Guest post by whatisfreethen, INTP

Agatha Christie’s Poirot

Si: One of the only things Hercule wanted was a quiet retired life. Although he was never lucky enough to get it. In most cases Poirot didn’t just come up to help in the investigation, even when he found it interesting from outside. He usually was called to help by Hastings or whoever was heading the investigation. Poirot’s method usually consisted of thorough observation of the crime scene and making note of every little detail, before he would start taking his own theories seriously. He also had a strong penchant for tradition and to say he gave importance to even the tiniest details would be an understatement.

Fe: Throughout the series Poirot had had to heavily rely on his ability to tell how people are feeling. He could always tell if someone was hiding something(“Oh, do not deny! I am Hercule Poirot and I know.”) and had a reputation for “sniffing out affairs”. His sense of morality was worldly rather than idealistic, as he did say that for him it was more important to clear the innocent than to bring the criminal to justice which follows from him caring more for the well being of living people than achieving idealistic goals.

Ti: Deviating from the case of most fictional detectives, Poirot is not shown as a stereotypical xNTx. But still he is adept at using logical reasoning to get to the truth(using his ‘little grey cells’). Although he seems to be good at getting people to follow him, it is mostly because of his Fe. His logic is often seen as unconvincing by his fellow investigators as he did not share much of his processing of data, until the end of the investigation. He is shown to have interest in unconventional sciences like psychology (which was considered fairly unconventional in his day).

Ne: Poirot’s use of Ne is not very excessive, not to mention predominantly subconscious, and he only really decides to test his theories once he believes he has got all he could from pure detective work, but it does play a huge role in his method. He would only find the facts and meanwhile his mind forms all the possible scenarios to fit the facts. Then he would test them all experimentally to eliminate the wrong ones. He does sometimes resort to experiments, when wanting specific information. Also possessing an ability to make connections where there seem to be none, Poirot’s tendency to think in ways no one around him had, seem to be a symptom of a very Ne adept mind.

Author’s Note: It is interesting to note that the difference between Poirot’s method and those of NiSe Sherlock Holmes or NeSi L are apparent, and can possibly be explained by cognitive functions( if I could only think of a SeNi detective in fiction. Strange though, it seems like a good combination for a detective).