ISFJ 9w1 Characters

Edith on the surface is a very sweet, likable woman, who is very set in her ways and is mostly attentive to her domestic life. She loves to read and write letters, to study and memorize scripture, and to take care of the house—to cook, clean, etc. She has decided opinions on how things should be done in the home, etc. Edith also has habits that are so unconscious that she doesn’t even notice them, like her particular way of signing her letters and putting flourishes in her penmanship, which allow the police to eventually expose her as the poison pen writer. She is Fe in that she really, really appreciates the affirmation she receives in the newspapers, which gives her fifteen minutes of fame. Edith is easily offended by others’ harsh words and their lack of support; she’s upset when her friends bail out Rose, even though she accused Rose of writing her nasty things. She also knows what to say to hurt people the most, but puts on a show of being a polite and sweet woman to conceal her hidden vengeful side. Edith feels quite good to be looked up to, praised, and given moral support (“people have just given me an outpouring of love!”). She doesn’t really stop to think about why she is doing it, or what is causing her to lash out at people, and she struggles to be creative in her letter-writing; as Rose says, she uses the same half-assed insults over and over, cuz she can’t think of new ones.

Enneagram: 9w1

In a sense, this story is a cautionary tale of a 9w1 who has gone off the deep end. She can’t bring herself to be rebellious in her life or stand up to her father, so she uses indirect methods to insult people and lash out, by writing profanity-laden tirades against them in a manner that does not allow anyone to know that she is responsible (thus, no one can confront her about it). Edith is easily cowed by her father and subservient to him, even though she’s middle-aged and has no reason to listen to him, or take his discipline. She cowers when he throws tantrums, and tries to appease him to avoid his scoldings. In truth, she has vicious things she thinks about others, but does not want to say them to their faces and risk the backlash, and it’s a monumental achievement when she can finally stand in the street and unleash a string of profanities toward a neighbor who hurt her feelings, rather than hiding behind her poison pen. Her 1 wing feels that what she is doing is right, that there is a proper way to be, and that others are not living up to their high standards; she tries to politely correct others all the time (saying that Rose needs to keep her floor swept, and from there, the rest of the house tidies itself). She apologizes for not doing her work properly, and feels quite hurt when her friends don’t believe her that Rose is the one sending her such awful things. She feels partly drawn to Rose because Rose has the courage to speak her mind and insult people to their faces.