MBTI Type: ISFJ
Clara is a very detailed woman, who writes her nephew long letters all about what is happening in their lives and their hopes for the future. She continues to do this, even when she has nowhere to send them, because as she says, it seems ‘selfish’ to keep a journal, and to write him feels more profound somehow. She understands the family’s roots to the Yellowstone and wants to preserve them, by bringing back Spencer to help protect them and ensure no harm comes to her family. Often, she reminisces and compares new experiences to older ones, and is enamored of new inventions and modernizations (such as informing her husband that he will one day purchase her a washing machine and that they will own an automobile). Above all, she is warm and good-natured, able to gently tell a future member of her household that when she marries a cowboy, she is marrying his job, and must expect that the cattle come before all else. It’s a hard life, but a rewarding one. She will keep her personal feelings away from others to avoid disturbing them (going out onto the prairie to stuff a rag in her mouth and howl in anguish), but also is quite able to articulate her feelings when pressed, and has no trouble standing up to her husband, or demanding that people put down their guns, since there will be “no violence” at her home. Cara shows quite a bit of logic; she can put feelings aside to make impersonal, rational business decisions about who to hire, what to do with the cattle, and how to keep herself and her loved ones safe. Her husband is amused when she wonders what their actions have to say about humans as a species, showing a little TiNe in her analytical mind, but ultimately connecting it to Humanity (Fe). Though delighted about modern conveniences in town, Cara does not do much speculating or imagining; she handles what is right in front of her, with skill.
Enneagram: 6w5
In contrast to her husband’s double-gut energy, Clara sums up her headiness in a single sentence: “I need time to think!” She is forever trying to calculate and head off problems, second-guessing her own decisions, turning to others for advice (such as her husband), and anticipating and responding to problems with logic, such as trying to leave the impression on people that her husband is a live and well and chasing down cattle thieves, so no one will know he’s laid up near death at the family home. She is an active worrier, and admits that she has a ‘bad feeling’ before her husband goes up into the mountains (this turns out to be an accurate concern, since it sets off a chain reaction of trouble). She tells someone not to trust what’s written in the newspaper, but to instead ask, “What are they NOT telling us?” by reading between the lines. Cara also admits that she does not want to be a leader, but she has no choice but to step up and make tough decisions when her husband is out of commission. Though afraid, she stands up to people regularly and is willing to bluff to keep everyone safe; yet, she has a warm personality, and is easily liked by just about everyone who crosses her path (one man does call her ‘hard’ when she demands he answer questions for an interview, and then frowns over the answer). She is shocked when the sheriff hires a man on the spot, since she wanted time to ‘consider.’
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