Hey, Fedon, why do people call Sansa 'The Stupid One' (when Sansa is no way stupid) and Arya 'The Smart One' (Which is weird to me since they're both children). I don't know. I just know you're on top of everything Sansa V Arya.
Hi there!
It's the PoV trap.... Sansa even believes it herself. Ary@ and Bran think that Sansa's insterests are stupid and at least Ary@ even tells that to Sansa. It is even something Sansa is accustomed to, in a way. She expects it: Arya gave her a look like she was so stupid. (AGOT, Sansa I)
It doesn't get better in King's Landing: Joffrey calls her stupid, Cersei calls her stupid, the Hound calls her stupid until she partly believes it herself.
Dontos chuckled. "My Jonquil's a clever girl, isn't she?"
"Joffrey and his mother say I'm stupid." (ACOK, Sansa IV)
Later her aunt Lysa calls her stupid as well. If you look at what they think is stupid it is telling though. Usually Sansa is ridiculed by her enemies for being kind and friendly.
"Take him to Maester Frenken." Lancel was one of them, yet somehow she still could not bring herself to wish him dead. I am soft and weak and stupid, just as Joffrey says. I should be killing him, not helping him. (ACOK, Sansa VII)
This is also the reason why Littlefinger's grooming is especially effective when he tells Sansa that she is clever.
So, PoV trap and internalized criticism on Sansa's side make people believe that she is really stupid, when she is not. She's just not clever in a Tywin way, but in her own way.
Now, why do people think Ary@ is smart. Ary@ has one huge advantage over Sansa. Her dislike of the Lannisters make her suspicious from the very start. Since we as readers already know that Jaime pushed Bran out of the window, we know already that there is something terribly wrong with Jaime, Cersei and Joffrey, and this makes Ary@ look smart. We forget that it is her bias that lets her see it, not her intelligence (and this is not saying that she is stupid, she is not). You can't expect a girl of nine to really understand though. When Ary@ overhears Illyrio and Varys she is at her wit's end and has absolutely no idea what they talk about. When she is at Harrenhal she could just whisper Tywin's name into Jacquen's ears and she misses the opportunity, because the broader context is not entirely clear to her (and how could it be, she's nine). In addition Ary@ is rather judgmental and she calls a lot of people stupid, like a lot... And that might also influence how people see her.
Neither Ary@ nor Sansa are particularly stupid though if you look close. Their strengths are different. Ary@ is at her best when it comes to question people's motives. Sansa is best when it comes to motivate people.
Thanks!












