Sansa, Normality Is Best

[Melian Dayne]

Disclaimer: I'm a lurker on the forums and I only watch the show, but I've read a lot about the books lurking around the forums. This is my take on Sansa, it a bit more abstract (I don't reference specific lore knowledge), please don't rip me to shreds!

I actually like Sansa and I can understand why some people might not like her. But I feel that Sansa's character development has been mainly analysed on the tangible, when in fact hers is more about the intangible. Sansa's storyline is about maturing and the learning of the human psychology. People who argue that Sansa's biggest mistakes (Trident Incident and Cersei) shouldn't have been committed in the first place might not realise that such mistakes were necessary for the storyline. With that in mind, I think the author in his mind is aware that this also opens up the chance for Sansa to redeem herself later on. We haven't seen this redemption yet and I'm not sure if it will really happen, but I'm hopeful.

Sansa's story is not so much about being the greatest warrior or the best politician, but rather personal growth as a woman who just wants to live happily and die peacefully. We see Sansa starting off with the ambition of becoming a queen, but when she learns the harshness of reality, she learns to treasure the simpler things in life (especially when she starts recollecting her memories of the past) and makes choices to survive not to advance any political ambitions. Perhaps because of this, Sansa's often considered the least remarkable character in terms of tangible achievements but in terms of personal development she's a contender. Sansa is imperfect, flawed and normal yet somehow survives. For some people, to quote a song, "normality is best." And that is why Sansa is such a polarising character, because some people don't want normal.

There's a song that perfectly embodies Sansa to me, "Try" by Nelly Furtado. It's almost as if Sansa's lifestory was made into song. The lyrics.

All I know
Is everything is not as it's sold
But the more I grow the less I know
And I have lived so many lives
Though I'm not old
And the more I see, the less I grow
The fewer the seeds the more I sow

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try, try

I wish I hadn't seen all of the realness
And all the real people are really not real at all
The more I learn the more I learn
The more I cry the more I cry
As I say goodbye to the way of life
I thought I had designed for me

All of the moments that already passed
We'll try to go back and make them last
All of the things we want each other to be
We never will be, we never will be
And that's wonderful, and that's life
And that's you,
This is me,
And we are, we are, we are, we are
We are, we are
Free
In our love
We are free in our love

Perhaps, Sansa's character development is not about what others want her to be or what others expect of her (for the people around her and for the readers), it is going to be about what she wants personally (which is why she's so polarising), and she wants to be free and to be loved. I think that Sansa's ending might be a compromise between what she wants and what others expect her to do.

[Sansa's Bad Memory]

I've found that many of the people on the forums are so pro Arya and so very against Sansa. I think the reason for this is that Arya is so very fiction, but Sansa is real. She is what a tween girl would be. She's sweet, idealistic, naive, trusting. How many hard-core fantasy readers want to see that? They want warging and swords not embroidery and manners. I like Sansa because she is real. And I think her "realness" (is that a word :) ) will make her something special for Westeros. I can actually see a friendship between Dany and her. They would make a good friendship couple. Dany is just and Sansa is kind.

[A Highborn Maid]

Yes, Sansa had it ROUGH. I think she's been psychologically tormented in a way that makes her a contender for most tortured character in ASOIAF. I think she will either redeem herself and restore honour to house Stark, or go off the deep end and kill everyone. Either way, I love her, and think she has far more strength than people give her credit for.

[Universal Sword Donor]

I've found that many of the people on the forums are so pro Arya and so very against Sansa. I think the reason for this is that Arya is so very fiction, but Sansa is real. She is what a tween girl would be. She's sweet, idealistic, naive, trusting. How many hard-core fantasy readers want to see that? They want warging and swords not embroidery and manners. I like Sansa because she is real. And I think her "realness" (is that a word :) ) will make her something special for Westeros. I can actually see a friendship between Dany and her. They would make a good friendship couple. Dany is just and Sansa is kind.

Yeah don't get me wrong. I *hated* Sansa in the first few books. She was annoying, vapid, and naive to the point of stupidity.

However tweens suck in general, and their viewpoints suck to read. I wasn't a huge fan of Jon's chapters either.

That said, her chapters have been much, much more compelling and interesting as she has "aged" and gotten more life experience. She went through about as brutal of a period as anyone else in ASOIAF, and it is paying off in terms of her situational awareness and place in life.

[Sansa's Bad Memory]

Yeah don't get me wrong. I *hated* Sansa in the first few books. She was annoying, vapid, and naive to the point of stupidity.

However tweens suck in general, and their viewpoints suck to read. I wasn't a huge fan of Jon's chapters either.

That said, her chapters have been much, much more compelling and interesting as she has "aged" and gotten more life experience. She went through about as brutal of a period as anyone else in ASOIAF, and it is paying off in terms of her situational awareness and place in life.

"...I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.[3] ”

What do you make of the latter part? I think she will turn into a killer buy not a murderer. She is a "slayer" like Sam. I don't think her personality will change to the feral like Arya's but she will be the unlikely slayer like Sam.

[Weirwood Tree]

Well... That has already happened, hasn't it?? In A Storm of Swords, the last Sansa-chapter:

"Did you make the snow castle, Lord Littlefinger?" "Alayne did most of it, my lord." Sansa said, "It's meant to be Winterfell." "Winterfell? " Robert was small for eight, a stick boy with splotchy skin and eyes that were always runny. Under one arm he clutched the threadbare cloth doll he carried everywhere." Winterfell is the seat of House Stark", Sansa told her husband-to-be. "The great castle of the north". "It's not so great." The boy knelt before the gatehouse. "Look, here comes a giant to knock it down." He stood his doll in the snow and moved it jerkily. "Tromp tromp I'm a giant," he chanted. "Ho ho ho, open your gates or I'll mash them and smash them." Swinging the doll by the legs, he knocked the top off one gatehouse tower and then the other. It was more than Sansa could stand. "Robert, stop that." Instead he swung the doll again, and a foot of wall exploded. She grabbed for his hand but she caught the doll instead. There was a loud ripping sound as the thin cloth tore. Suddenly she had the doll's head, Robert had the legs and body, and the rag-and-sawdust stuffing was spilling in the snow. Lord Roberr's mouth trembled. "You killlllled him," he wailed.

[Sansa's Bad Memory]

Well... That has already happened, hasn't it?? In A Storm of Swords, the last Sansa-chapter:

"Did you make the snow castle, Lord Littlefinger?" "Alayne did most of it, my lord." Sansa said, "It's meant to be Winterfell." "Winterfell? " Robert was small for eight, a stick boy with splotchy skin and eyes that were always runny. Under one arm he clutched the threadbare cloth doll he carried everywhere." Winterfell is the seat of House Stark", Sansa told her husband-to-be. "The great castle of the north". "It's not so great." The boy knelt before the gatehouse. "Look, here comes a giant to knock it down." He stood his doll in the snow and moved it jerkily. "Tromp tromp I'm a giant," he chanted. "Ho ho ho, open your gates or I'll mash them and smash them." Swinging the doll by the legs, he knocked the top off one gatehouse tower and then the other. It was more than Sansa could stand. "Robert, stop that." Instead he swung the doll again, and a foot of wall exploded. She grabbed for his hand but she caught the doll instead. There was a loud ripping sound as the thin cloth tore. Suddenly she had the doll's head, Robert had the legs and body, and the rag-and-sawdust stuffing was spilling in the snow. Lord Roberr's mouth trembled. "You killlllled him," he wailed.

I totally forgot about that damn rag giant. Where is my shame face emoticon now?