Jump to content

POVs, Unreliable Narrator, and You


Kittykatknits

Recommended Posts

Dr. Pepper and I have had some discussions in other threads about the narrative style used within ASOIAF and how we can use this knowledge to better understand the subject material.

In a third person limited narration, the narrator is limited to the thoughts and feelings of a single character. The only insight revealed about other characters is external and dependent upon what the POV character thinks and feels about them. The unreliable narrator is when the narrator's credibility cannot be relied upon. The reliability might be as simple as the narrator not having all of the pertinent facts or more complicated such as when the narrator confuses known facts or misremembers scenes for whatever reasons.

When these modes of storytelling are used together, the reader is forced to constantly reevaluate the story as a whole as new information is presented. This approach lends an element of realism because, as we all know, people lie, there is more than one side to every story, and memory can be faulty. Plots, schemes, motives, and character traits cannot be fully realized via one character. It requires the reader to pull information that is presented by many different characters sometimes living or traveling on completely different continents.

So what does this mean for us? We need to be willing to look beyond the words on paper and ask ourselves what is really happening and question motives. A POV’s perceptions are not reality. In other words, to understand what is really taking place in this series, we need to put some work into it. If a reader does not make this effort, then over half of the story is being missed.

The goal of this thread is to encourage discussion on the narrative style of the series, to hopefully facilitate a stronger understanding for all of us on how to better read and understand ASOIAF. We are not trying to change anyone’s mind on a particular character or encourage debate on more controversial plots within the series.

Examples:

Viserys and the Hired Knives

In Dany's chapters, we learn that she and Viserys were constantly on the move because they were fleeing from Robert's hired knives. However, we see in a Ned chapter that Robert regrets never sending hired knives after them when he had the chance on advice from Jon Arryn. This revelation does not undermine Dany's fear of these hired knives. She believed them to be a very real threat to her life and safety. However, it reveals to the reader that Viserys was unwilling to admit to the real reason why they were always on the move: no one took him seriously enough to offer him assistance in claiming the Iron Throne nor to offer them indefinite shelter free-of-charge. It also reveals to the reader that Dany is not as observant as she thinks she is.

The Death of Lady

In Ned’s chapter, we see Sansa claim not to remember the events that led to Joffrey being attacked and Cersei calling for the death of Lady shortly thereafter. If we go by this chapter alone, it appears that Sansa is responsible for the death of Lady. Later, we even learn that Sansa blames Arya for getting Lady killed. But, neither of these interpretations are the correct one. Later in GOT, Ned talks with Robert who admits that he should have behaved differently and that he capitulated to Cersei. Yet, it is not until three books later during a Jaime chapter in Feast that we learn the rest of the story. Robert and Cersei had been up the night before arguing until Robert passed out in to a drunken slumber. Cersei was out for blood and seizing an opportunity to kill a wolf. Robert, unwilling to stand up to Cersei, chose to let it happen.

The clearest example is in AFFC Cersei thinks that GM Pyrcelle is a traitor and looking to upstage her, however we all know from the other POVs and the facts that GM Pyrcelle is a Lannister lackey and only has her best interest in mind.

Cersei also believes that Euron Crow's Eye is no threat to the realm and her power, in her opinion he's only raiding the North and The Reach so why should she worry about him and his 1,000 ships and desire now to raid but to subjugate? She's also ignoring a revolt in Slaver's Bay when Qyburn is telling her it is deadly serious . . . .

We learn a lot through out the books reading all the POVs from The Tournament at Harrenhall and it's impact on the whole series to an alternate view of Robert's Rebellion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The outside unreliable narrator is of special importance where Martin explicitely refuses to give a POV. If characters like Varys or LF had their own POV secrets and plots would be unveiled that are supposed to be hidden for many more chapters.

In Varys' case a very unreliable narrator is Kevan dying. We get what Varys tells him, we even do not know if the wounded man is still able to understand everything he hears and of course we have no idea if Varys is telling the truth. Why should he tell Kevan anything, I mean, the man is meant to die! Does Varys simply like to hear himself talking - or is someone somewhere in the room who is supposed to hear Varys' speech? A hidden witness or is one of the little sparrows a spy for someone else to be fed with false hints? Conspiracy, conspiracy!

