AT NICKYS HOUSE - DEVELOPING IMAGINATION TO DEAL WITH REALITY

Prior research has documented that many children invent imaginary comp anions. Such companions are said to serve the functions of companionsh ip, wish-fulfillment, scapegoat or saint, support, dis placement agent far the child's own fears or power figures. This paper investigates a n imaginary house invented by a boy between the ages of 3;3 and 3;7. N inety conversations about his house were recorded during this time and categorized. Apart from the wish-fulfillment and companionship functi ons, the aforementioned functions of imaginary companions were not app licable here. Instead, at his imaginary house, Nicky found all the thi ngs he valued in the real world plus numerous valuable things of his o wn invention. Nicky made undesirable things (like peach oatmeal) disap pear at his house, along with undesirable emotions. Through invocation of his house, Nicky solved a variety of small problems and even tackl ed (though he could not solve) such large problems as his recently wid owed grandmother's loneliness. The paper argues that through this devi ce of an imaginary house, the boy was developing an imagination that a llowed him to cope successfully with the reality of his life, a self-h ouse in which he felt at home.