MBTI Type: ISTP

Denys is highly logical and detached, and always curious about the world and asking questions in an attempt to understand it. One evening at dinner, he humorously prompts a conversation about why there are so many romantic poems about other body parts, but never the foot; does it not serve a purpose, and can it not be an object of desire and romanticism? He has a casual manner about him, in how he faces down things, and prefers to take risks (he says there is no harm, as long as only you are the one who pays), denying that he saved Karen’s life from a lioness (“she walked away”). While others rush to join the war effort, he questions what the war is really about and if it requires a sacrifice of men, concluding that it is really a petty rivalry between two spoiled monarchs. He doesn’t understand why other men would “want to get into it,” and chooses to spend his time elsewhere, making money instead. He is something of a wanderer in life, doing whatever he can to earn a living, from smuggling ivory around to leading safaris (he says either he will be gone a month, or “half an hour”). He take his new grammaphone out into the wild to play it for the monkeys, to see what their reaction will be, and finds it lovely that “they have never heard music before, and now got played Mozart.” He is curious about mechanical things and confident that he can easily adapt to risks (he tells her if the lion charges, to drop to the ground and let him handle it, also to back away slowly from a recent kill). Denys leaves out “the dull parts” of poetry as he washes her hair for her, and introduces her to the wilds—he wants to share the experience with her and become closer to it because of it. He takes her hunting, and admits he lives “one day at a time.” He does not want a traditional life, or “to know where I am going. We are just passing through life.” He has no idea what will happen tomorrow, although he thinks sometimes about getting old. His inferior Fe is both charming and thoughtful; he asks Karen if she asked the native children if they wanted to learn to read, or if she just imposed her own will on them. But the more she wants an emotional connection from him, the more he draws a firm boundary and tells her she is not “allowed” to impose anything on him, especially not her own needs. He does not want to live “her way” (and be connected). This is typical of ISTPs—they don’t want others to need them, to be over-reliant on them, or to be forced to hold onto an emotional relationship, because it’s an area of uncertainty and discomfort for them.

Enneagram: 7w6 sp/sx

Denys has a good sense of humor, and loves to take changes. He introduces Karen to a great many new experience that she would never have had without him – but he is also commitment-phobic. He doesn’t even attend his own best friend’s funeral, but disappears and does something else instead, because he cannot face the sadness of it. Karen accuses him of “just wanting to be away,” and wanting it “all” – without any restraints or commitments, and it’s true. He wants the freedom to be himself, to leave whenever he feels like it, to do his own thing, to change his careers on a whim, and not settle down or be responsible for anyone else. His 6 is mild-mannered and thoughtful, curious about book learning and somewhat cautious and sensible in the wilds.