INFP 6w7 Characters

Harriet filters everything intensely through her own emotions, which is why she is always on the verge of having an outburst–her English father is forever telling her to count to ten (not that it does much good, since that just makes her mad about being patronized). She is deeply resentful of being treated more like a servant than a member of the family, of being expected to wait hand and foot on Pet, and by her “father” calling her “Tattycoram” instead of “Harriet.” He just arbitrarily made up a nickname for her, and ignores her sense of agency and personhood by using it, when she hates it. That’s why she is drawn to a woman who calls her Harriet. But there’s a push-pull between them, since she longs for a friend and a protector, while also sensing that this woman has ill intentions. After one particular blow-up, Harriet runs away with this person, and lives as her companion and friend—but when she finds out the woman is blackmailing someone, and has letters she ought not to have, her Fi forces her to leave the premises, and return the letters to their rightful owner. She cannot stand for this, and it prompts her into immediate action with low Te. Low Te also shows up in how she constantly loses her temper and is rude to others, telling them off, complaining about her situation in life, and storming out of rooms when she feels offended (which is often). But Harriet becomes more aware of her true feelings, and returns to her family, having been able to detach, consider her life and her choices, and make a better decision for her own peace of mind and welfare. Since she is impulsive, and mostly dominated by her feelings, it’s hard to nail down her middle functions, but I see more intuition than sensing—while she runs off at one point, she’s always fully aware and insightful into others. She has a naïve sense of trust toward a woman that others tell her is “mean” and “untrustworthy,” probably out of a misplaced sense of idealism. She quickly figures out that certain people are bad, and wants to stay away from them, and tells others to avoid them as well. And while she escapes her life for a time, Harriet eventually goes back to it, and embraces what feels familiar to her. She makes up her mind, changes her opinion about her companion completely, and goes home.

Enneagram: 6w7

At first, I thought Harriet was a typical 4, and then I took another look at her. She’s reactive (over-reactive, full of angst, draws attention to whatever is wrong), but isn’t image-managing at all. She is loudly drawing attention to herself in an unflattering way, in front of total strangers, which is anti-4. 4s broadcast their brokenness to stand out from others, but through a sense of internal refinement (“I am not as basic or as easily made happy as you”). Harriet is just upset. She wants to be an equal and isn’t being treated as one; she wants respect, but gets none, and that makes her ratchet up her feelings. And then, she leans on another woman for acceptance, love, and guidance. She relies on her for a safe place to live. She feels drawn to her, because she offers Harriet respect and stands up for her, and Harriet is a little cowed by her. Harriet fears her, but still goes with her when she’s fed up enough, despite knowing “you are a wicked person.” Harriet is upset with herself about having “wicked” thoughts. She’s forever trying to live up to what others want from her (“Oh, why can’t I count to ten?!”). She beats herself up for having a temper, and feeling resentful of her plight, and disliking people, because she is a super-ego type who has a relentless inner critic that berates her for not living up to a higher standard. In a nutshell, she’s the embodiment of a reactive and immature 6. Unfortunately, of the two 6s, the 6w7 is far more likely to make their problems everyone else’s business with outbursts. She is also proactive in choosing what to do about her situation, abandoning her stable home to live with someone else, and then turning her back on Miss Wade, showing an assertiveness beneath her reactivity.