Or Sansa with LF in the Vale. Baelish feeds her with a mixture of lies and wisdom that she is processing and returning to us readers via POV. We are supposed to filter the valid information out of it. Sansa here has to be naive and ignorant about how the game is played because Martin wants his readers to draw the conclusions by interpreting what Sansa does not grasp straightaway. Sansa cannot be allowed to be too clever otherwise GRRM would spoonfeed us things we are supposed to find out ourselves by being always one step ahead of the naive girl. The Forrest Gump method: Forrest simplicius gives an in a way accurate information but by not understanding the context the information comes over twisted and the watcher (or reader) has to put it back into perspective by an active effort. And the next step for possible misinterpretations is built in....

Sansa is via her POV our interpreter of LF because Martin does not want to give any clear and straightforward information about that crucial character. And this is also the reason why she appears so overly trusting towards LF: the author has to make them communicate (different from the Tyrion situation where NOT communicating is crucial for the future plot), otherwise Sansa would not get the things from him that she has to tell us. And she is so very trusting of course because LF knows precisely how it is done to seduce young girls emotionally and physically. He carefully selects the appropriate method for each "victim" which in Sansa's case is not beginning with sex but giving her the illusion that she is someone to be taken seriously, something she is craving for. LF approaches his prey slowly and carefully. We as watchers observe what is going on, thus again being aware of more than she is and we may watch Sansa stepping into the trap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thing is, I don't think LF can afford to have two boy lords die suspiciously when he's around. Maybe he just wants the challenge of playing out a game where he's the champion and the Brandon Stark type playboy loses this time.

Robert's death could be looked at as natural (he's a sick boy). And LF doesn't need to be around for Harry to die if he sends him to take Winterfell from whoever is there. He's got a lot of people around that work for him. I'm not saying he will kill them both, but I do think he isn't to be trusted.

Which is one more point on which we can see Sansa being biased POV She doesn't open her eyes to LF's bigger deeds. She pays just enough attention to make sure she learns how he sways the lords to his side, but she doesn't pay attention to the things Lysa said about poisoning Jon and insists Petyr was trying to "save" her from her crazy aunt by murdering the woman (when the kiss may have itself been to anger Lysa and he certainly could have persuaded her not to hurt Sansa with that silver tongue of his). She doesn't see the danger in LF and has split his personality into two different characters so she can sympathize with him. Petyr is her friend, Petyr wants to protect her, LF is the one who plots. But she seems to believe LF plots in HER best interest when it is always in his own. And we know why she does this, because she is living there with him and she needs to believe she can trust him because he is all she has. Petyr saved her but it should raise red flags in her head that he was willing to murder: Joffery, Dantos, Tyrion and Lysa in the process. He says Robert is going to die, he is counting on it, and is slowly poisoning him in interest of his "health" and Sansa has no reason to really trust him. (She was willing to believe the worst of people in KL, why not him?) When she said the line What is good for the Lord Robert is not always the same as what is good for Robert the boy (or something similar not a direct quote) I got chills. That has littlefinger written all over it. Not her words, they are his. Don't take this the wrong way, I love Sansa and am entirely invested in her story line, I just think she is more of an unreliable narrator than just in that one instance. I mean if I were in her position I'd be living in just as much fear in the Vale as I was in KL. Petyr is a dangerous man. She knows it and is closing her eyes to it. (I don't think she will forever. She is going to get him back somehow when she finally opens those eyes) All the characters are biased in some way and it is up to the audience to decide when the characters are misinterpreting events or lying to themself. (Can't blame Sansa she is creating a situation that is easier for her to deal with.) She has to live the lie of Alayne to survive Petyr I think as Sansa she knows the dangers of him, but can't deal with it just yet. (Also I don't want it to look like I'm picking on Sansa! I'm not I promise. I've just read her POV more times than I've read the rest.)

In Varys' case a very unreliable narrator is Kevan dying. We get what Varys tells him, we even do not know if the wounded man is still able to understand everything he hears and of course we have no idea if Varys is telling the truth. Why should he tell Kevan anything, I mean, the man is meant to die! Does Varys simply like to hear himself talking - or is someone somewhere in the room who is supposed to hear Varys' speech? A hidden witness or is one of the little sparrows a spy for someone else to be fed with false hints? Conspiracy, conspiracy!

