IN THIS PAPER, DATA WILL BE PRESENTED THAT APPEAR TO ME TO lend support to Freud's theory of a death drive. A brief discussion will follow, dealing with selected aspects of ambivalence and narcissism. I shall attempt to focus on the energic interplay between drives and ego at a primitive level, without considering such later complexities as conflict and superego. Moreover, in the instances to which I shall be referring, I shall instead try to stay within the simpler core of energic interplay. I shall then make an effort to determine the consequences that are produced by the joint action of death drive, ambivalence, and narcissism. At one point, I shall offer a view on orality that will be different from the prevailing view.