# The Iron Giant = The story of Enneagram 8



## DJArendee (Nov 27, 2009)

I figured I'd analyze the movie "The Iron Giant" a little bit to portray just what enneagram 8 is about. I'm going to describe the scene, then talk about how its important in context with the enneagram 8 personality. Its a beautiful story and I suggest you see it if you haven't. I also believe it was written by an enneagram 8 as all the characters are representations of different aspects of the 8's personality.

Issue #1
The story, for those who don't know, is about a giant several hundred feet tall robot that falls from outter space and crash lands on earth. As a sort of stray creature it roams around for a little bit searching for food, in this case metal scrap. So it goes to a powerstation and unwittingly gets electrocuted and entangled in powerlines. A young boy named hogarth saves the robot by turning the power generator off. The robot is then indebted to the boy and follows him around as a friend.

Analysis:
Enneagram 8's can become very loyal to their friends, and very protective. 

Issues #2:
Throughout the movie the robot has a strange dilemma, where it suspects it was built for war and not to be friends with this little boy. At one point, the boy shows the robot some comic books, one is "atomo" who is a big scary robot that destroys everything, while the other is superman. The robot looks at atomo and thinks, "oo cool!" Hogarth tells him no and then puts a comic book of superman on top of atomo and says, "You're not atomo, atomo is bad guy. You're superman, a good guy!" From that point forward the robot seemingly loves the idea of being superman and using his powers for good.

Analysis:
Much like the enneagram 8, the robot can sense that he lusts for power but doesn't quite understand his own capabilities just yet. Throughout the movie the robot is much like a big child, that grows over time. When given the choice between atomo and superman, the 8 decides whether or not he wants to be a good guy or a bad guy. He is tempted to be the bad guy who is all powerful, but instead the boy convinces him that he should use his powers for good and be magnanimous, like superman. He should help people instead of hurt people.

Issues #3:
Later on in the movie its suggested that the robot defends himself when threatened. Hogarth is holding a sparking toy laser gun, aims it at the robot and pulls the trigger, to which the robot's eyes suddenly turn red, its iris's focus and hogarth, oblivious as to what is going on, leaps away. Shortly after diving behind a pile of debris the robot shoots a laser beam out of its eyes and melts a hole in a junked school bus. Dean, a sort of fatherly figure in the movie, sees the robot firing the laser and starts running to save hogarth. Hogarth turns around and hops back up on the debris still thinking its a game just as the robot ceases firing the lasers. Still oblivious as to the robot's defensive mechanisms, hogarth shoots at the robot with his toy gun once again. Suddenly the robots eyes turn red again but dean tackles hogarth saving him from near death as the robot once again fires lasers.

Shortly after the robot stops and looks at the two of them. Dean is yelling at the robot "You tried to kill him!" Dean then shoos the robot away as if the robot is a monster. The robot, meanwhile, is oblivious to what happened and pleas that he isn't a monster, but after seeing its too late, the robot feels rejected and runs away.

Analysis:
Enneagram 8's sometimes feel like they may come on too strong to people. The weight of their words, their demeanor, they can sometimes be harsh and hurtful without quite understanding why. The robot seemed completely unaware that he was causing any harm, and didn't understand why dean was so angry at him. The robot almost hurt his friend and didn't understand why. Then, feeling like a monster, feeling guilty, and also feeling rejected, the Iron Giant turns around and runs away into seclusion. Enneagram 8's might not necessarily run away from a situation but can feel guilty over the hurt they cause without always realizing it. Sometimes they push others away simply because they're defending themselves as a natural subconscious response.

Issue #4:

After the robot runs away, it sees a town where two children are in destress. Running into town the robot saves the children and lets them run to their mothers. For a moment the town stands in awe as the robot welcomes the acceptance and thanks they give him for helping the children. Dean and Hogarth then run into town to meet the IG where the robot (voiced by vin diesel with a heavy reverb filter) bends down to hogarth and says, "I am not a gun." He then picks up hogarth and they're friends again as he reassures hogarth he didn't mean to shoot the lasers at him.