This this this! He has to think someone is listening otherwise why tell him? KL is full of ears and there are still people there to listen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with you that she needs to see LF/Petyr for what he is, and that right now she's at a dangerous precipice. Very early on in her stay in the Vale, we see her thinking that LF is no friend of hers, and that she would flee him if she could, but of course she has no allies. I think she's had bury that impulse in order to come to terms with her isolation, but it's still there. We also have to bear in mind that LF has implicated her in his crimes (do you want more blood on your hands, sweetling), so in a very practical sense his success becomes her success, because she is imagining that if he goes down, she will be following shortly.

I think his plan to involve her in another arranged marriage will be his undoing, as this is now encroaching on the freedom she's come to enjoy as Alayne Stone. My theory is that she'll form an alliance with Mya Stone and Lothor Brune and escape/defeat him somehow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pay attention to how he comes across in each POV too. He's also in Tyrion and Ned's point of view. In Ned's, he's the most brutal, Tyrion he is more of a servant, in Sansa's he is the most erratic. But you get the closest to who he is as a person in the Sansa and Arya POVs.

That's a really good point, but it's also good to remember that we act differently around different people. The Hound would be more brutal when Ned was around, because Ned is his employer's rival; he would be more subservient to Tyrion, one of his employers, and he would behave more erratically around Sansa and Arya because his feelings towards them - both of them - are erratic. So there's the filter of looking at a person through different eyes, and the filter of seeing different facets. Layers upon layers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a really good point, but it's also good to remember that we act differently around different people. The Hound would be more brutal when Ned was around, because Ned is his employer's rival; he would be more subservient to Tyrion, one of his employers, and he would behave more erratically around Sansa and Arya because his feelings towards them - both of them - are erratic. So there's the filter of looking at a person through different eyes, and the filter of seeing different facets. Layers upon layers.

You've got some great points but I think there is more going on here. Ned describes and thinks of the Hound in brutish terms, wondering if he will attack or be a threat in any way. He's concerned about the Hound during the scene when Lady dies. It's the same with Tyrion, he thinks of Sandor as a servant to the Lannister and that comes across in his thoughts. He's surprised to see fear in his eyes and gives him orders that Sandor pushes back on. The only person that sees the erratic behavior is actually Sansa. Arya seems him act this way only twice- once after his arm had been burned and then when he thinks he is dying under the tree. Otherwise, he's very collected and put together. Each POV has their own impressions of him and those are coming through as well, it's not just his behavior.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with you that she needs to see LF/Petyr for what he is, and that right now she's at a dangerous precipice. Very early on in her stay in the Vale, we see her thinking that LF is no friend of hers, and that she would flee him if she could, but of course she has no allies. I think she's had bury that impulse in order to come to terms with her isolation, but it's still there. We also have to bear in mind that LF has implicated her in his crimes (do you want more blood on your hands, sweetling), so in a very practical sense his success becomes her success, because she is imagining that if he goes down, she will be following shortly.

I think his plan to involve her in another arranged marriage will be his undoing, as this is now encroaching on the freedom she's come to enjoy as Alayne Stone. My theory is that she'll form an alliance with Mya Stone and Lothor Brune and escape/defeat him somehow.

Oh very much so. Related to the POV thing... we get the switch. We see where her chapters stop being "Sansa" and start being "Alayne." And she looks guilty for the crimes, she wore the poison to the wedding and was right there when he pushed Lysa. The shift from Sansa to Alayne is to preserve herself. You can see she commits to the persona and to learning what she can from LF and I think the commitment will be what "saves" her from LF. She's practiced her songs at KL and knows how to lie now without thinking and what's more she isn't pretending to be Alayne she is being Alayne. And as long as she does that LF will continue to underestimate her. It will save her from getting in his way until she can get the upper hand. Yeah I think marrying her to HtH (or planning to) will make her not fond of him. That and I hope she realizes he is slowly poisoning Robert. He wasn't hale by any standard, but he'd made it past infancy and had a good shot, but he said it: the Vale will never love Robert. The fact that she brushes those comments (and his creepy kisses) aside shows her will to survive though as well as showing us how her POV can shift and sway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've got some great points but I think there is more going on here. Ned describes and thinks of the Hound in brutish terms, wondering if he will attack or be a threat in any way. He's concerned about the Hound during the scene when Lady dies. It's the same with Tyrion, he thinks of Sandor as a servant to the Lannister and that comes across in his thoughts. He's surprised to see fear in his eyes and gives him orders that Sandor pushes back on. The only person that sees the erratic behavior is actually Sansa. Arya seems him act this way only twice- once after his arm had been burned and then when he thinks he is dying under the tree. Otherwise, he's very collected and put together. Each POV has their own impressions of him and those are coming through as well, it's not just his behavior.

