MBTI Type: ESTP
Idgie is a sensory-driven girl from the start; she would rather be climbing trees, playing baseball, going all over the railroad tracks, and doing “boy things” from a young age than to be proper. She runs off after her brother’s death and raises herself in the woods, where she learns to harvest honey without the bees stinging her. She climbs on board trains and tosses food out to the poor folks along the tracks, then jumps off again. Idgie physically attacks people who threaten her or her loved ones, beating up on Ruth’s husband, defending her friends from the KKK, and deciding what to do with a body. Her method is logical, but not exactly moral (she has him cut up and roasted and serves him to the customers of her café, pretending it’s ham). She has a soft side, but also likes to bait people to do things outside of their comfort zone; Idgie says real Christians would show compassion to one another, and uses that to justify tossing food off a train to the slums outside of town. She talks Ruth into leaving her husband, and opening a café. She lies in court under oath to protect her friends, and knows nobody would believe the truth without stringing up the folks she cares about. Idgie doesn’t think about the future at all, or what consequences might arise from her actions; she just lives in the present.
Enneagram: 8w7
Idgie shows off her aggressive tendencies as a child when she leaps down the stairs to start a fight with her brother, because he snickered at her wearing a dress; she then runs out of the house, climbs a tree, and throws the offensive frilly garments in all directions. She becomes tough to deal with the horrific loss of her brother, and easily asserts herself, telling Ruth’s husband that if he ever hits Ruth again, she’ll “kill him” (her frequent threats make her the prime suspect when he goes missing a few years later). Idgie mocks the pastor when driving past, by yelling at him through the church windows; she also shows aggression towards people, by refusing to get involved with them, take their lip, or allow them to abuse those she cares about. Even her “bee charming” is to prove she can do something nobody else can. But her 7 wing also finds it hard to deal with pain, and comes up with happy things to think about instead. She tells yarns rather than cope with Ruth’s loss, she looks for the bright side, and she assumes everything will turn out right. Her 8 is also obvious in how she’s willing to take the blame for other people’s crimes, and her compassion to an old wino whom she takes in under her wing.
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