In the book the three main characters have a symbolic meaning. Jack, Ralph and Piggy all represent an aspect of the mind. Sigmund Freud theorized that the brain has three aspects: the id, the ego and the superego. The id is our sexual and aggressive instincts and it follows the pleasure principle. It is in the unconscious mind. The superego represents the sociological constraints of society. It is our "conscious" it tells us what we should or should not do. It is in the preconscious mind. The ego on the other hand mediates between the id's desires and the superego's demands. It is in the conscious mind. Piggy represents the superego by always wanting to follow the rules and make sure that everybody else is also following them. Jack represents the id in the novel and this is proven by his very aggressive personality and his lust for violence and power. Ralph on the other hand represents that ego partly because of his democratic government. He was trying to please everybody including the desires from Jack and Piggy’s demands to have order and rule. (Phillips, Brian; Ross, Jeremy)
The conflicts between characters in the novel revolve around the characters symbolic meaning. Jack and Piggy are complete opposites and therefore don’t get along. Jack has completely different views and opinions than Piggy because of what they represent, Jack the Id and Piggy the Superego. Jack and Ralph on the other hand seem to get along in the beginning of the novel as Ralph is trying his hardest to do what Jack wants but at the end their conflict is what drives the plot and the story.
Jack is not the only one that is aggressive. His entire hunters are aggressive and are dominated by their aggressive instinct. In the book, even those that were civilized finished turning into savages.
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