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kind of energy system, like a steam engine. The conscious and unconscious mind is like a powerful energy system. The personality organization consists of the id,
the ego, and the superego. According to Corsini, it is said that, “Man is a
linguistic beast, and Freud recognized that any comprehensive theory of human behavior must come to grips with this simple fact. This helps explain why
psychoanalysis has always been in the forefront of attempts to relate psychology and literature” 1994: 343. Within personality theory, Freud assumes the
influence of o ne’s id, ego and superego upon the one’s personality. Each is
complex system in its own right and behavior in most situations involves the activity of all three.
In this research, this study applies the Psychoanalysis theory by Sigmund Freud. Thus the theory of the id, the ego, the superego and instinct will be
discussed as follows:
a. The id
When the infant is born, the mind has only one part, the id. The id is composed primarily of two sets instincts, life instincts and death instincts. The life
instincts, termed libido survival, hunger, thirst, self-protection, and sexual desire included all creative, life-producing drives. While the death instincts aggression,
destructiveness and even suicidal are our unconscious wish to die, as death puts an end to everyday struggles for happiness and survival. The death instinct in our
desire for peace, attempts to escape reality through fiction, media, and substances such as alcohol and drugs.
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The id is responsible for our basic drive such as food, sex, and aggressive impulses. It is amoral and egocentric, ruled by the pleasure principle; it is without
a sense of time, completely illogical, primarily sexual, infantile in its emotional development, and will not take “no” for an answer. As stated by Ernest in
Introduction to Psychology: The id consists of the basic biological impulses or drives: the need to eat,
drink, eliminate wastes, avoid pain, and gain sexual pleasure. The id seeks immediate gratification of these impulses. Like a young child, the id
operates on the pleasure principle: it endeavors to avoid pain and obtain pleasure regardless of the external circumstances 1962: 395.
The id is entirely unconscious, having no contact with reality except through the ego. The id attempt to satisfy its needs using primary process
thinking- by simply forming a wish-fulfilling mental image of the desired object for example: forming a mental image of food when we are hungry. The primary
process satisfies motives through imagination rather than in reality. It is supported by Lahey,
“We use the primary process when we daydream about having sex, think about eating chocolate fudge cake, or angrily plan how to get revenge on
the person who embarrassed us yesterday. Dreams also a primary process means of fulfilling motives.” 2004: 468.
Fortunately, during infancy, the period of time when we have only an id, we have adults around who see to it that our needs are realistically and safely met.
As we grow up, our interactions with our parents and other parts of the real world lead us to convert part of the id into two other part of mind-the ego and the
superego-that help us cope more effectively with the world.
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b. The ego