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From the conceptual base of Greenacre's work on the complex interactions between bodily experiences and the formation of reality sense, body image, symbols, etc., in the developing infant, the authors propose a theory concerning the early development of the symbolic function. They hypothesize that in the second year, when a symbolic component normally enters into sensorimotor phase activities in play, infants who have had significant disturbance in bodily experiences and/or a jeopardized relationship with the mother will show deviation in early symbolic function. If the base on which development of body image representation and/or maternal representation is disturbed, deviation of symbolic development can be anticipated. In this extension of their previous work, Galenson and Roiphe again focus on the child's emerging anal, urinary, and genital awareness in the second year and its effects on development. They describe a particular child who showed peculiar early symbolic play and choice of concrete objects and an unusual, persisting, almost obligatory use of these objects. This developmental deviation is related to specific aspects of the child's earlier bodily experience and parental relationships. The paper is richly informative in its detailing of the drama of the unfolding disturbed function. It is an excellent example of the interweaving of meticulous observation material with an attempt to further elaborate developmental theory.