The Id is the original system of personality. It is the matrix that differentiates the ego and the superego. The Id consists of everything psychological that is present of birth. Id also experiences the increases of energy or uncomfortable states of tension; it will discharge the tension immediately and return the organism’s low energy level. The Id is considered as the unconscious part of person’s personality.
In the case of Anand, he seems to be unconsciously scared of his death. On page 153, for example, he writes, “The walk to death has always been a solitary one.” The word “solitary” suggests the situation that he does not want to experience.
Earlier he decided to go to India (Prashanti Nilayam) to meet Sri Sathya Sai Baba to consult his health (153). This also shows that he was worried about his health (death).
Rohrberger and Woods in their Reading and Writing about Literature also say that the ego is formed as the result of the organism needs for appropriate transactions with the objective world of reality and known as the conscious part of a person’s personality.
It distinguishes between things in the mind and things in the external world. The ego itself the organized portion of the Id and it exist to forward the aims of the Id. As for Watson and Lingren, the s aim is the gratification of its impulses with no sense of morality, logic or unity of purpose.
The major function of the Id is to provide free uninhibited discharge of energy. The ego never becomes completely independent of the Id (46).
As for the ego, we can see how he pretends to be a brave and high spirited man by deciding to travel to a far away place such as India. This gives the impression that he is not afraid of death:
And once again I turned to Sri Sathya Sai Baba ... I sold my car, settled some of my pending bills and with a few hundred dollars left, I took the first available flight to India. (150)
The superego is the moral part of personality, which represents the ideal that strives for perfection rather than the real. It is interpreted to he child by his parents that are enforced by means of the system of rewards and punishment which final purpose is to meet the ideals of society.
The three main functions of the superego are to inhibit the impulses of the Id, to persuade moralistic goals for realistic ones and to strive for perfection. The personality normally functions as a whole rather than as three separate segments. The readers may consider the Id as the biological component of personality, the ego as the psychological component and the superego as the social component as below.
You have a task to accomplish, a mission to fulfill, a long cherish dream to realize…Many centers dedicated to the study, promotion and propagation of ancient sciences will develop around you...And you will serve that reason, that cause, successfully. You shall succeed. (157-158)
Vereshack also said in The Psychotherapy of the Deepest Self that near-death experience could shatter people arrogance and endow them with deep wisdom. This clenched attitude closes, rather than opens, the doors of the mind; only a very few things can change it. Some of them are:
First, when we are absolutely successful in a life-pursuit which comes naturally to us, and then discover emptiness instead of fulfillment, this can cause us to embark upon a new level of search.
Second, when we face absolute failure in our lives and find every single thing crashing down around us, we may finally admit that we have never really been in control of anything, and thus come to approach our growth work with the appropriate set of keys.
Third, a near-death experience can shatter our arrogance and endow us with deep wisdom.
Fourth,in their lifetime some people will have the good fortune to receive from nature a gradual awakening to wisdom without having to do a great deal of specific growth work.
Fifth, some people will have the good fortune to be granted a major SATORI experience (Sudden Illumination) without any conscious preparation at all.
Sixth,for most of us the long, slow work of growth will be necessary before we can achieve real wisdom. (Chapter 25)
Moreover, based on the Katresnanism theory proposed by Drs. Antonius Herujiyanto, M.A., Ph.D from Sanata Dharma University Yogyakarta Indonesia, facing death the person would be more Sumarah (trusting and surrendering) to the Divine Plan in his or her life.