fcnrrnc, or i)catlr irr tlrt' l,ilc of tlrt' ()lx'sriorrirl
Otr r knowlcdgcbcgir r su'it lr ; r st or l'- - : rbit sir r r plislir;',r lr r l slr r pr r l of f lr r '
6 ferome, or Death in the Life of the Obsessional
BY SERGE LECLAIRE
If there wereeven lesssnow than there is, and if I had pursuedthe taskwith more
fervor, I could have presentedyou with a nice piece of work this evening, well
constructedwith the neat and cleanlines of a temple portal,surroundedby grass
and flowers.But you will excuseme, the work is still under constructionand
there is some rubbishon the lawn.
AlreadyI think about the epigraphthat will greetthe visitorto this temple,
and I will have to choosebetweenthe two texts that have been my guides.
"Above all, obsessionals need the possibilityof death to resolvetheir con-
flicts," wrote Freud in the caseof the Rat Man. And you will rememberthis
delectablesentencethat we find a few lines aboveit: ". . . and in his imagination
he constantlykilled peoplein orderto be able to expresshis sinceresympathyto
their relatives. "
The other epigraphI extractarbitrarilyfrom a seminar of May 1955. It
beginswith a questionposedby Oedipus:"ls it when I am finally nothing that I
become really a man?"
"lt is there," J. Lacan tells us, "that the next chapterbegins:beyond the
p leas ur epr inc ipl e ."
Lackingan edifice,we need at leastan outline. This is what I propose-a
pencil mark on tracingpaper, a blueprint. You be the judge.
In the first part of this report, we will talk of what we know, or at leastof
what we do. In the secondI will try to reconstructmy dialoguewith ferome,
taking care to replacemy silencesand my exclamations,my "yeahs" and my
"hmms" with more elaborateformulas.In a third part I will proposean outline
that can guide our future work, if at that time we have the least desire to
undertakeanotherprojectlike this one.
Sergeleclaire is a psychiatristpracticingpsychoanalysis in Paris.This paperwas first read before
the Soci6t6Frangaisede Psychanalyse on May 28, 1956. lt wasfirst publishedas"La Mort dansla vie
de I'obs6d6,"in the journal Ia Psychanalyse 2 (Paris:PressesUniversitairesde France, 1956), pp.
I I l-40. It was republishedas "f6r6me, ou la mort dans la vie de I'obs6d6," in Serge Leclaire,
Ddmasquerle liel (Paris:Editions du Seuil, l97l), pp. 12l-46.
94
kind we hear from the cotrclror rcad irr tlrc l)al)cr.
It concer nsan analystof gr eatr cr t own,wlr o lr <lr r af r t cr lr or r ris gt 'r r t 'r or r s
enought o r eceiveand t o list ent o his illust r icnrclicnt s s.( ) r r c day hc wasr r lit t lc
wearyand did not get up from his easychair. A chamringsccrctury,rrscdto tlris,
usheredeach patientout at the end of his session.It was fivc o'clock,:rntl tlrt'
obsessional who waslying therewasspeakinga greatdeal. Whcn thc scssionw:rs
over, the patient,particularlysatisfiedwith himself,concludedwith thcscwords:
"l think this has been a good session."Then, echoing the words habitrr:rlly
spokenby the analyst,he added,"We are goingto leavethingsthere." Hc lookc<l
at the therapist,who appearedto be colder than usual;he seemedto bc aslccp.
But no, he wasverypale, reallycold. The patientwasconcernedand sunrrrrorrcd
the secretary,who becameagitated.They calleda colleague,who ran riglrt ovcr,
listened,and said that the analysthad died three hours earlier.
This story,known asthe storyof the five o'clockpatient (thusavoidingrrsing
a name that would refer to what is in question), has been used to attack
psychoanalysis. But why disdainit? Let us stopfor a moment and askoursclvcs
about its meaning.
I agreethat there are more witty stories,but this one has the merit of bcing
"striking."I do not know its origin for sure,but I would wagerthat it wasborn orr
the couch. Since its invention, I think that all the patientsin the world havc
learnedit or have reinventedit and told it as though it were theirs. I havc hcartl
that one day about five o'clock,while one of our masterdidacticianswas rclax-
ing, as one shouldat that time, cradledby the softphilosophicalmurmuringsof
his wisestudent,he stoodup all of a suddenand, just atthe punch line, scowlcd
and said, "Aha, you find that funny?" to which the imperturbablestudcrrtirrr-
swered:"Yes, why?"
But enoughof diversions.We know what it meansto speak;let trsanalyz.c.
It is certain that the issuein the storyis a particularform of the fantasyof tlrc
analyst'sdeath, and this appearswith a remarkableconstancyin otrr paticrrts.
What doesthis innocent fantasysignifu, if we can put it that way?Yotr know tlrc
answeras well as I do and as well as the patient does, for he no lesstharr wc is
fully informedof what is written in our now classicliterature.I will renrindyotr,
then, of the differentkeysthat we habitually useto understand-if in fact it is :r
questionof understanding-what our patient is telling us whcn hc spcirksof
death.
In the first place,it is clear enough that in imagining trsdcad, hc warrtsto
ki l l us. "You want t o kill m e" is t he r esponse of t hoscwho t r r r dcr st an<l. 'l'lr osr '
who are nlore cleverwill ask,"Haven't you evcrdrcanrcdthat yorrrfatlrcrlratl :r
96 Nerrrosis r)7
ferome,or Deathin thc Life of the Obscssional
fatal accident?"or elsethey will employ a ruse:"You were imaginingthe other
orl r groupt o hear . I t will be vcr y inst r t r ct ivc.
Ar r ur r alystvcr
, v cr gr t 'r ic'r r t 'tlr'r:l,r s
day that I had a beardlike your father!"It is certainthat with this storyour patient
the techn iqueof r epeat ing t he lastwor d of his pat ient 'sphr asc,r t nt il onc'r l; r vlr r . '
manifestshis aggressiveness in the transferenceand that he wishesfor our death
echoesthe "kerplunk" that concludesthe ultinratcacting orrt.
as he did that of his father-unless, of course,he fearsit. Any informed patient
We seemto believe,rightly or wrongly,that the analystshotrlclhavctlrt' l:rsl
will explainthis to you himself.
word. The exampleof the crocodileis nonetheless interesting,f<rrit corrjrrrcsrrlr
The storyof the five o'clock patient confirms other elementsof our knowl-
around silence,sleep,and death a seriesof themesfamiliar to thc intcrprctcr:
edge:for example,that the analystis a gentlemanwho is often taciturn, saysvery
objectification,"anality" (l referto the black man), ambivalencc,idcntific:rtiorr,
little, and from time to time maintainsa deathlysilence.Freud reminds us of
aggressiveness-passiveness, incorporation,and voyeurism. Each of thcsc kcys
this in "The Theme of the Three Caskets":in dreams,mutenessis the usual
could guide us in formulatingan interpretationthat would retainthc valrrcof rr
representationof death. Certain patientswhose wit is especiallypointed even
mythic explanation.
