ESFJ 2w1 Characters

Nancy’s story arc is one of her struggling against avoidance and excesses (her alcoholism) and her high moral character, which cares deeply for other people and their needs. It’s partly what keeps her with Bill Sikes, an angry and abusive man, because she loves him, and can’t fathom being without him. Nancy often unwisely challenges Bill, defies him, and does what she wants to do, asserting her need to have some control over her life, whether that involves ‘going for a walk in the rain’ (he tells her she will not) or choosing to sacrifice her life to tell the truth about Oliver to the compassionate people who have taken him into their homes and hearts. She tries desperately to do the right thing without being beaten up by her abusive boyfriend; she tries to help Oliver escape from Bill by telling him to run, then agrees with Bill that Oliver should accompany him to the country to do a break-in, assuming Oliver might have time to escape. Nancy berates Bill for his behavior and tries to assert herself, but isn’t objective enough about her feelings to know when to leave rather than return to Bill. She is the great tragedy of the story, in that she lives by her emotions—and that includes returning to the man who beats her to death. Nancy has grown up with her little gang of thieves and feels fond of them, which keeps her around them even when she might do better somewhere else. She has a misplaced sense of family and loyalty to those around her, simply because of their long-standing relationships. Because Bill has never hurt her too badly before, she insists she will be safe enough with him now, a tragic mistake that she pays for with her life. In her unhappiness with life, Nancy takes to drinking, but in all other ways, she tries to live a “domestic life.” She even thinks about wanting kids and a normal relationship one day once she is no longer forced to prostitute herself so that Bill can earn a living. Her inability to uproot herself from this life and seek another one, instead returning to what she knows, leads to her tragic ending.

Enneagram: 2w1

Nancy’s tragedy is that she loves Bill and wants to be loved in return; she makes an emotional decision to return to him, assuming that their love for each other (despite his repeated abuses against her, forcing her into prostitution, and beating her up whenever he’s angry) means that she will have a place with him. When he’s angry at her, and accuses her of betraying him, she tries to appeal to him by telling him she has gotten them a way out, that they could both go abroad and be there together—as if she expects him to feel grateful for her protection and for not mentioning his name. She’s horrified and terrified when she realizes that her sacrifice and compassion for him means nothing to him, and that he intends to kill her for betraying him (even though she did not). Nancy is also warm and compassionate toward Oliver, seeking to help him even at the cost of her own life, because it’s the right thing to do. She doesn’t enjoy being forced into criminal behaviors or to rob Oliver of love and a home, which she feels guilty about enough to seek the man she stole him from and confess.