Jack Shephard, King Peter, Mr Darcy, and me.

While searching around the internet due to boredom and slight depression due to prolonged exposure to reality, I started looking up fictional Enneagram characters. I like to look these up every so often, mostly because I believe that just as Christ gave parables, told stories to explain at greater length and depth what the Kingdom of God looks like, I believe that we can learn a great deal about ourselves from good fiction. I have learned more about true leadership from "Watership Down" than from any seminar I have attended on the matter. The issue at hand with these late-night google searches tends to be either 1.) No one talks at great length on the matter. 2.) No one seems to know what they are talking about. (Harry Potter is an Eight?) 


I by no means to reduce the Enneagram into a coffee-shop, afternoon tea discussion for those with a taste for pretense, nor to belittle it's importance in shining light upon our human condition... Rather, the opposite in fact. I believe that story tales matter deeply, and as G.K. Chesterton said, "Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten." This having been said, I came across the following excerpt on Enneagram Type Ones: 


"Other fictional examples of type One include Mr. Spock, who is sometimes mistaken for a Five, Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor, Aragorn, from the Tolkien trilogy, and King Peter from the Narnia chronicles, whose creator, C.S. Lewis was also a One. And, Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy describes his character in these terms:"I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding, certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of other so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost, is lost forever...There is, I believe, in every disposition a tendency to some particular evil, a natural defect, which not even the best education can overcome."" 


It made me quite happy, not only that I found this because being a Type One myself, my reasoning for this search was to feel less alone, which is a large reason as to why I read fiction in the first place. This managed to list a great deal of my favorite fictional characters (As well as a real person of whom, as far as human beings go, I hold in highest respect) and managed to do so with intelligence. That being said, If by chance anyone out there comes across this and happens to know the Enneagram, I would love some insight into my thoughts on this. I have put quite an amount of thought into the fictional characters I have been able to type, all the same I will say that I often tend to not believe that characters I respect and love are Ones. This is not because I find myself to be bad at this, forgive me, but I think I am rather good at it really... It has to do with a poor reflection I hold to my self and by extension, Ones in general I believe. Without any further babbling, my thoughts are as follows: 


I love that they placed Mr. Spock in there, because while he does look a great deal like a Five, I do believe he is a One, and for that matter one of the better written Ones. It is important when looking at these things to look at motives, intent, reasoning, and background into why a character does what he or she does as opposed to just the demeanor of a character. I think that goes against the exact purpose of such an exercise. Aragorn I can agree with due to his fear of failing to do what is right and good; Aragorn has a great fear of following the sins of his fathers. While any Type can feel this way, I think that with an understanding that they are fictional characters, this is a good example. King Peter, now all I can say is that he is hands down the character in Narnia I relate most with... I do not know about C.S. Lewis though. Lewis has always seemed more like Type Five to me. I think that may cause some of my doubt on that subject. Now, Mr. Darcy.... There is a great compliment and a compelling argument for a Type One. I love Mr. Darcy, so it's a great compliment that anyone would view him in that manner and I must say that is a very respectful case they made. Made my night a little bit. 


Other Ones that I have found personally to be rather strong representations of at least respectable Ones are Jack Shephard from LOST, Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, Hazel from Watership Down, Hermione Granger and Professor Mcgonagall from Harry Potter, Rabbit from Winnie The Pooh; Sister Aloysius from Doubt, Jefferson Smith from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Dan from Dan In Real Life, Optimus Prime, and Captain America. Some examples of terrible Ones that I want to jump into the screen/pages and stranger (from bad to worse) would be Felix Unger from The Odd Couple, Percy Weasley and Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter, and Nurse Ratchet from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. There is a lot of sufficent evidence of Albus Dumbledore being a One, however that would be so much wisdom and greatness given to one number that I dare not jump to that conclusion without thinking a bit more. However, whatever he is, I think he is a wonderful example as to what any number would want to look like in that he is quite well rounded. That, I pray, will come with age.


And now, I will do what I've been avoiding for hours and sleep. Goodnight and Godbless.