insinuate that the psychoanalystsleepswhile they speak,and the story reminds
Until now I have wanted to do nothing more than remind you of tlrc
us, as doesthe canon of Haydn, that sleepis a brief death.
frequencyand banality of these fantasiesof the death of the analyst-whiclr
Often Jerometalks to me about that-about sleep, that is; I will tell you
patienthas neverput you in an auto accident?-and evokeat the sametinrc orrr
more later. But Jeromehimselfcan fall asleepon the couch when, out of breath
most common waysof understanding what relatesto death.
he renouncesreasonin orderto stophis "echo chamber"from resonating.(That
It would seemthat when the practicinganalysthearsthe word "death" or
is his name for his cayum, whose permeabilityconcernshim a greatdeal.) A
finds it symbolizedin his patient'sdiscourse,he appealsautomaticallyto onc of
long sigh and a pausesuspendhis vocalizedcommentaryon his images.I sigh
the followingthreekeys:desireand fearof death,identificationwith the dead,or
also,relieved(in silence),and I open my secondear:for the lasttwo weekshe has
symbolicrepresentation of death.
beendoing everythinghe can (monotonouslydroningon)to makeme fall asleep.
Then, accordingto his tasteor his humor, he interpretsit of necessity in orrc
Then the word "crocodile"comesto him, like that, out of thin air; and he does
or the other of the three registersdesignatedby the keys.Let us againlook closcly
not know why. Yes,it is crocodileleather,and he doesnot like it. He remembers
at each of thesethree perspectives.
a documentaryfilm. In it thereis a crocodilethat seemsto be asleep,floatinglike
First, desireand fearof death.What is principallyin questionis a dcsircto
a dead tree trunk, and then in an instantit opensits jawsand swallowsa black
murder, desire to murder the father, that is to say, to bring about a dcatlr.
man in Iesstime than we need to say it. . . . Naturally, Jeromedid not seethe
Everyone nowadaysknows, after the shortestperiod of analysis,that hc lras
scene of "incorporation";it was cut out of the film. But he knows that the
desiredto kill his father and to sleepwith his mother. We will return to tlris
imperturbablefilmmaker kept his camera fixed on this sceneand ate it all up
point, which is of major importance.Freud reminds us in Totem and Tabool
with his glasseye, not missinga morselof the action.
that in obsessional neurosis,"at the root of the prohibitionthere is invarial>ly:r
The moral is: playingdead can permit one to eat the other.
hostile impulse-against someone the patient loves-wish that that pcrsor)
Crocodile. . ., y€s. Crocodile leatherlike that which is on your notebook;I
should die." He also tells us that the fear of one's own death and thcn of thc
do not like this leather.
death of othersis only the consequence of this evil desire.
So be it, perhapsI am the crocodile.But after all, and here we touch on
"We admit," he writes,"that this tendencyto kill really exists."
identification,why should it not be he, the patient, who is the ilead tree tnrnk,
Thus the tendencyto kill, which was immediatelyconfusedwith aggrcs-
sagelylying down, sometimessilent, even asleep,like tl'reanalyst?Why w<-xrld
siveness, constitutesthe root of everythingrelatedto this perspective : nrtrrclcrof
this inert and menacingthing not be he?
the father, fear of one'sown and the other'sdeath, neurotic fear of dcath, an<l
We know that the analystkeepssilent, but he also has patientswho play
guilt relatedto the evil desire.
dead. . . and who sayso. This game can continue for a long time.
Under a secondheadingwe can group everythingrelatedto thc tlrcrnc of
Happily, traditionsaysthat the imperturbableanalysthasthc lastworcl.'l'o
this I will tell you anotherstorythat I think I wasonc of thc first of
demonstrate
l . F'rer rd,' I' otemand' l ' aboo,S .Il . 13, p. 72.
 9tJ
Ncrrrosis fer'rrrc, .r l)c'llr i' llrt. l.ifc ,f tlrr.()trscsri.rrat rrl)
idcrrtificati,rrwitlr thc dcad. The Fretrdiarr
source is Totem and -I,aboo,a.d a p r o v c r b , "'l 'o th i n k a l r o r r t so r n ctl r i r r g ;r stl r o r r g l r
especially"Mourning'and Merancholy."2F'orthe i t u ,c.r t.r l t.r r l l r (,,u lr r r 'lrnr ( , ; ur \
moment, however,what con_ t h a t o n e d o cs r r o t th i n k a b .r r t i t a t a l l ) . Ii r cr r cl
cerns us is best found in a text by Fenichel * ,r .tc tl r i s i r r l 9 l 5 ir r "( ior r sir lt . r ; r -
that summarizesthe common t i o n s o n Wa r a n d D e a th ."
psychoanalytic "knowledge":"All of this gives
evidenceof an identificationwith It was also Freud who a few yearslater introdtrccd
the deadperson'subiectivelyperceivedas a c<lrrcc;>t
tllrt rrrrsl
an oral incorporationoccurringon the analystshavereducedto the uselessness
samelevelasin psychoticdepression of a theoreticalcxcrcsccnccthatcan
but of lesserintensity."And ,,in summaryit
may be statedthat mourning is characterizedbyan disturba nice and simplepractice.Even todaythere 'rrly
are thoscwh' bclicvcirr tlrc
ambivalentintrojectionof the deathdrive only in the sameway that they betievedin
Iost obfect'' ' ' " In this perspectivewe SantaClarrs,i' rcvcrc.cc
can surely probe the meaning of the to the fancy and the obstinacyof the old man.
concept of identification.We speakunhesitatingly
of identification with a dead But here we arriveat a point beyondour knowledge.
parent' a brother, or a sister.we could
alsostudylb"yond mythologicalillustra-
tion), everythingthat is coveredby the notion Let us stop then and starton another tack.
of introiection:introjectionand We return to our everydayexperience.
