I Want It All, and I Want It Now: a Freudian Analysis of The Wild Child

Perhaps one of Sigmund Freud’s most influential theories was his discovery of the id, ego, and superego, the three parts of the personality. Whether or not today’s psychologists accept and practice this theory, the impact it made on the field continues to be felt. The proposal that each person essentially has three different “voices” in their head controlling them, consciously or unconsciously, allowed researchers to examine subjects in a new manner. They could now study the causes of psychological defects through a subject’s personality and ask questions such as the following: are these three psychological components functioning normally? Does one overpower the others? Does this subject display evidence of Freud’s theory? To formulate an understanding of these theories in a historical context, a particular case study patient, Victor of Aveyron, will be examined. His story is told in the 1970s film, “L'Enfant Sauvage” or, “The Wild Child” directed by François Truffaut. While Freud had not yet risen to fame at the time of Victor’s examination, his ideas can be applied to infer what he might have thought about this rare occurrence. By studying Victor’s behavior through his interpretation in “The Wild Child,” Freudian theory can be used to theorize the effects of the lack of human contact in the critical years of childhood development on personality, behavior, and the ability to learn.

Psychology professor Anne O’Dwyer compares the behavior of the id to the chorus of a song by rock band Queen, which goes, “I want it all and I want it now!” Freud’s structure of personality suggests that the id is the first part to develop in humans. It emerges at birth, and is entirely unconscious, says O’Dwyer. O’Dwyer also describes the id as “irrational,” “pleasure-seeking,” and “aggressive.” It does not understand societal rules and simply urges a person to get or do something immediately.

The plot of the film finds Victor living alone in a forest in France. He is discovered one day and promptly hunted, captured, and brought to Paris to be studied as a feral child. When the researchers find their work to be troublesome and pointless, Dr. Jean Marc Gaspard Itard takes him in and attempts to teach him how to be human. Victor certainly exhibits a strong id when he is first living with Dr. Itard; his aggression, selfishness, and irrationality can easily classify him as so. The aggression can be attributed to having grown up in the wild and his adaptation to his environment. Victor has a habit of biting and using his limbs to injure and wrestle with almost anyone who comes near him, which is demonstrated when he is being chased through the town or when the doctor punishes him for completing tasks incorrectly. The same can also be said about his self-interest and lack of consideration for others, as it would have been necessary for him to act this way to survive, e.g. gathering food. But, when examined psychologically, Freud would have said that Victor’s overpowering id was caused by a lack of psychological development. To understand the id about the whole personality, the ego and superego must be introduced.

To balance the chaotic id emerges the ego, typically at 2-6 months old (O’Dwyer). The ego is described as the “id confronting reality” as it realizes it needs to put its urges in check (O’Dwyer). Unlike the id, the ego is rational, and its job is to work “out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society (McLeod).” The ego is half-conscious and half unconscious, and it is the part of one’s personality that is known by other people (O’Dwyer).

Around three years old, the superego begins to appear as a child learns social rules and customs. According to O’Dwyer, these rules ”get internalized to an extreme” and the child starts to be “self-critical.” The superego is mostly but not entirely unconscious, and it causes a person to feel guilty if they act “badly” or against the ideal version of themselves that is created by the superego (O’Dwyer).

A brief analysis of Victor’s behavior concludes that, at the beginning of the film, Victor’s ego and superego have hardly developed. Rarely does Victor display any signs of rationality or self-criticism? This aspect of his personality was almost definitely caused by the delay in his psychological development. Victor was never required to learn societal rules and he surely never needed to follow any. There was no need for the ego to develop because there was no one teaching him that there was a “correct” way to live. The same concept applies to the superego; nothing in Victor’s life made it necessary for him to develop an ideal self and there was no “perfect” version for him to live up to. Freud’s theories also propose that the ego and superego are not inherited and are instead developed after experience in society. While researchers were not certain of when Victor was abandoned, it must have been before he was introduced into any civilized environment where he would have learned societal order. The lack of growth of the ego and superego in Victor’s personality leads him to have a selfish and illogical demeanor, though later in the movie, Dr. Itard’s attempts to teach him about human interactions and practices eventually allowed his ego and superego to grow and take some hold of his behavior.

Victor’s nature undoubtedly changes as he is taught by Dr. Itard. Certain scenes in the movie shows how his superego has grown to the point that Victor wants to please the doctor. Victor appears happy and excited to bring Itard the items that he asks for in one scene of the movie. While it could be inferred that he is really after the reward that comes with each trial, Victor’s emotions suggest that he does in fact care about learning and doing the correct thing. His superego may be instructing him to learn and try his best to receive rewards as well as improve his relationship with the doctor.

There also exists evidence to show that his ego had grown as well. After some conditioning by the doctor, Victor knows to sit at the table and eat with a fork and knife, he knows not to walk on all fours and stand up straight, and he eventually learns to ask for things, specifically milk. All of these situations demonstrate Victor’s ego managing the impulses from the id and superego. He rarely reverts to his primitive manner, and this fact alone provides substantial evidence of the existence and progression of Victor’s ego.

Although Freud had not created his theories involving childhood development at the time of Victor’s introduction into society, his ideas apply with ease and the case provides further evidence for the concepts. Because Victor was abandoned at an early age, he was never able to psychologically develop, leading to overall delayed development. Though, through various methods of instruction Victor did learn some aspects of civilized life, such as wearing clothing and shoes, and even the Latin alphabet. But despite much improvement, Victor was not able to learn speech or language. Psychologists would propose this is because Victor was no longer in the “critical period” of learning, meaning he was past the age at which it was easiest and most crucial for children to learn critical skills such a speech.