Merkur takes issue with the current view of mythology as a product of literal historical accounts. He believes, with Róheim, Reik, and Bakan, that myths have a symbolic religious meaning to which psychoanalysis can make a significant contribution. Merkur's method, myth analysis, is an adaptation of psychoanalytic dream interpretation; aspects of the myth-telling culture can be understood as associations to the myth. Merkur uses material from the religion of the Inuit Eskimos to document his ideas. He focuses specifically on the Dog-Husband Myth in its different forms and interprets it using his method. He concludes that myths are "regressive" because they represent verbal concepts as concrete representations. He also observes that myths are "adaptive symbols" as they express abstract ideas for which no corresponding linguistic abstractions have been attained. Myths make use of both types of symbols.