incorporation,partialintroiection,alliance
of the introjectedobjectwith the ego
or the superego,a whole seriesof problems
that we leaveto one sidetoday. For a moment I thought I would follow a friend's
we will not stop, either, to question the suggestionand exanrine
work of mourning, on which the clinical applicationof the function of the dummy
D' Lagachehascontributedan ethnological in bridge.sI renornced
study that follows the Freudian tra- this, first, becauseI fearedit would not be a sufficiently"serious,,
dition faithfully'3 He has promisedus the subjectfor a
clinical complementvery shortly.a scientificmeeting, and second,becauseI am a
Finally, under a third heading,we gather terrible bridge player.This, I
everythingthat psychoanalytic admit, is regrettable.Reflect for an instant on the
experiencehastaught us about the symbolic exemplaryfunction of thi.s
equivalences for death:thus as we dummy: incontestably,to use the terms of
havealreadymentioned,there are silenc., J. Lacan, he is the fourth persor,
,r..i, immobirity, but there are arso whosepresenceis blinding; h. is laid out, entirely
references to "the other side," to the "beyond" or,.other exposed,closed,finishcd,
shore,,ofthe river, and complete;he is the only personwe see in such a state
to the kingdom of the dead. The dead of nakedness.He is thc
are laid out, as corpses,more or less dead,but it is preciselybecausehe is seenas laid
gnawed awayat, and as we seein statues out and completethat thc play
from the end of the fifteenth century, is organizedaround him. He is the declarer'spartner,
thereare skeleton,skull, sickle,and chariot. and the defender.s arc
we would add to this what we have situatedin relation to him, playing on his strength
learned about funeral rites. But again, or weakness-becausehe has
we wiil not foilow this path today. strengthand weakness'even when dead--depending
If I neglectsuch enticing subiects,if t only on whether the livi'g dc-
make fleetingreferenceto what fender plays before or after him.
you were perhapswaitingto hear about,
this is becausepsychoanalysts, with the
exceptionof Freud, have been principally interested we will leavethe bridge tabreand return to the
couch.
in the theme of death, as One day ferome wasin good humor and wastalking
though what matteredwas to veil death in about the artful way t;c
themat izingit. But we proposethis English had of ridding themselvesof their assassins.
evening to reintroducethe questionof death, In England they ha'g
as it is posedfor the obsessional. them' ' ' ' You know the feelingsthat ordinarilyaccompany
Somewill think that this is a mere quibble thesecapitalthcnrcs,
over termsand that the question but moststrikingto Jeromearethe judge'swords
of deathcan only be the theme of a dissertation: when he passes sentence: ...
this much is certainlyevident. . . is
But it is preciselvthis veiling of the question condemnedto be hangedby the neck until dead.,,
that we *rn, ," ;;;;;: i tr,rt " W el l ,"f er om e adds,"f or m e it is ast hough
the difficulty beginshere. "a-it som eonehad saidt o nr c
day, 'You will live until dead.,,, ''c
we tend to useall our force to put deathto the
side, to eliminate it from our
lives' We havetried to throw a veil of silence Jeromelivesunder the weightof this condemnation.If it is obviousthat
over it, and we haveeven imagined all
of us will live until dead, it is no lessstrangeto hear
it recalledwhen wc w,rrltl
2. F r e u d , " M o u r n i n g a n d M e la n ch o ly,,, ratherforgetabout it. Hearingit as a deathsentence
S.E. 1 4 , p p . 2 4 3 _ 5g. is even more srrrprisirg,.s
3' ".f, Travail du deuir,".i" R"u"; though it had beenaddressed
i;;gaise de psvchanaryse 4 (r97g), pp. 693-70g. to Adam himselfin the gardenof Ede., wlrcrrl,,vc
pathologique,"in r'a Psvchaiatyse z (Pirrs'ir;; Universitalresdc Francc, r956), p1>.
or_tr'+.11o'"il
5' Ifrr F.rcr rc htl rc w .rd frrrthc dtrtrrny i n bri dge
i s l e mort,w hi c h l i tc ral l y,rc ar)s ,.4c a<rrarr.,,l
l
I (X) N(.rrr()sis or l)c:rllrirr llrt' l,ilc ol tlrt'( )lrscssiorrirl
fcrorrrc, ll)l

wast hc onc who a te th c a p p l c .' l ' h c n , th c Bi b lc says," tl rci r cycsw ' crco;> cncd, w ' cl rac occlt
l siortro r ct r r nrt o it scvcr alt ir r r cs,1>r ccist :'lr
r s; r lor r tlr slr ) n( '( )rrr , , . l. r l
and they knewthey werenaked."And the h,ternalin his angersaidto nran, "lt is poi t-tt,which will alwayslt avcat t ir r cdt t ciblvr r r vst cr iorrrrsspct t .
through work that you will draw your food all the daysof your life . . . until you W e f ind ot t r selvesin a vastr oon)sur nr t t nclccl llv a covcr crg: l r llcr rllr r r llt ', r r lr
return to the soil from which you came.. . ." Adam knew it becauseGod told to a loggia:the atm<lsphere is chiaroscrlro.Bornc by f<rrrrnlcn iur ()lx'n srr
him: "You will not eat of the tree of knowledgeof good and evil, for the day you cophagusadvances;up closewe clearlyseea perfcctlycortscn'ccl rrrrrrrrnrv irr itr
eat of it, that day you will die." Now why does Jeromethink of himself as wrappings.But suddenly,as the processionadvancc.s, the mumnty liqualics.All
condemned like Adam: You will live until dead? And why does he live in a that is left in the sarcophagus is a red juice whosehorrifuingaspcctis vcilc'rllrv
perpetualdungeon, expiatinghis life unto death?This is one questionI have the certaintythat thesearebut the unguentsthat had servedto cnrbalnrtlrc l>orlr'.
askedmyself,and otherswho havebeen interestedin the world of the obsessional Such is the dream of the mummy.
have askedit, too. We are going to linger a while with this dream, using it to prrrsrrc'tlrt'
Certainly we can find in ]erome the theme of the death of the father, fully analysisof the implacablecondemnationto live.
developed.He lived his first yearsin the shadowof his father'sabsence.Jerome's Jeromesaysthat this dream is very old. He brings it to me witlr all tlrc
fatherwasfightingthe Germansat the time. He killed in order not to be killed, objectivityand indifferenceof an impartial observer;has he dreanredit scvcr:rl
and Jerome'smother fearedfor her husband'slife, naturally enough. The father times,or hashe rememberedit many timesto feedhis fantasies? He cannotsrry'.
camebackfrom the war, gassed, tired, and diminished,althoughaliveenoughto He does remember that this dream precededor followed a visit to tlrc
give Jerome a little sister three years later. His sister was born as black as a departmentof Egyptianantiquitiesat the Louvre; he had for a long tinrc clcsirt'tl
negress.. . or as black as somethingelse. Her abundantblack hair fascinated to have a mummy. Moreover,Egyptianhistoryinterestshim, as doesanvtlrirrg
everyone.Jeromewould have much preferredto seeher dead;shewasan object elsethat can clarifuthe problemof origins.ferome likesfamily treesanclgrlrr<l
to put in a box or to burn, and he has reportednumerous fantasiesattestingto historicalsyntheses. He wantsto know preciselyof what lineagehe is thc firrrrl
this. Later he killed her in his memory, purelyand simplyby forgettingher. This term, the result. He regretsnot having a galleryof ancestorswhoseportraitslrt'
we found after a few months of analysis. can see,so why not RamsesII, who is the mummy.
