ABSTRACT
Herbert Silberer attempts to draw certain parallels between symbols and actions contained in the parable and psychoanalytic themes and constructs. Silberer begins his discourse by underscoring the centrality and universalism of symbolism, and noting that the pursuit of self-perfection needs to be intimately entwined in it. Silberer continues by noting that the parable is reminiscent of the 'graduation' dreams written about by Freud as well as Stekel, in which the central underlying drama revolves around the sexual potency of the dreamer. If Silberer achieved his goal of accurately depicting the psychoanalytic position in a manner that actually pleased his Freudian peers remains to be seen. The insertion of an underlying instinct for inertia into what had been the pillars of psychoanalysis appears illogical and empirically unfounded. The important role attributed to the surprising conception of death-instincts may finally lead us to ask whether such instincts really exist.
