'Where the Id was, there will be the Ego' - Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist and founding father of psychoanalysis, developed the concept that the mind is divided into three sections known as Id, Ego and Superego. The id is the impulse-driven unconscious mind; makes decisions without thinking about the subsequent consequences. The opposite of the id is the superego: it is known as “conscience” because it is guided by morality. Finally, there is the ego: the conscious part of the mind that makes decisions by balancing the id and the superego. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene Forrester portrays all these Freudian concepts of the mind: the id, when it hurts Finny by making the tree branch bounce, the superego, when it feels guilty for its immoral actions, and the Ego, when it tries to avoid its consequences by turning the accident into a joke. All three concepts will be analyzed in this essay. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the novel, Gene's identity makes impulsive and aggressive decisions to "eliminate" his friend Finny, who Gene sees as a threat. In the novel, Gene and Finny form an illusion of companionship, but in Gene's mind there is always a hidden rivalry that persists between them. At first, Gene thinks that these feelings towards Finny are completely normal and will diminish over time. However, as time passes, Gene realizes that these feelings of jealousy are not disappearing, but are instead growing to the point of hatred. It causes a sense of competition within him, which is what essentially causes Gene's id to overwhelm his ego and superego for a brief moment when Gene hurts Finny. When Gene wants to get better at French, Finny upsets these desires and discourages Gene from studying French when he says, "Je ne fret un damn pas di le Français." Also, the night before Gene has a trigonometry test, Finny convinces him to run away to the beach against school rules. Because of this, Gene doesn't have time to study for his next test, which results in Gene failing. For these reasons, Gene begins to believe that Finny is jealous of his academic strength and is taking these actions on purpose to ruin Gene's chances of being valedictorian. This competitive spirit drives Gene away and a part of him, the id, wants to destroy Finny before the competition grows. In view of the tree incident, Gene feels great jealousy towards Finny, and Gene believes that Finny secretly feels the same way. However, when the two are in the tree, Gene sees that Finny has no jealousy or hatred towards him. This leads Gene to realize that he is the only jealous friend, causing him to believe that he is truly a "savage". For a period of time, Gene denied his feelings of hatred and jealousy towards Phineas, but when all the feelings came back to him and he saw how terrible it is, Gene's id calms his desire by making the tree branch jump. 'tree so Finny falls: “Holding tightly to the trunk, I took a step towards him, then my knees buckled and made the branch bounce. Finny, losing his balance, turned his head to look at me with extreme interest for a moment, then fell sideways, broke through the twigs below and hit the bank with a disgusting and unnatural thud.” Because Gene feels threatened by Finny, the Id becomes aggressive to hurt Finny so that Gene can fulfill his desire to be the best, without regard for the later consequences of his actions. In A Separate Peace, Gene demonstrates the Freudian concept of the Superego. because he strives to be the first in his class, he does everything for the good..