A Theory about the Sansa Unkiss

[SansaUnkiss]

Here is a theory about the Sansa Unkiss that I have not seen before. I believe that this theory is about as plausible as the Frey Pies theory, which I think is a high bar.

Ok, so GRRM has stated that the Sansa Unkiss means that she is not a reliable narrator. What are we supposed to take away from that? There are two natural natural inferences that I would make:

1. There are some parts of Sansa chapters are are simply false and did not happen the way she says they happened.

2. In particular, Sansa has difficulty accurately remembering (or perceiving) when men men kiss her.

Ok, so if we accept these two inferences, where does that lead us? That when Littlefinger "kissed" Sansa at the Eyrie, he actually did not kiss her, she kissed him.

Afterwards, GRRM uses about a page or two of text of having Lysa accuse Sansa of kissing Littlefinger, how Lysa saw Sansa kissing Littlefinger, how it doesn't make any sense that Littlefinger kissed Sansa, etc.

Upon first reading, we assume that Sansa correct and that Lysa is incorrect, because Lysa is the crazy one. But in light of the Sansa Unkiss and what GRRM has said about it, I'm pretty sure that it happened how Lysa said that it did. It puts the incident into an entirely different light and makes us reflect that Sansa is just some teenage girl that's easily confused, which is how GRRM wants to portray her.

[Blow My Horn]

So Sansa has developed a touch of Stockholm Syndrome. She's been a captive for so long and pulled in different directions by people portraying themselves as friends... I could see it. Those "friends" actually being your captors could hasten the slide into such a mental state imo.

It would be funny if this were true after all the Pedofinger comments.

[Pod The Impaler]

"Stockholm Syndrome" is overused on this forum, in my opinion. Sansa's the sort to make up things in her head at times, she lets her emotions strongly influence her interpretations and memory of events. She was doing this well before being a captive and regarding events before her captivity. She is also not the only character who has this tendency. As for being naive, there's also that.

[Ser Greg of House House]

I guess it was just a way to show her infatuation with the Hound, as creepy as that is.

[FNF]

Plot twist.

[Leonardo]

Hmm

Man this is pretty convincing, but I just find it out of character for Sansa.

[RoamingRonin]

"Stockholm Syndrome" is overused on this forum, in my opinion. Sansa's the sort to make up things in her head at times, she lets her emotions strongly influence her interpretations and memory of events. She was doing this well before being a captive and regarding events before her captivity. She is also not the only character who has this tendency. As for being naive, there's also that.

Completely agree.

I don't agree with the OP's theory, however. The scene clearly shows LF initiated the kiss:

"I told you that nothing could please me more than to help you with your castle. I fear that was a lie as well. Something else would please me more." He stepped closer. "This."

Sansa tried to step back, but he pulled her into his arms and suddenly he was kissing her. Feebly, she tried to squirm, but only succeeded in pressing herself more tightly against him. His mouth was on hers, swallowing her words. He tasted of mint. For half a heartbeat she yielded to his kiss . . . before she turned her face away and wrenched free. "What are you doing?"

You could argue she's unreliable because she did yield to the kiss for a moment but it's clear LF started it all.

I think the purpose of Sansa being unreliable is because she will need to remember something very important (like how many doses of medicine Sweet Robin has already had!) but she won't remember it correctly (and Sweet Robin is going to OD and die).

[Lady Fevre Dream]

Completely agree.

I don't agree with the OP's theory, however. The scene clearly shows LF initiated the kiss:

You could argue she's unreliable because she did yield to the kiss for a moment but it's clear LF started it all.

I think the purpose of Sansa being unreliable is because she will need to remember something very important (like how many doses of medicine Sweet Robin has already had!) but she won't remember it correctly (and Sweet Robin is going to OD and die).

ODL, I've never thought of the unreliable narrator issue to equate with the idea of it contributing to SRs death, and how that would effect Sansa. I've always kind of wondered from the things I've read if it's GRRMs BS covering line for his own mistake.

As far as Sneaky Pete Creepfinger, I'm of the opinion that not only did he initiate the kiss, he did so for the express purpose of Lysa seeing it. He was about done with Lysa's crazy ass, and he does like his 'chaos' before he acts.

[The Ned's Little Girl]

It is certainly possible.

There are other explanations that make just as much sense. "Unreliable narrator" could mean simply that. It's such a common experience to mis-remember things (my husband swears that something that happened to me actually happened to him when in reality he wasn't even there) that it could represent nothing more than a usual human experience.