It is no less evident that ferome's progresswas marked by his taking the He also evokesthe mysterioussubterraneanpassages of the pyranrirls:ut'
form, appearance, and voice of his father,this insteadofbecominghisson,ashe must add that when he was twelve he was very interestedin walking tlrrorrglr
would surelyhave wished.Thus he told of a particularlydramatic scene:he was catacombsand grottoes.He alwaysdreamsof subterraneancitiesand t:rstcs;rrr
twelve or thirteen and had found an old revolver. There was a discussionat anxietyborn of perplexitywhen in his fantasyhe finds himselfat somcsrrlrtt'rr;r
dinner, a dispute with his father, who broke down in tears. That day Jerome nean crossroadswhere sevenmysteriousdoors open.
swore to himself never to opposehis father for the rest of his life. But he has talkedto me most often about the surpriseand satisfl:rc'tion lrt'
Finally, during the first year of analysis,ferome lost his father, who had for feelsin contemplatingthe mummy in its human appearance.; witncssto :r vt'r
a long time beendying of cancer.feromewasresigned,sometimesanxious,ashe tiginouspast,immobile, protected,conserved,it is the very imageof thlt rr'lritlr
awaitedthis end. Looking at his fatheron his deathbed,he noticed one last time endures.
how well he had succeededin reproducinghis father's image. The father was In anotherdream he represented the sourceof his fascination:in :rrrcrror
buried in the family crypt, which our patienthad straightenedup beforehand,by mous grotto he discovereda splendidblack marble statueof a laid-otrtcorpst',
reducing the number of corpsesthere. and he was ecstaticcontemplatingit. It wasthe very image of the perfcctiorrof rr
We will not stop here to draw a hastyconclusion. realized,definitiveform, a form that ignorestime. In anotherdreanrlrc suvvrr
I would ratherlike to take this opportunityto analyzethe attitudeof f erome warrior who had found the ideal protection:he was transformedirrto :r nriur
beforethe corpse,and to do so I will takea childhooddreamthat Jeromebrought coveredwith a tar, a perfectweather-resistant armor, and-what is sorrrt'tirrrcs
me during the first month of analysis.The dream had impressedhinr a great more useful-he could resistmurderousprojectiles.
deal, and it seemsthat he has neverforgottenit. During the restof the trcatrnent ferome often askshimself about motion, and the inrageof tlrc nnnnrnv
102 Ncrr.rsis
aninratedby tltosc who carry it rcpres'nts for hinr the excellenceof passivc
movement,where one is entirely subn-ritted tcl others.
This would evidentlybe the placeto talk aboutthe complexmovementsof a
man in a train, and especiallyof a man in his car; everyautomobiletrip, Jerome
says,represents the possibilityof a fatal accidentat the sametime that it givesthe
satisfaction of finding oneselfin an enclosedspace.But it would take too long
here to discussman's motor complex or his motor. I prefer Iooking at the
suggestive imagethat Jeromebringsme: "For me to keepgoing, I must turn at
3,000rpms." And when he says"for me to keepgoing," he expresses
his concern
that this coherence,the unity that he holds onto, will dissolveitselfinto a state
that will not merelybe fragmentation.Turning at 1,000 rpms is for him a vital
necessitybecausehe thinks that this rhythm gives him the appearanceand
propertiesof a solid. "lf I stop for an instant," anotherpatienttold me, "l am
afraid I will turn to dust," and he adds,"this dust that we are made of."
Whether it concernsthe constraintof internal movement or the passivityof
externalmotility, of one'sdisplacementin space,this movement,which is called
the image of life, is alwayssuffered.
And so it goesfor the rest of ferome's life. He lives by proxy: he loves to
organize-this is his job-and to activatethe companieshe visits, to organize
meetingsand trips, to stageevents.He is readyfor everything,providing he does
not participate in the event itself. Like Iconepherous,whose fantasy of the
enchantedcity I reportedelsewhere,6 he is aliveonly when insidethe wallsof the
city, and his horror beforethe real is sacred."l was next to a lake," Jerometells
me one day. "The placewas lovely, but I wasinsensitiveto it. Believeme, I am
more moved by a beautiftrl postcardor by the photos of my trip."
You might say, why remind us of what we know to exist in every obses-
sional:their tastefor statues,their problemswith cars,or their taking vacations
with a Leica?It is preciselybecausewe know this too well.
Thus on a hot day when the air is immobile, the water gamesof a sleepy
park seemto be paintedgarlands.But if the wind rises,you will think, if only for
an instant, that an indiscreteeraserhas distortedthe linear ordering of the
drawing,beforeyou rememberthat thesegamesare an animatedmovement.
Nothing appearsto be more immobile than lconepherous's city of ferome's
subterraneanpassages. There is wall after wall with steel doors that open and
closelike clockwork.Nothing enterswithout being controlled,predigested,ready
to be assimilated into this universeof for,ms.It is at the heartof this world tlrat wc
6. SergeLeclaire, "La fonction imaginairedu double dans la ndvroscobscssiorrcllc
." h l,,ntre-
tiens psychiatriques
4 (Parii: L,,ditionsdc I'Archc, 1958), pp. lg7-220.
()lxcssional l()1
fcrcnte, or l)cath in thc l.ifc of tlrc
as t hc r r lt ir r r : r tjcwcl
fi nd thc sa r cophagus c casc;it is opct r ,wc sc( 't lt ct t t t t t t t t t n',
the corpsethat hasretained its hunran appcarancc, anclit is bcatrtifrtl,rcussttrittg,
nicely envelopedin cloths.
Watch out, Jerometold me, we are at the edgeof thc unnanrablc;only u
frail bag of skin separates him from horror. This is what he tells ntc cvclr lrtorc
clearly in a more recent dream that I offer to you without preanalysis:
A man is standing,on the bridge of a ship, and he will be killcd
'becausehe knows.'I leaveso as not to be seen. I am annoyedbecatrsethc
corpsewill be discovered, and I will havesaidnothing;his datebook,sinrilar
to mine, remainswith his things. Then his bloatedcorpseis found in thc
middle of a boat filled with water and mud. They try to get him out, btrt
thosewho are carryinghim are hamperedby a labyrinth of woodenplanks.
They bring him from one side of the boat to the other. He is bloated,stiff,
blackened,and very ugly to see,and he stinks.At any moment he may fall
apart. Impossibleto get out. The corpseblocksthe way out of the labyrinth.
I am nauseousand readyto vomit. I wake up with my body twisted.
At the heart of this world we find a fragile bag of skin, ready to fall apart.
Now, if we have reachedthis place, it is becausewe knew how to wait and
becausewe did not try to understandtoo much on the way. We could have becn
divertedduring long sessionsby dreamsand fantasiesof scatteredmembers,of
handsand feet cut off, of ovensand rancid odors.There were plenty of penises,
cut offby a fatherwhom Jeromewould haveliked to seeas menacing.All of this
was intended for the psychoanalyst,who is supposedto find it terrific. For ottr
part we talked about it courteously,correctly, indifferently;his anxiety was not
there.
