Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

and produces a rule, based on said excitations, for society to function more smoothly. If the group of boys
is compared to a mind, with Ralph as the ego, one can clearly see that, like the ego in a mind, Ralph uses
various types of excitation (internal, external, and cooperative) to bring about positive results.
A second function of the ego according to Freud (1952) is “the task of bringing the influence of the
external world to bear upon the id and its tendencies” (p. 702). Assuming that the character of Jack
represents the concept of the id, it is Ralph’s responsibility, as the symbolic ego, to remind Jack of the
external world. On the island, this external world is clearly viewed as the world of adults (everyone who is
not on the island). By reminding Jack of what the boys had learned in the external world, Ralph helps to
bring balance to the island. After winning the election for chief of the island over Jack, Ralph assures Jack
that the choir will still belong to Jack, as it did before. Immediately, Jack suggests that the choir be the army
of the island. Ralph sees that this suggestion is illogical in that there is no war on the island (as of yet).
Instead, Ralph uses what he has learned in the external world to suggest that the choir be hunters. This
more practical suggestion helps Jack to lead the choir in hunting and gathering food for the group of boys on
the island. Later, while exploring the island, Ralph makes an observation: “There’s no village smoke, and
no boats . . . I think it’s uninhabited” (Golding, 2003 p. 33). While Jack saw the same view, he made no
such observation. In this, “It is easy to see that the ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the
direct influence of the external world” (Freud, 1952, p. 702). Both Jack and Ralph went on the same hike
up the mountain and came to the same vantage point, but Ralph, affected by the “direct influence of the
external world” noted the lack of inhabitants on the island. Through his use of common sense of the
external world in comparison to Jack, the id, Ralph clearly exhibits further characteristics of the ego.
While on the island, Ralph is often faced with a question of logic versus passion. Rosenfield (1999)
explains that “Ralph is every man—or child—and his body becomes the battleground where reason and
instinct struggle, each to assert itself” (p. 4). This power struggle is most evident in confrontations between
Jack, the embodiment of instinct, and Piggy, who thinks about everything logically. All too often, Ralph is
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