Lysa being an hysterical person and very jealous where LF is concerned could easily mis-interpret what she saw.

Sansa is a warg like her siblings, but due to her loss of Lady she hasn't yet been able to activate or develop the ability. Her warging ability may be being expressed by an empathetic connection to certain people. Perhaps she read Sandor's mind to a certain extent and realized that he very much wanted to kiss her and in her mind it became an actual kiss.

[SansaUnkiss]

RoamingRonin, if there was a Lysa POV chapter, it would have shown Sansa clearly kissing Littlefinger. How do we tell who is correct? Simply by citing the text of the POV chapters?

Sansa is not just unreliable, but an unreliable narrator, which I believe must mean that there are parts of her POV chapters that simply must be false.

[Lyanna Stark]

Ok, so if we accept these two inferences, where does that lead us? That when Littlefinger "kissed" Sansa at the Eyrie, he actually did not kiss her, she kissed him.

Yeah, no. She didn't kiss Littlefinger. It would be completely illogical.

[Blazfemur]

...and while i know this is COMPLETELY out of the question and NEVER to question The George, it isn't possible he mis-wrote?

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Altering her memory to include a kiss from someone she wished had kissed her does not mean she altered her memory of an actual kiss from someone she didn't want kissing her.

[LordStoneheart]

I'm of the opinion that GRRM meant she is unreliable in her recollections, not her observations. Simply, the UnKiss was a later fabrication in her mind. It's clear that it didn't happen.

I honestly hate that SSM. I love that he likes to toy with us, I really do, but too often is his mention of her being a slightly unreliable narrator taken to mean "Sansa's chapters and view cannot be trusted at all! We must question everything about her!"

[Blazfemur]

is it also possible George is creating a parallel between sansa and lysa, the way he did with cersei and robert (when cersei 'manipulates' taena the way robert used to with her); and the way he did with aerys and (incoming) daenerys? Because im sure half the tales lysa told were not exactly as they had happened..

Is he trying to create a similarity between the two of them, as he did with other main characters, i mean.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

RoamingRonin, if there was a Lysa POV chapter, it would have shown Sansa clearly kissing Littlefinger. How do we tell who is correct? Simply by citing the text of the POV chapters?

Sansa is not just unreliable, but an unreliable narrator, which I believe must mean that there are parts of her POV chapters that simply must be false.

You cannot say anything about a nonexistant POV for the very reason it doesn't exist, LOL

[Lady Fevre Dream]

...and while i know this is COMPLETELY out of the question and NEVER to question The George, it isn't possible he mis-wrote?

I really do give that more than 50% likely, just on the things I have read about how he came to make that comment.

[Ürglõvi]

Uh, slight problem with that theory; we only know that Sandor unkiss was an unkiss, because Sansa's later recollections don't add up with her observations in that chapter. by your logic, Sansa would have thought she was kissing Sandor from the beginning and we could never tell the difference.

So ''unreliable narrator'' only works when she's thinking of something that happened off-screen... which kind of makes me wonder if maybe LF's doing more than kissing and Sansa's suppressing it somehow. :unsure: Not likely, but an uncomfortable thought.

[Blazfemur]

I really do give that more than 50% likely, just on the things I have read about how he came to make that comment.

i think in retrospect, at the time he may have meant to nothave them kiss. then perhaps after, regretted not putting in the kiss, and went ahead with it anyway through her pov. this also makes sandor look better, as he in fact, never took her in any way shape or form.

[Alaynsa Starne]

The situation of the UnKiss was pretty different from Littlefinger's kiss. First of all, on the night of the Blackwater, Sandor was in a very physically and sexually dominant position. It was highly emotional, Sansa was terrified, and she thought he would kiss her. She was actually surprised when he didn't. Considering the building tension between the two during ACOK, I was a bit surprised that he pulled away, too. After a night that was so highly emotionally stressful and more than a little traumatizing, it makes perfect sense that Sansa misremembers the actual events.

The situation with Littlefinger is different. We all know about his general creepiness. We spotted it in the very first interaction between he and Sansa in AGOT. He comments about her "sweet body" to Tyrion and even offers to marry her. We know he wants her, and not just from her pov. Also, we're seeing the LF kiss happening in real time. It's kind of impossible for Sansa to misremember something that is happening to her immediately. If in this case Sansa was the initiator of the kiss and she thinks about how he's pulling her toward him and how she's struggling to get away, we have to question her sanity, not her very human memory.