Introduction
Born of 21-year-old Amalia Nathanson Freud, Sigmund Freud was the firstborn child to his mother, but not to his father. On the 6th day of May, 1856, he arrived into a world that was full of so many complexities, but which would later define his life and this would be great psychiatrist was greeted by the normal hullabaloo that met other infants in the town of Freiberg (Freud, 1900). For most of his infant life, Freud knew more of his mother and Nanny- the old woman who stayed with them- than he knew of his father, since his mother was a second wife. To the young and innocent eyes of the three-year-old Sigmund, there was no way Amalia, his mother, with all the striking beauty and radiance of youthfulness, would be a wife to the forty-four, old-looking Jacob Freud. If anything, Jacob was the best match for Nanny than he was for Amalia. Another thing that kept gnawing at the young mind of Sigmund and that was the social setting in which nature had put him. Emmanuel, the father of John, was too big to be his brother yet he was and John, that playmate who was only a year older, was his nephew (Freud, 1929).
Body
This, as later noted by Sigmund himself, provided a basis for a critical analysis of many aspects of life. This frequent wonderment about why things were the way they were and why some incidences happened the way they did, which was manifested in most of his life, was greatly influenced by his childhood life in the small town of Freiberg. The normal social happenings like the birth of his sister, Anna, and the “disappearance” of Nanny provoked his young mind into thinking so much about the whole aspect of life (Freud, 1977). For instance, at the young age of two and a half, he wondered where the little Anna had come from. Further, with the disappearance of Nanny, the young mind of Sigmund was put in a more complicated situation and became like a caged bird that needed an escape. Thus, was created a setting for the analysis of issues and much probing into situations. Most of his writings drew deep from his childhood experiences. Dreams and fantasies, which were a mental probing and wishes about the physical world in which he lived (Freud, 1922). Besides, an analysis of his early childhood and even his youthful life reveal that his mother was a great aspect of his life and provided most of the ground on which Sigmund’s theories and writings. It should be noted that Amalia was a potent believer in signs and a very superstitious young woman whose premonitions made a departure where reason found a terminus. Thus, when Sigmund was born a very so hairy, his mother made an interpretation of a great man in the infant Sigmund. This belief that went so deep in her was passed on to the young Sigmund and created the environment in which he grew (Freud, 1920). This is depicted in a number of his writings, where he explores the experiences he had as a child growing up in both the small town of Freiberg and when they moved away to Vienna. For instance, at a much later stage when he was thinking about his early days, he notes:
One evening, at a restaurant in Prater… we noticed a man who was going from table to table… Before asking for a subject, he threw off a few rhymes about myself, and said that if he would trust his inspiration, I should probably one day become a ‘Minister’. I can still instinctively remember the impression produced by this second prophecy… (Freud, quoted by Puner, page 2).
It should be understood that the minister being alluded to and the context within which the occupation is talked of by Sigmund shows of dignity and aura of importance that came with it. Therefore, this man created a feeling in the mind of the young boy which always reminded him of the dignity that awaited him. For some reason, he grew up remembering this and always working towards it. He even takes note of this that: “The impression of that time must be responsible for the fact that until shortly before I went to the university, I wanted to study jurisprudence, and changed my mind only at the last time.” (Ibid, page 3). These later “confessions” by Sigmund himself and even his sister, who argues that their mother’s trust in the future of her son had a lot to do with the course taken by him, are enough evidence of how his earlier life influenced his thinking and the approach he took towards issues in life (Freud, 1905).
Thinking of psychology without taking enough time to think of Sigmund Freud would be equal to doing injustice to this great mind of the eighteenth century (Lewis, 1984). Freud’s writings have shaped the thinking in psychology, many of which define the course of psychology itself. Regarded as the father of psychoanalysis, he developed many theories, inclusive of the most acclaimed “structural theory”. In this theory, which he discusses at length in his writings encompassed in The Ego and the Id (1923), he explores the question of human consciousness. It is worth noting that he had a great interest in understanding the human mind and as result, poured many hours on psychiatric writings of preceding psychiatrists and other psychoanalysts. That was how he structured the “structural theory”. The three aspects of human mind structure, as identified by Freud were the Id, the ego and the superego (Strachey, 1966).