It eruptedin anotherplace, asyou can guess.We were in the fifth month of
analysiswhen one day he wasspeakingabout"incommunicability,"of the hiattrs
separatingtwo bodies.The words we use to communicate are only vibrations<lf
sounds:he feelshimself isolated,void, cold, immured without anythingtruthftrl
to say.To seehis father die, he confided later, to seesufferingflesh, even in thc
movies,to hear a cry (which is not speech)from someonecomplainingof his
agony-all this is simply intolerable.This day he had spokento me in a tonc that
was betweenreportingand confessing,emotionless.He was wishing to bc crt-
tirely transformedthrough analysisso that he could accedeto communication;
this was his only true speech,and it was heard.
L,eavingmy office,he wasgoingto seehis wife, who had just becn opcratcd
on f<rra spinalproblem.But on the streethe wasliterallythrown to thc grorrrrdby
an atroci o r r pain
s in his belly, in t hc m iddle of his int cst incs.Flc got t t p at t d

I0 4
N (.rrr(,si s
co l l aps c dolt a bet tc h ,s i l c n t;l ri sc rtti rcb c i n g w a sc al l ccli nto qrrcsti on,arrrlf< rr:r
b ri ef ins t anthe s awh i m s e l fd y i n g .T h e n , s u rmo u nti nghi s pai n, he spl i t hi nrscl f
from it, accordingto a familiar technique,and draggedhimself to the hospital
wherehis wife was.The doctorexaminedhim and concludedthat he had had an
attackof nephriticcolic, all the time admiring the patient'scourage.There was
no antecedent,and the x rays showednothing. There was no repetition of the
incident.
He told me about this incident at the next session.
C)neday he wasseizedby horror afterhaving almostfallen asleepduring a
session.The noiseof a motorcyclepassingunder the window made him jump
up; he felt it asa force breakingout of and tearinghis stomach.He continued to
evoke the times when he awoke by jumping in the air. If he does not feel
reassembled, together,in one piece, he is invaded by panic.
In his dreamsalso,abandoningthe traditionaltheme of castration,he saw
an open coffin containing his dead father, who revived for an instant to say to
h i m , " Look , it ' s y o u ."
Nonetheless, as I have told you, Jeromewas not "impressionable":
devoted himself without hesitation to reducing the number of corpsesin the
family crypt. A corpseis nothing but a thing, an object like another, he tells
me. Freshcorpseor dust, it is of no matterto him; but the intermediarystagesare
literally intolerable.When he felt himself captured, he saw them as frozen
massespiled up like boards."lt left me cold," he added.
But the atrocity he imaginesto be the worst is finding all of a sudden, in
opening a closet,a formlessthing, an unknown, unidentifiedobfect that sur-
prises you before it can be named "corpse." He adds that he can look at a
pyramid of corpsesin full daylight, but discoveringone of them in a cave or
crypt, a namelessthing with an uncertainform suddenlyrevealedby the light of
his lamp, is preciselywhat he must avoid at all costs.
I agree that these are not pleasantsubjects,and you will excuse me for
having quoted ferome textually. Clinical work, for which we are so avid, is
demanding!
So we find ourselvesfacedwith the purple unguentsthat servedto embalm
RamsesII.
I will spareyou more crude imagesafter I have noted a time when Jerome
steppedoff a streetcaronly to put his foot down and slip, not in what you think,
but on a pile of tripe. For him this evokedthe picture of a fetus soaking in a
bottle. . . . We'll stop there.
Now we can understanda little betterwhat is surroundedby the rampartsof
the city and the steeldoorsof the subterraneangalleries. Perhapsit is not outside
()l trt' rs tottl tl l lls
ft'rotrrt', or l )t' rtl l r i rr tl rt' l ,i l t' ol l l rt'
ol tl rcse l t hr cult l u sc<lt n'livt , t 'r t 't t lurt (t l'(u) r1t t <lgc
u' r r / / .tsh<tlht v't llt4lt t , rsr
l ', ssr t r s
i s to be found. . . . 'l'lr c 1>ilcof st or r cscr 'okesr vcll c't r ot t glr t lr c st 'pt t ltlut '.
A t thc lcast , t o cxpr cssor r r sclvcsir r a llr icf f or t t t t t lit ,r ct t t ct nlr t 'tt lr is ll
sonl eoncshouldaskyou onc day or l your r lr alcxat t t sclt r r ir r tglt c sct 'ot t tslr l t gt 'ol
the thi rd yearof t he seven- year cour scof st t r dyat t hc psyclt <xt r r : r lvt st it r r t t ' il
ilric'
someoneshouldaskyou, concer ningdef enscm echar t isnt s, "Wlur t is t lr t 'f t ut t '-
ti on of the clot hst hat wr ap a m um m y?" yot t m t t st r csp<lnd wit hot r tlr csit r r lior r ,
"These cloths are the obiect of the obsessional's constatrt attcntiott rvltctt lrc' is
afraid of being liquefied."
Now we are on familiar ground.You will tell me that we havekrtowttfor it
long time all the horror man feelswhen facedwith the corpseof his cotttttcrprtrt.
You are right, and I will add that ferome knew it as well as you do l>cforclris
analysis,and he knew it in the same way that someoneelse knowsbcf<rrclris
analysisthat he was jealousof his brother and that he was passionately in lovt'
with his mother.
Perhapsyou are thinking that we could havebroachedthe questionof clcatlr
from anotherangle, without drawing on the corpse?Possibly,but I ant trot stt
he had
sureasyou, and in any casewe must recognizethat the path we follow is tltc <tttc
ferome pointed out to us during his analysis.
A questionnow remains:why doesthis horror at the decompositicln of tlrc
corpse-to us this seemsto be a naturaland common feeling-why is it irrvcstctl
with such particularinterestat the heartof f erome'sfantasies,at the centcrof lris
analysis?We will leavethis questionopen for the time being. But it is intl>ortrrrrt
to show by this fragmentof an analysisthe nature of the fright that irthabits
someonewho seeshimself as condemned"to live until dead."
Freud has shown in his analysisof the "uncanny" that such a friglrt rrp-
proachesanxiety. And we ought to recognizethat in analytic literattrrctlrt'
fundamentalanxiety over death seemsoften to have been abandonedin favor ol
the "original" anxietyof the birth trauma.
Now we haveuncovereda formativeimage,a pole of attractionor rcpttlsiott
that Jeromediscoversto be the knot of his being.That his imagemay bc sltow'tt
to have the same destiny as the mum-y uncovered, exposed,and tltcrt
dissolved-this is what the analystcan hope for. Now that it is exposedbcf<rrctts,
let us learn from it.
