Don't hate Cat

K

Kingslayer Snow

Son of Winterfell
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
4
Location
Berkeley, CA
I've been checking out the posting and noting the hatred a lot of people have towards Cat and I don't understand why.

She's a strong, beautiful woman. She loves her children and her husband. Sure, she doesn't exactly love Jon Snow, but can you blame her? He's a symbol of the one time Ned was "supposedly unfaithful" to Cat. (I won't even go into the Jon Snow/Lyanna Stark mother argument. ) You can't fault a woman for that. If you can then you obviously don't know women very well. Anyway, she shows strength when needed, wisdom when it's called for, a very high level of intelligence and deduction, and emotional support when/if the situation dictated. She's not greedy for power and has no ambition other than to keep her family safe. I personally enjoyed her chapters and was sad to see her die. I was waiting for the Cersei/Cat "Dynasty style" cat fight to the death. Now that would've been great!

All in all, don't hate Cat. She's a woman in a world controlled by men in a time where women held little power. Given what the cards she's dealt she does quite well.

Last thing to say in my support for Cat, at least she's isn't Lysa.
 
I know I am fairly new here, and I hate to bring you news from the world outside, but yes.... everyone pretty much hates Cat!
I know That I pretty much blame her for a lot of things taht happen throughout the series.

Just my 2 cents...

js
 
I love JohnSnow.

DE, don't worry, you're still my favorite Cat hater.

KS, don't worry, Raven will soon arrive and start making sense in Catelyn's defence.
 
JohnSnow said:
I know I am fairly new here, and I hate to bring you news from the world outside, but yes.... everyone pretty much hates Cat!
I know That I pretty much blame her for a lot of things taht happen throughout the series.

Just my 2 cents...

js
Click to expand...
Well what sort of things? The only times when i really get frustrated with Catelyn is when she insists on being so suspicious and cruel to Jon. Some people might say thats understandable, I must admit I don't agree with that, but then I'm not a woman who lives in the honour-bound society that Catelyn does. i guess if i upheld similar social values then i would probably understand her actions better, but I would never respect them I guess. I'd repect someone more for embracing that child than scorning them. Yes catelyn's made some poor decisions, and if you don't like her charcter that's fine. Its a free world, your allowed to have your opinion. But getting all angsty about it isn't worth it. Honestly, you can blame so many people for events in these books, but there's not much point in throwing blame around for decisions that were based on what a character thought was right. Do you sit around and blame all your misfortunes on others? I mean, even if someone has caused an issue, inadvertantly or not, there's not much point in boiling your blood about it. That only leads to health problems.
 
Hi BM! Long time no see! :)

Well, I started off liking Cat, mainly because her PoV seemed very focused on her children's safety and she was the one that told Ned to stay in Winterfell (if he had done, it would have been a very short story!). I also liked her because we got to see other characters and events through her eyes. She was great in staying with Bran when he was injured - although that was the start of her losing her marbles I feel - and ended up saving his life.
I felt, ironically, it was when she became more proactive, that's when the dislike began, because of her incredibly bad decision making. Towards the end, I just felt myself groaning at the sheer lunacy of some of her choices.
That's not to say, I wasn't sad at the Red Wedding.

But, the Cat in AFfC is a grim, cold, souless monster to me. She's clearly gone off the deep end and has become a rabid wolf who needs putting down (or should that be a dogfish? ;) )
 
I really dislike Cat, and I think for good reason. I understand how writing her not liking Jon has depth and I think the writing was done well there but I can't get behind someone that wouldn't like a baby, no matter the circumstance.

Slavery is bad, but if a character, say Dany, had intelligence and compassion she'd see through the standard morals to the badness and free the slaves if she could. If Cat was as intelligent and any deductive powers she would have seen that.

Cat may never have had Jon beaten but there are sure signs that she never made him feel welcome. That's the heart of my hate but it doesn't stop there.

The point of View states how wonderful, insightful and intelligent she was but none of her actions do. Every decision she made was bad, and more than could be explained away by bad luck.

When Bran was hurt she completely ignored little Rick to the point that Robb talked to her and yet she still ignored them. Then when, by pure luck and bad mothering she stops the assassin with the help of the animal that she would have chained up outside what's her next step as a mother? Leave her two smallest children who really do need her and try to help the one son that doesn't.

Was any of her advice helpful to Robb? I'll answer that myself and say that all of her advice was bad.

Robb got himself into trouble, that much is true, but she never helped him at all, meanwhile her two youngest are truly suffering from her absence in Winterfell. One heck of a mother there, she shuns a newborn, collapses when she's needed, runs from trouble to trouble, and only creating more trouble for everyone.

AFFC Cat's true colors are just coming out.
 
Blue Mythril said:
Well what sort of things? The only times when i really get frustrated with Catelyn is when she insists on being so suspicious and cruel to Jon. Some people might say thats understandable, I must admit I don't agree with that, but then I'm not a woman who lives in the honour-bound society that Catelyn does. i guess if i upheld similar social values then i would probably understand her actions better, but I would never respect them I guess. I'd repect someone more for embracing that child than scorning them.
Click to expand...

3 things (amongst many). In the beginning as Jon was leaving from saying goodbye to comatose Bran he turned back at Catelyn's address and she says "It should have been you." That is enough in itself. Her traetment of Robb after his surprising nuptials. And finally, the unCat's potential murder of Brienne who is out to save Sansa.