No, I definitely agree it's both his behaviour and the POV he's seen through, like I said - layers :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh very much so. Related to the POV thing... we get the switch. We see where her chapters stop being "Sansa" and start being "Alayne." And she looks guilty for the crimes, she wore the poison to the wedding and was right there when he pushed Lysa. The shift from Sansa to Alayne is to preserve herself. You can see she commits to the persona and to learning what she can from LF and I think the commitment will be what "saves" her from LF. She's practiced her songs at KL and knows how to lie now without thinking and what's more she isn't pretending to be Alayne she is being Alayne. And as long as she does that LF will continue to underestimate her. It will save her from getting in his way until she can get the upper hand. Yeah I think marrying her to HtH (or planning to) will make her not fond of him. That and I hope she realizes he is slowly poisoning Robert. He wasn't hale by any standard, but he'd made it past infancy and had a good shot, but he said it: the Vale will never love Robert. The fact that she brushes those comments (and his creepy kisses) aside shows her will to survive though as well as showing us how her POV can shift and sway.

Agreed for the most part, but is she truly brushing those comments and creepy kisses away? I think the kisses make her very uncomfortable, and we still don't know how she will react to him to his stated plan to murder SR. When Sansa was coming down the Mountain, she was envisioning a peaceful night's rest and awakening to a lively atmosphere. That peace has pretty much evaporated now and she can't continue to imagine that she and LF are playing for the same team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great thread.

I like to be practical: if one questions everything things tend to get wide-open for personal interpretation based on that nasty creepy thing called personal bias.

So to keep things simple I tend to think that most of what GRRM gives us in the text can be trusted.

Of course there are unreliable narrators, but GRRM gives us clues for this.

Those clues are probably the same as we encounter in real life when people are telling us things from their point of view.

Time can fog memories, eye witnesses are not always reliable, people tend to blame others and not themselves for what goes wrong, people tend to see the black in characters they don't like and the white in characters they do like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great thread.

I like to be practical: if one questions everything things tend to get wide-open for personal interpretation based on that nasty creepy thing called personal bias.

So to keep things simple I tend to think that most of what GRRM gives us in the text can be trusted.

Of course there are unreliable narrators, but GRRM gives us clues for this.

Those clues are probably the same as we encounter in real life when people are telling us things from their point of view.

Time can fog memories, eye witnesses are not always reliable, people tend to blame others and not themselves for what goes wrong, people tend to see the black in characters they don't like and the white in characters they do like.

I agree this is shaping up to becoming a great thread.

You are right that we probably shouldn't start questioning everything, or we end up with Jaqen=Syrio and similar crackpot. At the same time, I think it's important to keep your mind open to the possibility that things aren't exactly as they seem. There's a number of passages in AFfC and ADwD that I think are more ambiguous than most are giving GRRM credit for; and I'm very intrigued by how these things will turn out.

Specifically, I'm talking about Jaime's cluelessness when dealing with the Westerlings; the ambiguity surrounding Myrcella's reported survival of Darkstar's attack; the Pink Letter; and the mysterious events surrounding Quentyn's death. I think these are cases where GRRM might currently be pulling the wool over our eyes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that a great use of the POV was Tyrion-Shae. There was quite a few hints that Shae was quite a greedy, mean person. She was obssessed with money and jewels, unable to give a shred of sympathy to gang-raped Lollys. However, Tyrion is deluding himself and we see Shae through solely his viewpoint. It's shocking when Shae betrays him but there is lots of hints on rereads.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Littlefinger will not get that far tho, due to this. ;)

