How External Perceptions of Stupidity Determine One's Own Stupidity

   In Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, many characters call one another stupid.  Yet this may be less telling of those being judged than it is about those doing the judging.  Connie explains how "people complain about stupidity because of their own stupidity" and that "smart people don't call others stupid" (247).  Throughout the novel, many characters seem to comment on the stupidity of Patty, even Patty herself, which makes the opposing claim that Patty in fact is not stupid.  After Patty is raped, her mother, Joyce, tells Patty that it is her personal decision if she wants to prosecute her rapist, yet Patty knows what her mother actually means is that, "don't blame me and Daddy when you ruin your life with your stupid decisions" (50).  Her parents actively engage in victim blaming in order to avoid the discomfort of acknowledging that they are putting their own careers ahead of their daughter's wellbeing.
  In the final section of the book, Walter is staying at the house on the Nameless Lake when Patty arrives at his doorstep to make amends.  Walter refuses to let her in, and Patty waits on the porch in the freezing weather.  Walter instead goes out back to look out at the lake until he can no longer take the cold and returns to the house to find Patty practically frozen.  As he takes her inside, Walter continually calls Patty stupid for being outside so long in the cold, even though he was outside as long as she had been.  Walter would rather call an emotionally-distraught Patty stupid for waiting outside for him than admit he was stupid for not allowing her to come into the warm house.
  When other characters insist that they are not stupid, it seems to hold the opposite effect.  Once Walter and Patty begin to date, Walter confronts Patty about her trip to Chicago with Richard, claiming that "[He's] not stupid.  [He] has eyes and ears, [he's] not stupid" (136).  However, for the rest of the novel, it is clear that Walter is stupid about Patty and Richard.  For years, he is completely unaware of their affair until Patty admits it to him.