The Id, representative of the “unconscious” mind, is a depiction of the different aspects in the life of an individual which he does not recognize immediately. This means that they are some form of “drives” which are not so evident at every level or point in the life of the individual (Freud, 1950). The ego is representative of the conscious mind, where reality about aspects of life is recorded. Here, an individual finds true identity of things and situations. It is at this particular level that all the three levels intertwine, to give reconciliation reality, society (superego) and nature (Id). The superego, as the preconscious part of the mind, is representative of the “memories” of an individual. That is, the things which he or she is not currently thinking of but which he has the ability to remember (Breuer & Freud, 1982).
Making an analysis of the “Id” reveals that Freud’s argument of this level of the human mind was that the intrinsic and inborn drives seek to be gratified by the actual world. These drives, he argued, must be immediately gratified, failure to which they would build pressure to create awareness in the conscious mind. The drives or “instincts” identified by Freud as originating from this level are the life drives and the death drives (Webster, 2002). It should be clear that the drives that help the individuals to survive, by causing forces for survival needs like food and water, are what he termed as the life drives. Besides, attached to the life instincts are the forces for species’ life. It is rather amusing to note that each individual has a “hidden” wish to die, and it is this wish or drives that he called the death drive. The human mind unconsciously associates peace and rest with death. That is, each individual, “at the back of his or her mind”, is always aware that in death, all the pain and suffering in this life will come to an end; giving rest to his tired body. Among the drives that originate from the Id are the sex drives (Freud, 1939).
Man is a social being who is impacted by the social surrounding in the form of morals and expectations. These social settings are what make the superego (Freud, 1997). Therefore, the superego counters the drives generated by the “Id”, prompting the “ego” to “mediate” between the two to reach an amicable agreement. Since the superego presupposes the Id and the “ego”, it generates a basis for probing into our desires in relation to what we hold as morally upright. As a result, aspects as guilt generate in case our desires “overstepped” on our moral beliefs and this is where the “ego” mind “steps” in. as earlier noted, its main function is to find a better way of satisfying the desires within without out-rightly compromising our moral beliefs. It creates a real situation that sets the mood for the need to be satisfied (Freud, 1923).
The theory about the structure of the human mind stands out as an important bargaining chip for any psychiatrist today and which has been incorporated even in other disciplines like philosophy. Human consciousness is clearly explained and understood today within the premises of these writings by Sigmund, but which are not the only prominent writings by him (Jones, 2000). Besides The ego and the Id is another work which he called The Future of an Illusion. In these writings, Sigmund explores the question of God and religion and it should be noted that he draws insights significantly from his childhood perception of him and his father (Makari, 2008). He is categorical that the child, which is itself helpless, depends upon a more “stronger” being (father) for protection. However, even as it grows, this child both admires and fears this stronger being. With time, it learns that it can’t keep being a child and therefore creates “other objects” around itself. Given that this child is now a big individual with a feeling that his father cannot keep protecting him, he turns to his “created objects” in order to guard him against some external forces. Therefore, according to him, religion is an object upon which the seemingly unsafe individual seeks protection (Freud, 1927).
The arguments presented by this psychiatrist are the basis of thought when analyzing most aspects of life. In this essay, it is perpetually held that the writings by Sigmund, especially those that dealt with the human mind and the question of God are true representations of realities and human situations. Further, it should be noted that the argument about libido as being a desire for sex and which, as Freud put it, makes sex “the most social of all needs” cannot be more true. It can be argued that Sigmund had a way of bringing “the other side of the picture” into a clear view to present a reality about a human phenomenon and this was greatly stimulated by his childhood life (Boeree, 1996).
Conclusion
It was noted that Sigmund Freud developed a probing mind into issues when he was still very young, looking deeper into the situations around him. His social environment, which was greatly created by his mother, was quite significant in shaping the course of life. It was realized that most of his writings drew insights from his childhood days, an example of which is The Future of an Illusion.
Further, it is worth noting that during his adult life, the aspect of deep thought was much evident and which, as he argued, gave him the time to look into issues that made his environment. Sigmund, as a psychiatrist, developed so many theories during his adult life and which aided in the search for answers on issues in life. One of the theories is the “structural theories”, detailed in his work, The Ego and the Id (1923), which is a much-acclaimed piece of work- just like the author himself was.
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