I read that and it blew my mind. Thanks for that! And all this time I was irritated everytime I heard the line in ADWD about where whores go - it was just repetitive and my sympathy wore out. I would be quite disappointed if Tysha did a deux ex and appeared in the story for a happy reunion, after the slog of Tyrion's monotonous self-pity, but this theory actually makes a lot of sense and would be supremely satisfying if it did play out. Here's hopin'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh very much so. Related to the POV thing... we get the switch. We see where her chapters stop being "Sansa" and start being "Alayne." And she looks guilty for the crimes, she wore the poison to the wedding and was right there when he pushed Lysa. The shift from Sansa to Alayne is to preserve herself. You can see she commits to the persona and to learning what she can from LF and I think the commitment will be what "saves" her from LF. She's practiced her songs at KL and knows how to lie now without thinking and what's more she isn't pretending to be Alayne she is being Alayne. And as long as she does that LF will continue to underestimate her. It will save her from getting in his way until she can get the upper hand. Yeah I think marrying her to HtH (or planning to) will make her not fond of him. That and I hope she realizes he is slowly poisoning Robert. He wasn't hale by any standard, but he'd made it past infancy and had a good shot, but he said it: the Vale will never love Robert. The fact that she brushes those comments (and his creepy kisses) aside shows her will to survive though as well as showing us how her POV can shift and sway.

I've always found Sansa quite a strange POV. I didn't really like reading her POVs in the earlier books - they were just so naive and filled with fear and pity, plus the storyline for her was pretty stagnant. But she has a very florid tendency of sugarcoating her surroundings in order so that she can cope. The way she paints Dontos to be Florian and her resolute hold onto that illusion, despite her latent repulsion to him - you can tell she's desperately clinging to hope.

I also find it strange that though she seems to be (willingly) blind and oblivious to Littlefinger's true nature, her POV still relates word for word Lysa's accusation of Petyr before her death in striking detail - whilst she doesn't process it in her narrative or mull over the quote, the fact she remembers it word for word probably shows that she's internalised it to some degree. Perhaps she's just not willing to admit it to herself just yet. Alayne as a character is noticeably stronger, more calculating, and a marked departure from the Sansa POVs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought that Sansa's chapters were some of the most horrifying in the books because she casually comments about things that are pretty horrifying due to her naivete. One of the examples that stands out to me is Jeyne Poole. The readers know what is happened to Jeyne and are sickened by it, but Sansa doesn't understand. It reminds me of another famous example of an unreliable narrator, Scout Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird. Due to Scout's age, she doesn't really understand everything everything, so she matterfactedly recounts some ugly truths.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But what makes it all the more interesting to me is that there are characters we never get the POV of. Some of my favorite characters we only see through other eyes (like Sandor for instance). And some of the best players like Littlefinger and Varys remain a constant mystery and you have to work through layers of double speak and motive and consideration of what he is saying to whom for exactly what purpose?

This is one aspect I really enjoy about the books - that there are certain pivotal characters whom we only ever see through others' POVs. Both Varys and LF have that air of Richelieu's 'eminence gris' and we are left to wonder about 'who' they are and what their motives/ loyalties are, just like all the other characters in the books. Everyone sees a different aspect to them, just as we do with people in RL, and everyone is likely to come to a slightly different conclusion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's one minor thing I've got to mention I love from the Sansa / Alayne POV. It's not really about narrative structure but I thought it was a neat titbit. Alayne is travelling down the mountain and Sansa hears a wolf howl.

As kind of a reverse situation from POV's adding clues towards a truth, there's the problem of working out the truth from only a single unreliable POV. What happened to Cersei's childhood friend Melara? Cersei is an unreliable narrator and it is unlikely anybody knows or cares enough to reveal the truth to us. But if the narrator is consistently unreliable in the same way that can reveal a lot of truth they are not directly thinking. I see in Cersei a tendency to convince herself that other people have betrayed her in order to justify her mistreatment of them (did she not at one point stun the Small Council into silence by complaining Sansa betrayed her despite all the kindness she had been shown?). According to Cersei's memories Melara also betrayed her - but because of the trend this just convinces me that it was Cersei that did Melara wrong and Melara did not commit a betrayal. So I don't think Melara fell in the Well by accident but was pushed by Cersei for selfish reasons. I think the actual motive has to be worked out from a single remembered line; Melara suggested if they never spoke of the prophecies they would not come true, perhaps Cersei took the idea a step further and killed the only other person who had heard her prophecy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Loving this thread! Thanks for it.

