Guest Post by Jessica Prescott, INFJ

October Sky

Dominant Introverted Feeling (Fi): O’Dell is a person of deep, powerful emotions, but those emotions are hardly ever allowed to surface. And on the rare occasions when he does express his feelings openly, it’s never in words, but always in actions. For example, O’Dell never once mentions the tragic mining accident that killed his father; the audience doesn’t find out about it until Homer (unwisely) chooses to repeat the story . . . upsetting O’Dell so much that he can’t restrain himself from physically attacking Homer, one of his closest friends. O’Dell is also something of an individualist; unlike Roy Lee (tertiary Fe), O’Dell appears unconcerned about the damage that the Rocket Boys’ unpopular activities may cause to their social reputations at school. In general, established rules and codes seem to matter relatively little in his mind; it was his idea to take apart the (apparently) unused railroad track for scrap metal; and he’s untroubled by the fact that this scheme is actually highly illegal.

Auxiliary Extroverted Sensing (Se): O’Dell is closely attuned to his sensory environment; whenever something unexpected occurs (the rocket heading for the mine, for example, or the train whistle), he’s usually the first of the boys to physically react to it. He also prefers physical gestures to words as a means of making his emotions clear to his friends (even when that involves beating them up . . . ) Although he’s so quiet, O’Dell still seems to be enjoying himself during the dance party scene in the middle of the movie; and he’s even relaxed enough to reassure his shy and awkward friend Quentin: “You don’t know a thing about women.”

Tertiary Introverted Intuition (Ni): Although O’Dell isn’t as future-oriented as Homer (Ne-dom), he’s definitely willing to think ahead and consider the “big picture,” to a certain extent. Before agreeing to help Homer out with his rocketry project, O’Dell wants to know the exact prospects for success or failure: “God’s honest truth, Homer—what are the chances of a couple of kids out of Coalville winning that science fair?” At the same time, however, O’Dell understands and appreciates Homer’s argument, that ANY chance of getting out—even such a slim one—is better than simply resigning themselves to a life of coal mining, the life that killed his father.

Inferior Extroverted Thinking (Te): O’Dell isn’t one for making detailed plans, trying to control others, or organizing his environment; he’s content to let Homer make all the decisions and follow him wherever he chooses to lead. The only time he tries to take the initiative—with the railroad incident—it backfires fairly spectacularly because he didn’t think it through carefully enough: “It’s . . . it’s abandoned.” When communicating information, O’Dell prefers short, blunt phrases to longer and more precise ones; and he’s the one who “translates” Quentin’s obscure utterances for the men working with them: “He says we can try it.”