Twisted Wonderland Analysis - Blog Posts

Hey Raven, do you think Kalim is stupid?

The short answer to this would be “no”, but because I like to overanalyze things, let me explain why. In this essay, I will--

I believe when people think of “stupidity”, they tend to think of it in a sense of general intelligence or book smarts, or they equate it to a number or a letter grade on a report card. In this case, one can easily point to Kalim’s poor academic performance and say, “he doesn’t do well in his classes, and he needs to study and try very hard, plus get help from Jamil, just to get a mediocre grade.” All of that is true. However, to call Kalim “stupid” just because he doesn’t perform well in a traditional classroom setting would be remiss.

The nature of schools hosting many students forces them to standardize lessons and teach them in the same way to large groups. The truth of the matter is, these same methods won’t work for every student. Some just work better one-on-one, and others need more specialized lessons for them to best learn. For example, some people are more visual learners, while others are more auditory, and some just prefer tactile or hands-on learning. Just because Kalim doesn’t fare well with traditional classroom lectures and studying/memorization doesn’t mean other methods wouldn’t work better for him. As was previously mentioned, he seems to do well when Jamil tutors him, so this may hint that Kalim may prefer to be taught in a more personalized setting. We see similar instances of Kalim performing well when instructed one-on-one in Master Chef and when Azul lends him his help in chapter 4. This doesn’t make Kalim “stupid”, it just means he has different preferences when it comes to being taught.

Remember that Kalim hails from a very affluent family. The Asims’ money and power have essentially shielded Kalim from most consequences and other unfortunate circumstances of life. Kalim won’t ever understand what it feels like to have financial struggles, or to go a day hungry. He’s so used to getting everything he wants, and that has made him not stupid, but naïve and ignorant of how the “real world” works. Ignorance is not the same as stupidity. (You can also say that Malleus is ignorant, since his country is very old-fashioned (to the point where he had never ridden a car until the Scalding Sands Fireworks event), but you wouldn’t call Malleus “stupid” for not knowing things that were beyond his circumstances.)

One last point I’d like to make is that while Kalim is not book smart, he is very emotionally intelligent, especially when it comes to dealing with others. For reference, emotional intelligence is defined as “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically”.

Students in Scarabia love Kalim, and it’s for a good reason. He’s very good at understanding them and empathizing with them, even if he’s laid back as a leader. For example, Kalim was able to talk his dorm mates through bouts of homesickness, and he was always willing to support his dorm mates in their other times of need. Furthermore, it was Kalim who was able to placate his angry dorm mates when they were upset with Jamil post-Overblot. The students were willing to give Jamil a second chance, despite all of the terrible things he did, because Kalim convinced them. Who else would be capable of such a feat, if not him?

This carries over to chapter 5 as well. Kalim becomes aware of his own inadequacy (maybe even jealousy?) when Jamil is picked to be a lead performer for VDC instead of him, and Kalim pushes himself to work harder so he can catch up to Jamil. However, he never stops caring about other people. It’s Kalim and Rook that pep talked Deuce and helped him come to terms with his frustration regarding his lack of improvement. It is also Kalim who initially sensed that Vil was going to attempt something heinous to come out on top at VDC. He came running to the scene and knocked the poison out of Rook’s hand, because he knew that something was wrong just from observing Vil. 

We can see several instances of Kalim’s own kind of intelligence, emotional intelligence, especially as he engages with his peers. In conclusion, Kalim may not be the most crafty in a traditional sense, but he has his own insights to contribute, making him fit as the Dorm Leader of Scarabia--the dorm modeled after the deliberation of the Sorcerer of the Sands.