MBTI Type: INFP

Susanna does whatever she wants most of the time, which means sleeping with her teacher one time (and not wanting any more to do with him), and not having a real plan for her future, much to the alarm of her parents. She often reacts against them and their attempts to heal her, refuses to talk through her feelings in therapy, and pushes people away while she processes what’s going on inside of her. After a girl’s suicide, she becomes so distant that they have to force her to open up and deal with her problems. She writes down most of her feelings and observations in a journal, including her various speculations about the other girls (what their ‘real’ problem is, how she interprets some of their behaviors, etc., including her theory that one girl is sane, but lacks the courage to go out into the world, because there, no one could ignore her ugly face). She wants to be a “writer” when she grows up, but knows no more than that (will she become a novelist or a journalist?). She is often philosophical and thinking about the questions behind reality, causing one boyfriend to remark that she is morbid because of her preoccupation with death. She keeps a detailed account of her life in the ward, and slowly gets to know the other patients, coming to trust or dislike them based on their long-term behaviors, which gives her a sense of grounding in dealing with them. Her inferior Te can be incredibly harsh; she insults her parents and her therapist, and she is rude to a black orderly by mocking her “negro accent” and comparing her to a house slave.

Enneagram: 9w1 sp/sx

Susanna is incredibly intolerant of any kind of conflict, which means she gets along great with Lisa so long as Lisa is not stirring up trouble of any kind. She tolerates Lisa’s stealing and other bad habits, and goes along with Lisa’s agenda most of the time. She has no real plan for her future or idea of what she wants other than to be a “writer.” But she gets so upset with other people screaming that she steals musical instruments and plays music outside a girl’s cell to make her feel better; and later, she begs Lisa to stop taunting another girl about her sexual abuse. She covers up her head and angrily tells them to stop fighting! For a while, in the mental ward, she simply gives up altogether and becomes completely passive about getting well—she has no interest in recovery or in doing the hard work involved to get well. It’s not until she sees the damage Lisa has done that Susanna decides to do something about it and get well. Her 1 wing kicks in at times with strongly-worded moral reproaches against the things that she does not like or that seem wrong to her. She feels some guilt in her part of a friend’s suicide and remorse about not having stopped Lisa from saying those things to her.

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