To elucidate the difficulty of some analysands in representing the analyst as the “other” or face the analyst as a separate object, the author makes use of Strindberg's drama “The Pelican.” This play portrays how a destructive internal maternal relationship obstructs creativity. An insufficiently containing object prevents the creation of a third position and the bringing together of the subjective world and a shared reality. Under such conditions, independent thinking and separateness cannot be tolerated. Clinical material illustrates a young woman's difficulty to relate to the analyst as a separate object by clinging to the misconception about the analyst's inaccessibility; the analysand is absorbed by a struggle to uphold her own wishes in the presence of the desires of the object. The discussion focuses on how narcissistic identifications can be established as a protection against the challenge of facing the other in the object.