A 3 1/2-year-old boy's melancholic identification with an original object

The paper describes a very short analysis of a 3 1/2-year-old boy. It gives clinical material to show his identification with a primal object which for inner and outer reasons keeps reverting to a damaged and accusing condition. I suggest that this constitutes a developmental impasse which can be understood in terms of Melanie Klein's theory of the depressive position as a melancholic identification which is affecting the child's current life and development, and which may put at risk his future mental health. The paper gives clinical glimpses of the cruel pressure of his superego, some of the forms taken by his underlying misery and anxiety, and the nature of his defences. In the brief time available (5 1/2 months), though he made progress, his underlying melancholic identification was not really changed.