Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory and Child Behavior

This article analyzes how Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory, specifically the components of ego, superego, and id, can be observed in the behavior and personality of children in the book 'I'd Really Like to Eat a Child'. It explores how these components shape the child's desires and decision-making process, and discusses the stages of development outlined by Freud. The article also addresses criticisms of Freud's theory and its limitations.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
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PSYCHOLOGY 2
Introduction
Sigmund Freud in his psychoanalytic theory outlines three primary components that
determine human behavior. These three components include the ego, superego, and id according
to Freud, (2017). The main concern of this theory is to explain how the personality and behavior
of human being shape up because of the unconscious psychological conflicts. Consequently,
some people have raised their concerns concerning Freud’s theory. In their critics, they claim
that Sigmund missed the point because sexuality is the one that plays a vital role in shaping
human being’s personality and behavior. However, Freud insists that the only challenging task
that human beings have is how to balance the three aspects that influence their behavior. The
approach which an individual use to adjust the three component determines how the person faces
the world and solve various issues he or she may encounter.
The first principal component is superego. Superego mainly focuses on morals and social
rules. Morals are the things that an individual considers right or wrong. During child
development, the child would encounter a culture which has its way of judging things that are
wrong or right. From those rules, the child will develop the superego. For instance, some cultures
instruct the children not to speak to anyone they do not know. The second factor is Id. It is
concerned with pleasing of the urges and physical needs of an individual. The aspect works
without an individual notifying it is there. For instance, if an individual’s Id passed another
person taking ice cream, it would automatically take the ice cream without you noticing it. The id
of an individual does not care that it is unfair to pick up something belonging to another person,
however, the only concern of an Id is to pick the material they want. The third factor is the ego.
Ego is less primitive as compared to the Id of an individual. According to Freud, the role of the
ego is to balance the needs of the superego and the id. For instance, if a child is passing an

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individual who is taking sausage, the ego would differ with the Id of the child. The Id will say “I
want the sausage,” but the superego will argue that “It is wrong to pick another person’s
sausage.” The last option for the child would be to go and buy sausage. However, this step would
go for more than fifteen minutes which would be unpleasant. The conflict in these three
components develops gradually in the life of an individual from childhood to adulthood.
However, the development of the conflict will follow certain stages. The stages include oral,
anal, phallic latency and genital. In these five stages, the child would come up with different
types of conflicts. In this assignment, it will make use of the book I’d Really Like to Eat a child”
to analyze the Freud theory.
About the child book
The child book, I’d Like to Eat a child, has three characters which include Achilles,
mama crocodile, and papa crocodile. During the time for breakfast, mama crocodile brings
bananas to consume, however, the event turns out to be challenging when the younger crocodile,
Achilles demands to eat a child. Mama crocodile finds it questioning to solve the stalemate.
However, mama and papa crocodile decide to prepare sausage to Achilles. Unfortunately,
Achilles fails to eat the sausage and demands a child. Papa crocodiles come with an idea to make
a chocolate cake to distract the attention of Achilles become happy on seeing the chocolate,
however, he is not satisfied. He heads to the river to get a child. He is amused by seeing a girl
child in the river. However, the challenge is that the girl is more significant than Achilles. Later,
Achilles runs ack home shouting that he needs to eat bananas to grow bigger.
The interpretation of the book using the Sigmund Freud theory.

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There is clear evidence of the three components that Freud has outlined in his theory which
affect the child personality and behavior. One of the most evident elements is superego which is
concerned with what a group of individuals in the society considers to be right or wrong. For
example, in the family of crocodiles, eating human being is regarded as the order of the day.
Achilles wants to satisfy the urge to feed a child because the parents have been eating human
beings. Even though Mama crocodile and Papa crocodile try to convince their child, it is not
bearing any fruit. The second aspect in the book is the element is the issue of Id. It happens
without the individual noticing. For example, when Archille went to the river to search for a
child to eat, he sees a girl child. The image that comes out on seeing the child is that he has
tasted the child without physically doing the action. He describes the child as beautiful. In this
scenario, the desire of the Archille do not see the child as a more significant object that he cannot
manage, but he satisfies his emotional cravings even before doing the action physically. The last
aspect of the book is the aspect of the ego. Ego has tried to balance the two components, Id and
superego. When Archille wanted to eat the child, it proved significant and his conscience told
him that he could not manage it. The only option left for the crocodile was to go home and leave
the child. He opted to take the bananas in a desire to grow big so that he can eat the child. There
is a certain level of conflict in these desires. One of them is pushing the crocodile to satisfies his
ego while other is calming down the situation. The critical matter is the case is that as the
crocodile grows, the behavior and personality will be different. It will undergo some stages
before he becomes a mature crocodile in the family. The things that Archille has been seeing is
what is influencing his behavior; even the parents try to control the character traits it may not be
easy for the young crocodile to have a new way of life different from what the parents are living.

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When he grows more significant, he will master how to swallow human beings and survive like
the parents.
Conclusion
Over the years, many people have depended on the Freud theory to determine the
behavior and personality of children using the three central aspects of development.
Consequently, other scientists claim that the argument should not limit people’s decision. The
scientists argue that the theory had a narrow focus. Freud did not take in mind the idea of culture,
environment, and sociology. The second critic is that this theory is not scientifically based
because there is no supporting evidence. However, considering the above case, the aspects are
evident in the story. The stages that the crocodile undergoes go hand in hand with this theory. It
is necessary to note that the individual would pass various stages before growing a mature person
who can make crucial decisions in his or her life. The best thing is that even if one goes wrong,
the component of the theory called ego tries to balance everything in life. It is the aspect that is
less primitive as compared to other parts. However, different groups of people consider things
differently. One best thing in another community may be worst in a diverse group. The child
would need to balance all these aspects as he grows up because they are what an individual need
to make a decision.

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References
A Freudian interpretation of “I’d Really Like to Eat a Child” by Sylviane Donnio.
Freud, S. (2017). Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality: The 1905 Edition. Verso Books.