstime,
andwerenotstoppedfromostracizingandberatingthestudentswithblueeyes.Afterachild
withblueeyesgotanarithmeticproblemwrong,anotherchildwithbrowneyessaidWellwhat
doyouexpectfromhisMrs.Elliott,hesabluey(Bloom)!Thisexerciseprovedthateven
children,themostseeminglyinnocentofallhumans,canevenadaptandconformtothisideaof
hatredandevil.

SigmundFreudtheorizedthathumansarealwaysputinsituationswheretheyneedto
choosebetweentheAngelandDevilontheirshoulders,alsorepresentedbytheID,Ego,and
Superego.Jack,Ralph,andPiggyinWilliamGoldingsnovel
LordoftheFlies
provedthistobe
truebyconstantlybouncingbetweenthosepersonas.Evenso,Goldingsnovelshowsthatno
matterhowrighteousthepersonseemstobe,everyonehasthepotentialtoresorttotheirID.In
certainsituations,theDevilonourshoulderoftenprovestobemorepersuasivethantheAngel.

WorksCited
Bloom,StephenG."LessonofaLifetime."
Smithsonian(Vol.36,No.6)
.Sept.2005:82+.
SIRS
IssuesResearcher.
Web.25Oct.2015.
Golding,William.
LordoftheFlies
.NewYork,NewYork:Perigee,2006.Print.
Grant,Adam,andSherylSandberg."WhenTalkingAboutBiasBackfires."
TheNewYork
Times
.TheNewYorkTimes,06Dec.2014.Web.25Oct.2015.

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