Pincher Martin

Martin’s “centre” is the engine of his self-preservation—the ego that, according to Golding, creates the fantasy dominating the narrative. The novel’s first sentence invokes this “centre”: “He was struggling in every direction, he was the centre of the writhing and kicking knot of his own body” (4). Notice that this refers to Martin as the “centre” while his body seems to exist on another metaphysical plane. This separation between mind and body is a common motif which foreshadows the plot twist at the novel’s end.

After the rock leaves Martin’s consciousness, all that remains are “the centre and the claws” (184), with the claws representing his rapacious appetites. In a Freudian sense, this suggests that Martin’s efforts at self-preservation are ultimately a struggle between his ego and his id.

If the “centre” represents Martin’s ego, then the lobster claws represent his id, the part of the personality that, according to Freud, is the source of emotional, sexual, and physical impulses and desires. Martin’s Navy nickname, “Pincher,” conjures the same claw-like symbolism. Although the nickname applies to all British sailors named Martin, Pincher is particularly fitting for Christopher Hadley Martin, whose appetites consume him.