ISTJ 1w9 Characters

ISTJs can get stuck in a routine that feels safe, comfortable, and familiar and not shift out of it until someone else introduces them to new possibilities, and that’s what Celia has been doing ever since her husband drowned seven years ago. She’s been “stuck” in her life—doing all the same things, singing in the same restaurant, even eating once a week in the same place her husband used to take her. Her daughter has to set her up on dates for her to be willing to consider a different life for herself, and as the bartender says, “She’s a widow, but still the most married woman you’ll ever meet.” She isn’t remotely interested in Charlie at first, and shuts him down easily when he tries to flatter her and convince her to go out on a date. She points out the ways in which he’s wrong or foolish, and smiles a little bit at his attempts to speak Portuguese. Though she sets up a curfew for her daughter, she is also a hands-off parent, since she thinks it’s her job to let Vicky find her own footing in life. She shows a strong sense of her own personal feelings in how rapidly she kicks Charlie out when she finds out he lied to her, and how upset she is when her daughter doesn’t come home. The idea that her daughter might be a “little tramp” or could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere drives her to tears. It takes evaluating her own feelings for Charlie, and processing them, before she can forgive him and let him have a space in her heart and her life and embrace change. She’s right about him, in that she “sees him” in a bare room without many possessions (he is indeed poor), but she’s taken in by his lies, trusts what he tells her, and is shocked to find out that he has made up his life of wealth, privilege, and success and is a broke gambler.

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Celia draws strong boundaries right from the start. Charlie tries to talk to her after one of her musical performances, and she promptly shuts him down and walks away. She later tells him to get lost when she finds him on her porch. She warms up to him, but upon finding out he lied to her about “everything,” she throws him out of her house, repeatedly telling him to go away and never come back, and even slapping his face when he tries to argue with her about it. When her mother-in-law says she ought to forgive him, Celia points out that he lied to her—and the woman asks, “Would he have gotten very far if he hadn’t?” This forces her to evaluate how she prematurely closes people down and rejects everything. She’s also strong on her daughter, when Vicky doesn’t obey her curfew, and says she’s not going to tolerate this kind of behavior. Trust and being right are a big deal with her, but she does come around to forgiving Charlie and giving him another chance, because he proves himself to her, and declares his true feelings for her. Celia is a tough nut to crack—withdrawn and closed off from people, but she does warm up and become more animated and free once she falls in love.