Lord of the Flies Symbology

A Period II Project By;Chris Alley

Bri Le Sarah Bronstein

Tyler LeggettRyan Lowy

The Id

• According to Freud, everyone is born with the Id part of their brain. Babies are born with the Id overruling their ego and superego. The Id is the irrational, primitive, and emotional aspects of the mind.

• Page 144"Simon found he was looking into a vast mouth. There was blackness within, a blackness that spread."

The quote illustrates how the -Id is finally spreading throughout the island like an impending doom. In a way, the unconscious part of the mind finds itself surfacing and finds a way to take over, exactly how the once prim and proper boys are turning into blood thirsty savages. It displays the inevitable power of the -Id.

The Id (cont’d)

Page 146"Then the wind blew again and the figure lifted, bowed, and breathed foully at him."

Page 152"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!"

Before this altercation, the chants had been "Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!", but the last phrase "Do him in!" is the final level that the -Id reaches. It has finally conquered the mind, morals and completely subdues the ego and superego.

The Beast• The beast is the fear of the unknown of not only of

what is on the island, but of their own individual emotions and the capabilities of each other. The Lord of the Flies informs Simon that the beast lives inside all of the boys. This beast could be considered the Id.

• “ ‘What I mean is... Maybe it’s only us.’... Simon became inarticulate in his efforts to express mankind’s essential illness.”

Page 89 • “ ‘I know there isn’t no beast—not with claws and all

that, I mean—but I know there isn’t no fear either...Unless—...Unless we get frightened of people.’

Page 84

The Parachutist• Parachutist- unknown/uncertainties in life that scare man,

evil “entity”, fear of people you don’t know or understand • “Soon the darkness was full of claws, full of the awful

unknown and menace.” (Golding 99)

• ‘“It was furry. There was something moving behind its head—wings. The beast moved too—“

“That was awful. It kind of sat up—““The fire was bright—““We’d just made it up—““—more sticks on—““There were eyes—““Teeth—““Claws—“…”The beast followed us—“’ (Golding 100)

The Scar• The scar represents man's

destruction. An actual physical scar is left from civilization on the once uninhabited island.

• "He looked up and down the scar. 'And this is what the cabin done.' The fair boy reached out and touched the jagged end of a trunk. For a moment he looked interested."

Page 8 • "He turned towards the forest, and

began to picks his way over the tumbled scar"

Page 38

In Conclusion

• You have seen the connections of the symbols presented in this presentation. How the Beast and Parachutist represent this evil entity that is unknown to Man, but strikes fear within his Heart. How Id – the animal of Man, and how Man becomes an animal bent on his own survival and fear. And the Scar, of how Man’s destructive nature to himself, to others and to the Environment which he produces.

Questions?

Works Cited

• Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 1954. 7-183.

• "Id, Ego, and Superego." 21 Mar. 2004. Heffner Media Group. 22 Jan. 2008 <http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego.html>.

• Ruegg, Christoph. "William Golding - Lord of the Flies." Cdrnet. Jan. 2006. 22 Jan. 2008 <http://www.cdrnet.net/kb/data/EN_Golding.asp>.