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Old 09-01-2011, 04:01 PM   #19
Hellmark
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Quote:
Originally Posted by afa View Post
Funny you should bring that up, because ironically, my pet peeve (particularly in Fantasy) is the other end of the spectrum.

I get irritated by the portrayal of kids as people who are far more intelligent, wise, courageous and thoughtful than probably any kid is in the whole world.

As much as I love the series, A Song of Ice and Fire is particularly guilty of this. Danaerys is, what, 14? And Jon Snow is 16 (same as Robb) and Bran is 8 or 9. Arya is only a little older.

Personally, whenever I read about them I picture them as older. I've never thought of Dany as 14, for instance; in my head, she's more like 20. Sorry, but there is no way I can believe that a bunch of teenagers and pre-adolescents can be anywhere near as rational and put-together as portrayed by GRRM.
I think part of it for aSoIaC is that

A: most of the main children characters are Ned Stark's offspring and we all know how he was. In Game of Thrones, when he interacts with his kids he tries to instill his level of maturity in them, even in the younger Arya and Rickon.
B: The main kids are all highborn and held to high standards. Ned Stark wants well behaved kids, and arguably miniadults, and the Targaryens aren't given a chance to be kids because they're being chased and expected to be king and queen.

On the second point, I think it is best exemplified in the polar opposite behaviors as shown by Robert Arryn, Joffery and Tommen. Robert is spoiled by his crazy mom. Joff and Tommen are spoiled by their also crazy mom, given a bad example by their kingly "father", and no one else tells them no because the boys are princes. Nothing is really expected of them, until after they've had their behavior patterns well set.
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