ABSTRACT
There is very little of the father in Galton's life, and even when his father is present he seems a somewhat reduced figure: Galton remembered the father of his childhood as a jovial man who in later years fell silent whenever he came home at night. Galton's need to seek out men to support him suggests an ongoing attempt to fill this gap within himself. Most little boys love their mothers faithfully—as can be seen in Freud's 'Little Hans' case study (Freud 1909)—but Galton's love for his mother is spoiled. In Lacanian terms, the two conditions which work together and which are necessary to bring about psychosis are already present in Galton's childhood. The theme of grief and longing is connected to separation anxiety and to imprisonment. Galton's longing is for the absent male object of his dream. His feeling of imprisonment is captured in his consequent idea that 'life is one long hell'.
