As an individual grows, he/she passes through different developmental phases, both physical and psychological. The developmental phases are both at the conscious level and unconscious level. In a conscious state of mind, a person interacts with the society and tends to do real thinking and make decisions accordingly. However, in an unconscious state of mind, it is the impulses and instincts that dictate the human behavior. It would be fair to interpret unconscious state of mind as a natural state of mind, since a human is not aware of the natural instincts and drives. Many psychologists believe the unconscious mind to be made of drives for power, love and other impulses. In John Knowles's novel, "A Separate Peace", characters undergo dramatic transformations. The Id, Ego, and Superego are the three components of human personality and psyche. In the novel, these three personality components are critical. Also, the key concepts of primal fears and repression are operated throughout the text which is the part of the psychoanalytic literary lens. .
According to the Freud's model of the psyche, Id is a component of human psyche which lies entirely under the unconscious state of mind. Id is driven by the pleasure principle, which means it strives for the immediate fulfillment of desires or needs. A primal character that fits through this part is the character of Phineas also known as Finny in the novel. Finny has a very dominating personality. He is selfish in a way that he thinks that he has a hold over Gene and that they do whatever he fancies. Gene takes a notice of this issue, "What was I doing up here anyway? Why did I let Finny talk me into stupid things like this? Was he getting some kind of hold over me?" (Knowles, 32). Gene is perhaps an intelligent student and academically involved, whereas Finny is an athlete and excels in sports. Due to his personality, Gene and other peers get distracted as Finny invites them to his innovative activities, such as blitzball, a game which attracts the peers.
