Lord of the Flies a Psychologica Approach

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This assignment aims to make the psychological criticism about the ?Lord of the Flies? which written by William Golding. There are so many different psychological aspects in this book. I will use some important theories to explain the film. Firstly, Sigmund Freud developed theories that our desires and unconscious conflicts lead to the development of defenses, like repression, fear of death, denial and selective memory. He supported that our unconscious gave rise to three areas of the mind that struggle for dominance as we grow; the id, the ego, and the super ego. Also, we should mention about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

According to his theory people cannot think about their other needs until the lower needs are done. He said that if people could not meet the basic physiological needs-such as food, water, sleep- and safety needs - such as security of: body, resources morality - that they would not achieve the need of love and belonging. So, we can say that Jack represents the id because he was concerned about their primal needs. Ralph represents the ego because he was trying to keep the id under control while adhering to social norms. On the other hand, Piggy represents the superego because he was concerned about moral judgment. Additionally, according to the Piaget's theory these boys were in concrete operational and formal operations stage of cognitive development. So, we can say that because they were in different stages, it can be the reason why they were in a conflict with each others.

The movie is started like that the plan which is carried a group of British children out of the nuclear war, falls on a desert island. First they were in shock and didn't know what to do. They were hungry, thirsty and scared. But, one of them seems more relaxed and he comforted the others. Their assembly and conch were representing the last symbol of civilization had on the boys on the island. In the beginning, it rounds them all up and they elect a leader democratically. In the beginning they worked together and there were some rules, so it means that they had group cohesiveness.

But, after a while they started to not perform their duties. It means that they started to make social loafing. In that point we should say that according to some researchers social loafing is more likely among men. Because, women are focus on and care about personal relationships with other individuals. In some point deindividuation started to become. Some children began to show more primitive behavior. R.Watson found that warriors who hid their identities before going into battle- for example, by using face and body paint- were significantly more likely to kill or torture. In the movie we saw some child painted their faces with pig blood. So, the blood may be the reason why they can act like this way. Also, the movies show the power of social conformity. We can see in how the boys choose to their group and show similar behavior. For instance, as a group they acted like a cannibal.

To sum up, In the Civilization people can hide their underlying urges like aggression. But, in their circumstances the true nature of human is release and they become like a primitive society.

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Lord of the Flies A Psychologica Approach. (2019, Apr 15). Retrieved March 28, 2024 , from
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