I've been enjoying picking up more on the trustworthiness ( or lack thereof) of the different POVs on rereads. It's especially insightful to see everyone fooling themselves. Alayne and Cat of the Canals hiding from who they are. Cercei's drunken arrogant elitism(it's hard not to say "oh snap" after her every thought). Wondering...who are the most trustworthy of POVs? Does anyone see the face value of the people around them?

I think Jon and Selmy are more trustworthy than others. And Arya too, in all her incarnations, after all Syrio fought her how to be observant. She is observant for us the reader, even when she doesn't understand quite what she is witness to due to her youth! GRRM really captures her inner monologue and I think that helps her to be a fan favorite.

Also, Jaime....he is becoming more likable? redeemed? because he's learning to not lie to himself. Anyway I think his POV is pretty straight shooting.

Anyone else?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always found Sansa quite a strange POV. I didn't really like reading her POVs in the earlier books - they were just so naive and filled with fear and pity, plus the storyline for her was pretty stagnant. But she has a very florid tendency of sugarcoating her surroundings in order so that she can cope. The way she paints Dontos to be Florian and her resolute hold onto that illusion, despite her latent repulsion to him - you can tell she's desperately clinging to hope.

I wouldn't say Sansa feels latent repulsion for Dontos; she's actually quite sympathetic towards him. And she's aware that Dontos makes a poor Florian, but is still willing to go along with the fantasy because while he may be a drunk fool he's still trying to help her. I think Dontos was the one who really wanted to believe he was Sansa's true knight, and that fantasy was really instrumental in building his sense of self worth.

I also find it strange that though she seems to be (willingly) blind and oblivious to Littlefinger's true nature, her POV still relates word for word Lysa's accusation of Petyr before her death in striking detail - whilst she doesn't process it in her narrative or mull over the quote, the fact she remembers it word for word probably shows that she's internalised it to some degree. Perhaps she's just not willing to admit it to herself just yet. Alayne as a character is noticeably stronger, more calculating, and a marked departure from the Sansa POVs.

As I noted above, she's not so wilfully blind to LF as it is that she's been implicated in his crimes and now has to play along with his game. I agree that she's internalised the info Lysa gave her and we'll probably see it playing a role later on. Also, when considering the difference between Sansa and Alayne, I think it's important to remember the conditions Sansa is under in KL. She was imprisoned, abused and in fear for her life, but still we see moments of strength, compassion and dignity. Alayne is just Sansa who's allowed a measure of freedom and authority and is able to stretch her wings so to speak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree this is shaping up to becoming a great thread.

You are right that we probably shouldn't start questioning everything, or we end up with Jaqen=Syrio and similar crackpot. At the same time, I think it's important to keep your mind open to the possibility that things aren't exactly as they seem. There's a number of passages in AFfC and ADwD that I think are more ambiguous than most are giving GRRM credit for; and I'm very intrigued by how these things will turn out.

Specifically, I'm talking about Jaime's cluelessness when dealing with the Westerlings; the ambiguity surrounding Myrcella's reported survival of Darkstar's attack; the Pink Letter; and the mysterious events surrounding Quentyn's death. I think these are cases where GRRM might currently be pulling the wool over our eyes.

I think there is a difference between crackpot theories and serious analysis based upon what is said and unsaid, looking for a more critical appreciation of the work. Completely crazy is the assertion that Syrio is alive or the crackpot that Rhaegar is hiding out on the QI. An analysis of Sansa's sexual awakening or putting together the plan to kill Joffrey, fall in to the realm of critical analysis. I'd say all of your examples above are the same thing too, it's exactly what Martin has said he likes for his readers to do. :)

There's one minor thing I've got to mention I love from the Sansa / Alayne POV. It's not really about narrative structure but I thought it was a neat titbit. Alayne is travelling down the mountain and Sansa hears a wolf howl.

I love that distincion, it's an important one. There some other little moments like this. Sansa feels a freedom in the bastard brave persona rather than the restrictions of being a high-born lady. Yet, whenever something that really matters happens, Sansa comes out. This line and then later when Randa asks her what happens in a marriage bed are just two of the examples.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...