Alexander Manette MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Alexander Manette? Alexander Manette is an INFJ personality type in MBTI, 5w6 - so/sp - in Enneagram, RLOAI in Big 5, LII in Socionics.
On my second reading of the book, I began to believe that Dr. Manette is a self-preservation 5. In chapter 6 “Hundreds of People”, Mr. Lorry asks Miss Pross why Dr. Manette avoids the topic of his imprisonment. Which she than responded with, “he is afraid of the whole subject… It’s plain enough, I should think, why he may be. It’s a dreadful remembrance. Besides that, his loss of himself grew out of it. Not knowing how he lost himself, or how he recovered himself, he may never feel certain of not losing himself again. That alone wouldn’t make the subject pleasant, I should think” (Dickens). Although Dr. Manette does not share many of his feelings throughout the book, I find this statement to be quite revealing of his fear of loss of self or of feeling incapable. Which correlates with the enneagram 5’s core fear is of “being useless, helpless, or incapable” (The Enneagram Institute). 5s compensate for this fear by acquiring knowledge, and gaining expertise to earn a sense of control. Dr. Manette shows this through his dependence on his shoe making tools. Which he explains to Mr. Lorry in chapter 19. “He once yearned so frightfully for that occupation, and it was so welcome when it came; no doubt it relieved his pain so much, by substituting the perplexity of the fingers for the perplexity of the brain…The idea that he might need that old employment, and not find it, gives him a sudden sense of terror” (Dickens). As Beatrice Chestnut explains the Self-preservation 5, “They have a need to be able to hide behind boundaries they can control, and to know they have a place of safety they can retreat to, in order to avoid feeling lost in the world…To them, the external world can seem hostile, inadequate, and brutal” (Beatrice Chestnut). Dr. Manette’s soothes his fear of the dangers of the world and painful memories of the past by keeping his shoe making tools to offer a sense of control if he loses himself again. Before the trial in book three we get to observe his integration to 8, when he gains a sense of purpose through using his medical knowledge as a Doctor to serve the French people. His normally reserved nature becomes decisive and vibrant as he finds meaning after the many years of surfing he endured within the Bastille. A sense of importance in his actions in being able to protect Darnay. His withdrawn nature becomes assertive like an 8 when he feels he can make an impact. Anyways! Thank you you to anyone who read through this. :)
Biography
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