Page 99 - Knighted_2018

It has the task of self-preservation. As regards external events, it performs that task by
becoming aware of stimuli, by storing up experiences about them. . . . As regards internal
events . . . it performs that task by gaining control over the demands of the instincts, by
deciding whether they are to be allowed satisfaction. . . . An action by the ego is as it
should be if it satisfies simultaneously the demands of the id, of the super-ego and of
reality—that is to say, if it is able to reconcile their demands with one another. (Outline
14-15)
While the ego is designed to operate as a balance between the id and the superego, the
underperformance of one component demands intervention. Struggling with the fear of losing his
only active parental influence, Conor’s disciplinary superego takes control; the monster as the
superego intervenes to provide the guidance needed to appropriately navigate the situation.
Furthermore, Conor’s increasing frustration about his situation, as well as his attempts to repress
those frustrations, summon the monster to assume the role of the id, to allow Conor the
opportunity to release his anger in a way the ego is ill-equipped to do. The ego acts on reason,
not impulse, and Conor’s reason cannot adequately process his anger and grief, thus requiring the
intervention of both the id and superego to maintain balance.
The fourth and final tale reveals the nature of the unconscious mind, as Conor finally
admits to the truth of his nightmares: that he is desperate for the pain and suffering to be over,
even if it means losing his mother in the process. As the ego, Conor has made conclusions about
the external stimuli of his mother’s illness and the internal instinctive reactions. The monster
assures Conor that “[the] mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day. You wanted her to
go at the same time you were desperate for me to save her. You mind will believe comforting
lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will

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