We will go backto the familiartheme of the stonefigurecoveringthc torrrb.
Enormous massesof stonehave been carvedinto greatmonoliths. Thc totttb,
perfectlysealed,opens into a grotto that one enters through a subtcrriutc:trr
passage with an opening in a vaguelandscapesurroundedby wastc.. . . 'lir ;r
ccrtaincxtcnt this dreamis associatedby Jeromewith thc nrenroryof :tn ittt'ottt-
106 Neurosis
prehcnsibleangerthat seizedhim when he wasprohibitedfrom climbing for an
instanton the altar of the black Virgin under the cathedralchoir.
He is dreamingof being structuredlike this tomb. And nothing can be safe
enoughto protecthim from the disquietingfragilityof this "bag of skin" to which
he seeshimselfreducedwhen, like Adam, he sees that he is naked.Shellof tar or
armoredroom, closedfield of his captureor subterranean chamber,the intimacy
of the analyst'soffice, tomb, mausoleum, cathedralconstructedon a crypt-
nothing will everbe heavyenough, hermeticenough,well enoughconstructed,
to hide what he must not see,to preventthe intrusion of what must be main-
tained and hidden.
Thus, bringinghis tomb with him, Jeromelies down on my couch.
when he opens it enough to speakto me from beyond the tomb, he has
only one ambition, which is to persuademe that the die is cast.
Is he not alreadyin the tomb? or almost, imprisoneduntil deathensues?He
doesnot ceaseto tell me that he has no future but a pastto "liquidate," a lost
time to catch up on. Listento him: "[ want for once to be up to date;I want to
liquidateall the filesthat have piled up on the left sideof my desk,finally to be
able to breathe.When I succeed,anxietygrabsme and I have to find another
unfinishedtaskquickly. I exhaustmyselfin catchingup on my lateness, the work
that I undertakeought alreadyto have been finished. I have no free time; there
are no Sundaysfor me."
Whether or not it is a questionof identification,it is certainthat ferome
wisheshe werealreadydead, and especiallythat he livesas thoughhe werealready
dead.
He is the end of a line, he cannot have children, he is the finish, the
concfusion, alreadyended;there is no futurefor him, and the life that remainsis
alreadyfilled with tasksto accomplish,filesto classify,affairsto liquidate,prob-
lems to bring up to date. On his trips everythingis paid in advance.The only
time he feelshimselfaliveis at night in his car, when he discovers in the opening
createdby his headlightsa road that promisesnew and mortal perils. . . a little
like analysis.
Iconepherous,even more categoricallythan Jerome,affirmedthat "the die
is cast," that his universewas closed,terminated,definitivelyorganized.Aside
from that, it is too late, and in any casehe has nothing to add. On that he
concludes,"And that'severything."
Happily, they all know that their presenceon the couch affirnrs-vcry
discreetly-the contrary,and signifiesto us that a door is open and that thcir
statementabout the concltrsionis an appealto whocvcr knowshow to hcar it.
fe rom cc x pr es s es
I ' ri sd c s i rca n d l ri sfc a ro th c rw i s ct l rl rrrby l rrtorrrobi l t.i rrri rg-
ferome, or Death in the Life of the
()bsessional 107
ery. Thus he says,in voyeuristicterms:"How do you want me to getotrt of this?I
am like a man who cannot find his lost glasses, sincewithout them he cannot
see.. . . It is true that someonewho is wearingthem cannotseethem either.. . ."
Or he commentsupon his waiting, "l am like a blind man who wantsto know
what he will seebeforehe getshis sight back."
Or he expresses himself philosophically:"l wdnt to find fhe possibilig of
utilizing aII my possibilities."
PerhapsI will have the opportunity at another meeting to tell you about
Jerome'scasein a more systematicfashionand to speakof its positiveevolution.
For today I limit myselfto the centraltheme of deathformulated in the "you will
live until dead." I will close my casewith this desireto find the possibilityof
utilizing all thesepossibilities.
With thesewords ferome proposesthe categoryof the possibleto our ana-
lytic experience,and on that basisI will formulate the notion that the obsessional
structure can be conceivedof as the repeatedrefusalof the possibilityof o4e'sown
death.
This refusal is equivalent to a falsely anticipated acceptancethat would
make the one who strpportsit into somethingalreadyfinished.
This is surelythe placeto look at our epigraphagain("aboveall, obsessionals
needthe possibilityof deathto resolvetheir conflicts")and to understandit against
the backdrop of another of Freud's reflections. "Our unconscious does not
believe in the possibilityof its own death." Freud addsa remark we will return
to, namely, that the unconsciousdoesnot know negation.
Finally, this would be the occasionto meditatein Heideggereanterms on
"our possibility,absolutelyown, unconditional,insurmountable,"preciselythe
possibllityof "the impossibilityof existenceas such," which can be summarized
in thesewords:"The possibilityof my death revealsto me my possibleimpos-
sibilitv and even the possibleimpossibilityof all human existencein general."
Perhapsyou think that with thesewords we are leavingthe realm of sound
clinical work. It is . . . possible.I would simply hope that this brief glimpsewill
introduce you to the true dimension of the possibleand of death for the obses-
si onal .
For the moment I can do no b'etterthan to resituatethe problem we
confront. We know that through symptoms,questionsare posed.
I will conrpareferome'sdreamwith the fantasyof Isabelle,who is a hysteric.
Arr angrrishing,alnr<lsttrnbearable questionemergesfor Isabelleat the limit of a
fcclirrgof clcl>crsonalization throtrgha strangeand invadingcoenesthetic experi-
(' n(' c.S l rt' i s l ikc a r iblr or rof color cclpapcr ,likc t hc r ibb<lns
at lastnight 'spar t y
 Ncttrosis or l)t':rllrirr llrc l.iit.ol tlrc()lxcssiorral
fcrottrt'. 109
I0lt

A ftcr l<t r r glr csit ar t cics

and vacillat ions
wc havcdccidcdt o assunr ct hc
t h a t sh c t r nr ollc dint o a g a rl a n dw h i l c s h c w a s th ro wi ng cortfctti .l nstcaclof
cxistctrce of only two basic[drives],Erosand the destructive[drive].. . . The
unrolling a disk of ribbon, someonepressedits center, and it becamea fragile
aim <lf the first of these is to establishever greaterunities and to preserve
cone or crater that now moves as though advancingand retracting. Isabelleis
them thus. . . ; the aim of the secondis, on the contrary,to undo connec-
submergedin her anxiety. An evening'sribbon, fragile colored paPer, poses,
tions and so to destroythings. In the caseof the destructivefdrive] we may
through its inner hollow or its outer form, lsabelle'squestion.
supposethat its final aim is to leadwhat is living into an inorganicstate.For
Jeromeis very different.His wrappingsare his mummy. When he wasfour,
this reasonwe call it the death fdrivel.
while hiding himselfat his mother'sbreast,he saidto her, "Call me 'my Pet.'"z
Call me "my pet" and t will be htPpy, and to make "my pet's"happinesslast, he I am quoting Freud from the Outline; he continues:
becamedead as my pet and as mummy.
