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===Meaning===
As an element of the [[real]], the [[letter]] is [[meaning]]less in itself. [[Lacan]] illustrates this by referring to ancient [[Egyptian hieroglyphics]], which were indecipherable to Europeans for so long. Until Champollion was able to decipher them on the basis of the Rosetta Stone, no one knew how to understand these enigmatic inscriptions, but it was nevertheless clear that they were organized into a signifying system.<ref>{{S1}} p. 244-5; {{E}} p. 160</ref> In the same way, the [[signifier]] persists as a [[meaning]]less [[letter]] which makes the destiny of the [[subject]] and which he must decipher.
A good example of this is the case of the [[Wolf Man]], in which [[Freud]] noted that the [[meaning]]less [[letter]] V reappeared under many guides in the [[Wolf Man]]'s life.<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|From the History of an Infantile Neurosis]]," 1918b [1914]. [[SE]] XVII, 3.</ref> As the example of the [[Wolf Man]] demonstrates, the [[letter]] is essentially that which [[return]]s and [[repetition|repeats]] itself; it constantly insists in inscribing itself in the [[subject]]'s life.