Suddenly out of nowhere the army fires upon the robot and startles him. He cradles hogarth in the palm of his hand and runs to safety while being fired upon. A chase ensues where he flies around then while flying a large shell strikes him mid-air and he falls to the ground. Waking up, this happens:
[video=youtube;zWlzL51KNLg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWlzL51KNLg&feature=player_embedded"][S[/video]

Analysis:
Here we see the robot trying to convince hogarth that he didn't mean to hurt him. Hogarth forgives him and the robot tries to contain his defensiveness. This defensiveness is analogous to the 8's anger, and losing control. When the 8 loses control of his anger, he can become very destructive. Like the Iron giant, 8's are often misunderstood. Its often thought of, by others, that they act mean simply because they're inherently mean... that their sole purpose is destruction. That's not the case. This scene illustrates very well what the 8 is actually feeling inside, the pain and sense of loss and loneliness endured when a friend who truly understands him is threatened. Not only that, but this shows what can happen (metaphorically) when the 8w9 gets sick and tired when people simply won't leave it alone! All too often 8's are attacked and threatened by others who simply do not understand the hurt and pain the 8 feels inside, the sense of rejection and isolation.

Issue #5:
So after the government attacks the robot, the robot mutates into a war machine, and enormous weapons come out of nowhere that you'd have never suspected were there. He becomes engraged. His head receeds into his neck and a dome goes overhead to symbolize how he is protecting his personality inside of a shell. His personality is hidden and out of sight at this point. Toward the end of the carnage that the robot causes, Hogarth runs up to him trying to convince the robot to lower his weapons and lower his defenses. The robot is so angry, so walled off that it loses its friend/foe recognition, and deems everyone a threat and thrusts itself into isolation. Hogarth is scared but knows the robot needs to remember its soft side. As the robot aims a large laser cannon at hogarth, it slowly remembers hogarth and eventually drops its defenses, turns back into its regular form.

Analysis:
8's, when severely stressed out, can become very angry, to the point where everyone becomes an enemy. Friends are thrust aside. A near autistic mentality comes out where anyone who comes close gets hurt. Their personality hides, which further exacerbates the problem of the 8 being viewed as a sociopathic war machine and not as a person with feelings. This is also an example of how an 8 becomes difficult to love when it is in its "fixation." When an 8's anger consumes them and they cannot be loved. The 8 has to remember to drop the fixation and allow feelings in so it can heal.

Hogarth analysis:
Hogarth is difficult for me to analyse, but he could be a symbol for the 8's inner child, or he could be an enneagram 4, or a 6, or a 2... but most importantly he symbolizes the friends of the 8. They're not threatening, they're not going to hurt him, they teach the 8 how to be accepted in society, etc.

Dean analysis:
Personally I believe dean is a symbol for an 8's sense of self control. Dean wears a bath robe with a yin yang on his back that shows his Zen like qualities:










When dean first learns that hogarth wants to house the robot in dean's junk yard, dean stands up quietly, pours out his coffee, then stumbles into the house completely exhausted from the abrupt spike of anger that he is trying to repress. As an 8w9 myself, I know exactly what he's feeling. When an 8 gets angry and has to supress his rage to keep the peace, it can be extremely draining. Shortly after this, Dean collapses on a couch and falls asleep almost immediately from exhaustion.

Throughout the movie, there is a tension from dean, you can tell he's not enjoying the whole thing, and his anger is somewhat passive aggressive, but latent, as seen after the cannonball scene when dean tells a truck driver to go around him. Amidst chaos, dean keeps complete self control and his emotions are an example of an 8 in a crisis situation. Scared like a normal human being, but under control.

Kent Mansley analysis:
Kent mansley is the government agent that is trying to find the robot and report it to the army general so they can destroy it. Kent Mansley represents the threat that 8's face daily. These threats are the people who turn everyone against the 8, who seemingly refuse to understand the motives beneath the 8. He doesn't understand why the robot shoots lasers in defense, he doesn't know that the robot is scared. The only thing Kent sees is that the robot is a threat, or is dangerous to society, and must be eliminated. I don't have a particular enneagram for Kent, but its not necessarily important.


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## turmauge (Jun 14, 2011)

That was a great read. Awesome insight into 8 motivations.


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