Certainly, everyoneknows that the mummy, in the dictionary of dreams, The analogyof our two basicfldrives]extendsfrom the sphereof living
can alsosigni!"'penis" and can evokethe image of the bandagedorgan of a late things to the pair of opposingfs1ss5-sltraction and repulsion-which rule
circumcision. I had previously found this sensein the analysisof Victor, a in the inorganicworld, and he addsin a footnote,this picture of the basic
hystericwhosefatherlived his last months in a plastercast.Victor was,at the age forcesor fdrives]which still arousesso much oppositionamong analystswas
of seven.circumcisedat the same time as his brother, under the eyesof his alreadyfamiliar to the philosopherEmpedoclesof Acragas.e
mother, an inconsolablewidow.
I have quotedyou this text of 1938in preferenceto othersmore Freudian,
I do not think that Jerome'smummy, the one in whosewrappingshe triesto
datingfrom 1920and 1921,becauseit bearsthe mark of a resolvethat eighteen
contain the wavesof his anxiety, is equivalentto Victor's bandagedorgan or that
yearsof struggleagainstso many analystscould only strengthen.
either of them is equivalentto Isabelle'sribbon.
The historyof psychoanalysis showsthis struggle.Freud said,"There is no
The question Isabelleposes,through the inner hollow or the outer form,
difficulty in finding a representativeof Eros;but we must be gratefulthat we can
while spreadingout her anxiety,can be formulatedin our soberlanguage:am I a
find a representative of the elusivedeath [drive] in the [drive] of destruction,to
man or a woman?
which hate pointsthe way."ro
The question )erome poses,while containing his fright as well as he can
It seemsto me that this is preciselywhere Jeromecomesto help us gain a
betweenthe marble statueand the formlessliquid, can be articulated:am I dead
more or lessconcreteidea of the death drive and the dynamicsof obsessional
or alive?
neurosis.
I think you can seethat while Isabellespeaksof her sexuality,ferome speaks
When Jeromeamuseshimself by making himself into a corpse,when he
of his existence.This is the way that f . Lacan has defined the questionsof the
isolatesand protectshimself, when he annuls or fragmentshimself into a collec-
hystericand the obsessionalneurotic. We have in the mouths of Isabelleand
tion of membersor bones, doeshe not show us this force that tends toward the
ferome two great questionsthat many other patientshave asked:am I man or stabilityof the inorganic, represented by the marble statueor, lesssurely, by "*y
woman?am I subjector obiect?
pet mummy"? There is no need for a greaterunity than this, since as a pieceof
These are questions,or if you prefer, symptoms.At the beginning of Inhi-
stone, he will be conserved.
bitions, Symptoms,and Anxiety, Freud tells us: "The main characteristicof the
jetlme seeshimself asa statueor a mummy becausehe wantsto endureand
formation of symptomshas long since been studied and, I hoP., established
even to be eternal. Time is like a landscapefor him, like the one he con-
beyonddispute.The symptomis a sign of and a substitutefor a [drive]satisfaction
templatedduring his vacation.He doesnot reallyseeit, but he doesrejoicewhen
which has remainedin abeyance;.. ."E
he seesthe photo he hastaken.He does'notlive in the present,and continually
What are the drivesthat have remained unsatisfied?

(1940[938]),S.E.21,pp. 148-49.
9. Freud,AnOutlineof Psychoanalysis
7. [n French "my pet" (ma mie) is almost a homophone of "mummy" (momie)') 10. Freud, The Ego and the ld (1923), S.E. 19, p. 42.
8. Freud, lnhibitions, Symptomsand Anxiety (1926), S.E. 20' p. 91.
II0 Ncrrrosis
saysso. What hc docsis to mark time. ln this contcxtyotr will understandthat
the pastis easierto handlethan a futurethat hardlyeverexistsassuch.ferome is
convincedthat his deathwill not arrestclock time, and that is what mattersfor
him. He hasa truly spatializedtime that keepslife suspended or framed.Within
this time, death is the marker of a frontier that has virtually alreadybeen at-
tained.
The patient'seternal loves, strongerthan death, are also enclosedin this
space.How can we not mention in this contextthe religiousattitudethat resem-
bles obsessionalneurosisin more than one way?
Fear of death is their common horizon. If Freud is especiallyinsistenton
this point in Totem and Taboo, on the "Thou shalt not kill" as respondingto
some "natural" desire,we can considerthat the two ways of accommodating
death, that of the obsessional and that of religion, make it the end of a stageof an
adventurethat must be pursuedin the beyond.
The clock time of ferome'slife is filled. All that remainsis for him to finish
the work that has accumulated;this does not leave him any free time. Like
someonewho seeshis end approaching,Jeromehasto put his life in order over
and over again. This spatialized,rigorouslyordered world sustains,extends,
supports,and constitutes Jerome'sbody-as the pyramidscontainmummies. He
has many times told us as much unambiguously.And I am convincedthat this
spatializationof time, this freezingof becoming,is in part the work of the death
drive. You will understandthat in suchan atmospherethe processes of identifica-
tion acquirea sort of corpselikerigidity, with an animation that can only come
from a perpetualplay of mirrors.
One detail is striking here. ferome, who lives in a great necropolisand
passes his time measuringand orderingthe living things he encounters,has one
great preoccupation:he wants to bring life back into religious practices. He
strugglesagainstthe sclerosisof part of the clergy; he participatesin the move-
ment to renewthe liturgy and militatesfor thesebeliefspolitically. It is important
to make otherslive and draw some profit for himself by proxy, as a puppeteer
would, to use his words.
Some are still surprisedthat the analysisof an obsessionalneurotic takes
such a long time. How could it be otherwisefor those who are alreadyin the
eternity of perpetualmotion?
You know how much this concernfor perpetualmotion touchesthe heart of
the obsessional;it would be pleasantfor us to stop there, but I prefer for the
moment to takeyou through one of the subterraneansecretpassages that lead to
the heart of the pyramid.
I told you that )eromewasputtinghis life in order;lris analysis,accorrlirrg to
fcrxrtc, or l)c al l r i rr tl rc l ,i fc of tl rc ()bx ' s ri orral lil
hi ttr, w as st r pposcclt o lr clp lr ir r rf ir r : r llyt o ur nt r r gclr is r r {l; r ir s.
l}r r t t lr t 'r t 'r t , , r r t '
questi onthat hast r oublcdhint sincc lt c wast cn. At t lr is t ir r r clr c r v; ls: r f r : r itlr l t'
w oul ddi e in his sleepand t r iedt o ir naginchow t hc wor ld w'or r ldcor r t ir r r rtco t r r r r r
w i thout him . This was t he occasionf or int er nr inablc,deliciot r slyar r gr r islr ir r g
fantasies.but anotherquestionaddeditselfto his daydrearns: and if I had never
beenborn?
