Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/43

 ON THE TECHNIQUE OF CHILD -ANALYSIS 297

Little Hans, to whom we are indebted for valuable insight into the mechanism of the child's psychic functioning, was aroused from his complete apathy by the following game: I saw in the looking-glass that he poked his finger into his nose, and I said: 'Oh dear, whatever is Hans doing? I don't want to see such a sight!* Whereupon he stood in front of the mirror, smiling roguishly, and said. 'Don't look!' poking his finger again into his nose. Of course he expects me to forbid him and untiringly repeats this game, only exchanging his nose-poking for putting out his tongue. This game symbolizes to him the oft-experienced strictness of his father which he tries to evade by keeping secret his little misdeed.

A sixteen-year old girl suffered in a marked degree from in- feriority feelings, owing to squinting. She covered up spontan- eously my spectacles which lay on the table— a symptomatic action which revealed that she was unwilling to be reminded of eyes or their abnormalities. She admitted to me later on that this defect of mine had for a long time disturbed her aifectionate relations towards me.

A ten year old boy, who was rather a failure at his work owing to his very extreme habit of phantasying, in the first treat- ment hour informed me how greatly he disliked the pose of the hero in a performance of 'Lohengrin' which he had witnessed" He ostentatiously turned his back towards me, imitating the singer's position, declaring it unsuitable for a performer on the stage, asking me : ' Surely, Doctor, an actor should not stand in such a position in front of the public.?' After a short course of analysis, my original suspicion was confirmed, |

namely, that the boy was suffering from a strongly repressed exhibitionism.

The first communication of a fourteen year old girl, who was ■ '

harrassed by painful broodings, was a very contemptuous criti- cism of the geographical teaching which she received at the age of ten or eleven, which consisted of continual repetition about 'climate' and even now in the high school it was the same subject all over again: climate, the position of the sun and its shadow — these were pursued with the same persistency. 'Whatever is the object of teaching the movements of the sun to an eleven year old child who cares nothing about the subject,' and so forth — ^this complaint filled up the whole hour of treatment with the

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