Blue Mythril said:
Do you sit around and blame all your misfortunes on others? I mean, even if someone has caused an issue, inadvertantly or not, there's not much point in boiling your blood about it. That only leads to health problems.
Click to expand...

If I can help it! I blame as many misfortunes, mistakes, and frsutrations on others as I can get away with!!! What makes me wrong, is what makes Cat evil...a woman is betrothed and the man is killed, then re-betrothed to the original man's brother, gets married and finds out that your new husband was scroggin some hot chick (that he still has feelings for) around the trident and brings home his ******* son.
Plus it runs in the family, look at Lysa (NUTCASE), the only shame is that Eddard didn't shove cat out a window in the tallest tower of Winterfell. He would have never taken the Hand's position, Robert would have stormed off, etc..

Cat is evil and there is no way around it.
 
I hate Cat.

But I love cats. Weird.

One last thing to meniton: If Cat had just f**ked Littlefinger when they were teenagers, maybe he wouldn't be such a crazy powermonger now.
 
Well said Jinglehopper. I'm all for more young girls willingly spreading peace and harmony.
 
If ASOAIF ever recieves it's justly deserved, multi-billion dollar, oscar winning, culturally significant, peter jackson-made movie series then the millions of kids world wide who will watch it will no longer exclaim "I didn't do it!" when they **** up, they will instead yell "Catelyn Stark did it!".

That is how hated she is. ;)
 
Kingslayer Snow said:
I've been checking out the posting and noting the hatred a lot of people have towards Cat and I don't understand why.

Maybe some of us have been in a similar position to Jon Snow? ie "bastards" with nasty stepmothers.
Click to expand...
 
I never hated Cat, but Uncat needs to be put down. Can you imagine the damage that freak would do to her children if they saw her in her current condition.
 
See I hated Cat, but I like Uncat. She is much more interesting now....
 
i agree completely (with the not hating cat) nothing she did was on purpose, she didnt' know this would happen, if anyone is more to blame its cersi for having an affair in the first place (but i like her to) and hating a child you think is the result of your husbands affair, is petty and immature, but totally relatable! most relationships fall apart after an affair, i don't think divorce exists in this world (does it?) she might be stuck with ned forever, i dont' think she should be stuck with his illegitimte son
 
Am new so bear with me.

This Cat thing...

First and foremost Cat is a mother to her five children, any mother out there will understand her decisions and thought processes where her children are concerned. Now, she thinks she has lost Arya, Bran & Rickon (not to mention her home and faithful staff), this does not help the rational thought process and has a big impact on a lot of the decisions she made. Sansa, for all she knows is under the control of the Lannisters and her only hope, or so she thinks, is Jaime who she doesn't trust one bit but it's a desperate last chance and she takes it. This leaves Robb, the only one of her brood she has near her, therefore, he is her only real beacon of hope, yet he dies and in front of her - how lovely.

Secondly, she is Ned's wife. Even this is second-rate, she was supposed to marry Brandon but he died so she obeyed her father, did the dutiful thing and married Ned, whom she grew to love - which is made abundantly clear. Still, the foundations of this relationship are bound to see Catelyn harbouring some form of resentment. This reared it's ugly little head in the form of her attitude towards....

...Jon Snow. Now, as a mother, Catelyn should have been able to bypass Ned's little dalliance and nurse babes Jon and Robb but as a wife her reaction is completley understandable. However, I love Jon and personally don't agree with her treatment of him.

Alls I'm saying is don't be too hard on Cat, she has issues...
 
I think it's quite strange how people are quick to accuse Cat of being a bad mother, harsh and unreasonable towards her husband's ******* son, and selfish. I recall a single time when Catelyn, immersed in her grief for what befell Bran, said something cruel to Jon.
So far, though, I haven't read a single entry about Cersei's treatment of her own son, Tommen. The way Cersei speaks to Tommen at times, it is a wonder that he doesn't have serious issues himself. Her usage of idle threats, pulling the whipping boy into it at the drop of a hat, and refusing to educate him in order to prepare him for life- those things are unreasonable.
 
i think people expect it of cersi tho! people already hate her for pretty much everything else, so they dont' think much of her as a mother cos she doesn't do much motherly stuff. it certainly is a secondary thing. at least, joff was her prime love, the other kids seemed to mean nothing for her, and perhaps thats because she knew she could have some power THROUGH him? i dunno. but i have no idea why she liked him. he was anasty brat!

cat on the other hand is mainly a mother figure. so we're harder on her for that. BUT i think hating her for being mean to jon is just unfair. and i dont' think that she should have loved him simply ebcause she's a mother. i dont' think that can follow. mothers dont' always love other children, after all. and perhaps part of it is jealousy? That ned had an affair, cheated on her, while she was faithful to him, even marrying him when she wanted someone else? so she may feel, why have i bothered to be faithful and marry this guy, when i want someone else (dead or alive) and he didn't have the same respect for me? just a suggestion.

me, as i said elsewhere, i totally get why everyone is the way they are, and dont' hate them for it. i don't hate ANYONE (except danys!) which is unusual for me, cos i usually hate a lot of people. :)
 
Catelyn does not deserve all that hatin' she's been gettin on some of these threads.
Dany is the only contender for the throne who actually cares about the welfare of the commoners in her care-which makes her totally un-hate-able.
 
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