If I had never been born, if I had never taken form and body, solidity ancl
consistency, if I had remainedmerelyan unsatisfied desire,a formlessliquid. . . ?
With this question,anxietypressedupon him and vertigoseizedhim; it was
difficult for him to pursuethe representationof a world into which he had nevcr
beenborn. But, he askedhimselfsuddenly,haveI reallybeenborn?Am I really
alive?
There again we are at the doorstepof the labyrinth, at the entranceof thc
pyramid.Or else,to usea more recentimage,ferome is like a generalwho knows
perfectlythe layout of the city he has under siege,ttyf\ity he must take. Hc
knowsit all, all that he must do to succeed.. . but likc a
Hl*-il"E"immobile
statue. Thus the death drive stopsa general and npr{,rrrfshj,T ,f{o..T.
-act-tacking.
ferome'sfundamentalquestionand the "ce#hic" anxi€ty'thdta\mpanics
it permit us to reformulatethe obsessional's
q$stion in a mbre livgly ligtit, to be
or not to be.
Jeromewas not a general,but mo secondlieutenant, yet he was a g<-rod
soldier.He had authority,he unde his men-a little too well, perhaps-
and he paid with his own person.FJdwasan exce{pnt captivefor five yearsand
never thought of escaping. He oy{anized lectuit€{p"t on shows,and was ftrlly
alive. I
But one day, in a grelfr driorder, Jerome was freed, and for a time hc
wanderedon the road loo$gbr rr,lorganized..itt*#ttere he had a terri$ing
encounter. On the ma/rAl walkiiigfrom the othei,direction, a man came to
meet him; he had a air, with , il.,iforrn that designatedhim as
-if,tq1y "orr+poritg
neither friend nor foe. . . .'Ie*p-e.ha.d$bme food.dnda gun; the other man had
t
thesame. ferome wasthinking very qi liitt ty, asjf i.t a whirlpool; he sloweddown,
stoppedfor a second,startedup agi\ the other approached,he alsoseemedto
hesitate. Around them the countrystt was deserted.The other's face was
bearded;is he human? They were barely five yards from each other, and thc
otheropenedhis mouth: he wasa German and he wasin hiding. Good, he wants
nothing. Each continr-red his journey. Now they were backto back,and ferorrrc
wastransfixedby his fright. Hb thought, Surely he will shoot me to prevctrtrrtc
fr<lnrturning him in, to take my clothing, my food. He dared neithcr to trrrrr
:trottrtcl
no r t o nln. . . . Hc wait edanclwalkcd. . . .
 N cttrr l si s fcrotttc, or l ) c al l r i rr l l rt. l ,i l c ol l l rt. ()l rs t.rs i orrrrl lll
ll2

ttrttsthi nrsclfplayclc: r cl.

lt t sot loir r gr r r rir
r lr kr r or r ir rulur
g l lr c is r lor r r g,lr ( , u\ ( . \t lr ( .
Thus )eromeencountereda man alone.
correcttec hniqt r ewit h t hc clbscssior t al. 'l'lrt cclr is t r it ; r rl)
c c'nnit st lr r , lxr lr r . r rlot
He had many dreamsabout this incident. He found himself facedwith a
raisethe coverof his tomb everso slightlyand to riskan eyebefttreriskingu u,rnl.
greathairy brute who got on his nervesby not paying attention.They were going
It is time to conteto the point and to rcconsiderour cliscoursc onc l:rsttirrrt.
to fight. They agreedto a fight to the death, but . . . it was for the fun of it. It's all
beforeit slidesinto the abyssof reflectivesilence,t<lflor-rrish or to bc clissolvcrl.
right, he saidto anotherGerman who threatenedhim with his gun. It's all right
But in fact, to come to what point? That of neglectedproblcnrsor o[
if you kill me, but be nice about it, don't get angry. And talkingabout another,
questionswe have opened?
similar incident, he specified,It wasn'this weaponthat scaredme but the angry
I have led you on a visit of our constructionsiteand havetold sonrcstrlrics
expressionon his face.
about obsessionals. I havespokenof death,time, possibility,and negation.Yorr
On this road Jeromediscoveredthat he was alone, without protection, that
have seencrocodiles,mummies, pyramids,and soakingfetuses.
he had not been able to bring his tomb along.
Perhapsit was necessaryor perhapsit was a sacrilegeto lift the veil that
If it is horrible to see a corpse liquefr in an open coffin, it is no less
Freud talksabout, which coversdeath with silence.
frighteningfor Jerometo seea living man when he himself is outsidehis tomb.
Let us leavethe disorderof the theaterwings and stop for a while on thc
It is perhapsnot necessaryfor me to tell you that I was never able to lead
other side of the stage,on the side of the audience.
ferome into that open field where he did not speakfrom the gravebut truly kept Let us lower the curtain.
silent!
And now, waiting for it to riseagainon the show that we promised,which
I think we have here the beginnings of a theory of the relation of the
you have not seen,we will draw on its canvasthe image of that which is being
obsessional with his counterpart.For the time being we can summarizeit with a
preparedon the other side,a kind of allegorythat summarizesthe drama being
few images. Here are three typical situations that can sometimesguide our
rehearsed.. . . Imagine what we have painted:Oedipus, at the crossroads, plays
practice.
the part of the sphinx.
First, )erome'sspeechis always"deferred"-this is not his expres5ion-fssp
inside his pyramid. It is uselessto answerhim "directly," he can only receive
what we say if it is deferred.
Second,)erome transformsyou into a dead tree trunk, he opensthe boards
of his coffin and speaksto you-but only if you play dead. If you speak,the
prison closesup again.
Third, you encounter each other face to face becauseby accident he has
forgotten to close up his prison after you have responded(as in the preceding
instance).Even in this situation, it is uselessfor you to exertyourself;for him it is
"for fun," not "for real."
If theseimagesare too simple, I will attenuatetheir overly rigorousquality
with anotherdreamin which feromecondensedhis question.This is alsoan old
nightmare; he kills someone by holding him affectionatelyby the neck and
beating his skull in. But the victim does not die, and when he is in pretty bad
shape,he asksto live. . . . Is it too late?
Our technical rules can often be formulated in pictureslike this. Under the
pretextof talking about technique, I would remind you also of the fantasyof the
crocodilethat I mentionedabove.This permits me to saythat practically,and in
the concreteexperienceof the session,if the obsessionalwants t<l be dcad, the
analyst,as Lacan recallsin his discourseat Vienna ("Tl'rc Frctrdiarr'I'lrirtg"),