This paper postulates that a primary difference between the self and the other is linked to a difference between sound produced and sound perceived which delimits an intermediary space, within which a symbolic link is established: a part of the lost object is associated with a part of the subject which is preserved as a warranty against this loss.

The voice as partial object plays a fundamental role in the differentiation and interpretation of what is seen by the eye: while Narcissus hears from Echo words as they are connected with the experience of the unconscious (a voice which makes the image disappears: the other's voice is not heard and he sees a mirror-image), the pool, being looked at by Narcissus, sees in the mirror of his eyes her own beauty mirrored.