ABSTRACT
Right from the start, Melanie Klein draws attention to the protective splitting of the object, the splitting up of the superego and the splitting of the id and she repeatedly explores the evidence for an earlier and more violent type of defence than repression. Klein conceives of the immature infant as experiencing itself and others in terms of physical parts—breast, penis, and so on. In 1946 she describes binary or primary splitting—the separation of the good and loving parts of the self and object from the bad and hating parts—as the first act of the ego and as absolutely essential for mental health. In normal development, via the continuous processes of projection and introjection, an exchange takes place in which the ego strengthens. It becomes possible for the individual to separate phantasy from reality and self from object and, in doing so, to take back split-off aspects of the self that have been projected out.
