We are backtracking a little bit this week because two issues popped up during the last section and due to space constrictions* I felt that I would break it up into two posts. Sometimes doing these only once a week can be quite frustrating. The first issue was obviously the vampire powers that Edward possesses, I deemed that more important because the great nerd rage over Meyer's work is partly based on the fact that these aren't real Vampires...as opposed to the "real vampires" that actually exist.
The second post concerns the new revelation of Edward's stalking of Bella. So many people seem to idolize their relationship** that it's very troubling to me to see his actions toward her being deemed not only acceptable but desirable. Simply described this relationship is not based on mutual respect. The surest sign of this is that Edward behaves like a controlling abusive boyfriend by constantly reminding Bella that she is in danger and will surely be in mortal danger without his presence. Another is that the entire relationship is dictated by him, if you take a look at the sections we've read so far you'll notice that every conversation and action is on his fiat. He gives permission for her to ask questions, he determines when they will interact, ask yourself this: when does she determine anything in spite of his wishes?
We are back in the car driving from Port Angeles to Forks, and Edward has consented to answering a couple of questions after the absurd accusation and confirmation of ESP. He's permitted Bella to ask a couple of questions, which is odd in itself since what he is telling her would necessitate that she ask many follow ups. She asks the question regarding why he can't read her mind and, "he sighed."
See what I mean? He sighs impatiently like she's pestering him with questions about some trivial matter that she's making up in her head...the waitress from earlier perhaps, however since she is asking him about an ability that he possesses on everyone on the planet but her the question should have been anticipated. This might be excusable if he were actually 17 and not over a century old. This may, in fact, be the problem with the legions of fans of the relationship between the two. At seventeen we might cut a boy some slack because hormones are driving their actions, but at a certain point it ends, and certainly after a century he should behave somewhat better toward women.
The relationship has never been that good to begin with. Edward makes it worse by reminding Bella that he's her guardian angel, only Edward can keep her safe, not even Bella can stay out of trouble without him. This sets up a one-way dependence relationship where if she begins to believe it (and she does) she will begin to understand that she's completely helpless without him. This is the same mentality that keeps abused women going back to their husbands/boyfriends. Defenders might comment that Edward is correct, he has saved Bella twice so far.
That might be the case, we know that he did save her from the car accident. We don't know what the four men were planning but up until Edward pulled up, all they had done was harass her. Yet, Edward reinforces the danger Bella is in by driving excessively fast. When she freaks out he explains that he's never been in an accident nor ever gotten a ticket. That's not the point though, the point is that Bella is obviously scared, Edward in true form argues before slowing down to 80. Every chance he gets Edward reminds her that she's in danger and that it is only his will keeping her alive. He keeps her in a state of subjugation.
What's worse is that she makes excuses for him, "Your eyes. I told you I had a theory...I've noticed that people-men in particular-are crabbier when they're hungry." He's not angry because she's asking questions, it's because he's hungry...silly blogger, I guess I have the whole thing wrong. Men get upset when they are hungry, not because some silly girl is asking pertinent questions about the nature of their being. Edward doesn't need to relax, he needs to eat...which is worse considering what it is that he eats.
Edward goes on to reinforce his role in their relationship, "I suppose, being you, it could have been much worse--and that possibility tormented me the entire time I was away." He feels panged when he's not around her to protect her from herself. That is the "it" that he is referring to? The fact that she fell and scraped her hand a tiny bit. Something that was deemed to be of so little importance to Bella, that this is the first time that she is mentioning it. I don't know what scenario he's envisioning but unless her fall took place while she was walking on coals while juggling running chainsaws I don't think that it really could have been much worse.
Edward then moves back to the much more dangerous situation of the four men. Bella didn't run because she was trying to remember how to fight off an assailant, her brilliant plan, "I was going to smash his nose into his brain."
Which is a profoundly bad idea for two important reasons. The first is despite what we all learned from the movie "The Last Boyscout" it isn't actually possible. The nose isn't made of bone, it's made of cartilage, a substance that is significantly weaker than bone and tends to snap instead of driving like a nail into the gushy brain anyway. Breaking the nose is a good defensive move since it bleeds a good deal and will cloud the other person's vision as their eyes reflexively water up. It won't be fatal though. The other reason is that unless she was going to perform the maneuver in rapid succession four times in a row she was still in danger. Probably more so, after harming one of the attackers, as the awe factor would last approximately a second before one them grabbed her.
Another minor reason that this was a bad idea, is that Bella would have to overcome that clumsiness that she always reminds us of. Making a decent upward palm strike on an attacker is an action that requires coordination from a person that can't play Badminton without falling down. In no way was Bella going to get out of this by herself. However, it is noteworthy that she at least had enough confidence to come up with something. The trouble is that Edward showed up and she didn't have to assert herself in anyway.
Before she gets out of the car, Bella is told to take Edward's jacket. He doesn't want her to catch a cold, it's a nice sentiment and odd coming from someone that has been reminding (and then proving although not in the way he intended) that he's dangerous. I wonder what the gesture is motivated by, in Psychology one of the things we learned about sociopathy is that those people pay out like slot machines. They are good every so often making their victims think that there is some hope, Bella's repeating over and over again to herself and to Edward throughout the book thus far that, "he's not bad" is illustrative that this method has already worked on her.
The next day Bella awakes, her father gone, and she notices that Edward is in the driveway waiting for her in his shiny Volvo. He asks her if she would like to ride in his car to school. I wonder if this is Mormon second base, but he does ask which is a nice change of pace from his usual orders.
Maybe I'm being hard too hard on the whole thing. She's young, he's playing a seventeen year old, and this is how some teenage relationships are without ever turning into actual abuse. Surely the overly intelligent Bella, fan of Jane Austen, the girl who viewed Chaucer and Shakespeare as basic, who had to turn to books in Arizona because she was such a social outcast would see the signs and determine what she was getting used to. She couldn't willingly engage in a dominating relationship, she knows better right?
"He was really giving me a choice--I was free to refuse,"
Since this is viewed by her as a surprise, I guess she doesn't.
_____________________________
*i.e. I can only make these posts so long before people stop reading and just start skimming.
**Do a google search on Twilight and take a gander at some of the websites. You'll see what I mean.
The second post concerns the new revelation of Edward's stalking of Bella. So many people seem to idolize their relationship** that it's very troubling to me to see his actions toward her being deemed not only acceptable but desirable. Simply described this relationship is not based on mutual respect. The surest sign of this is that Edward behaves like a controlling abusive boyfriend by constantly reminding Bella that she is in danger and will surely be in mortal danger without his presence. Another is that the entire relationship is dictated by him, if you take a look at the sections we've read so far you'll notice that every conversation and action is on his fiat. He gives permission for her to ask questions, he determines when they will interact, ask yourself this: when does she determine anything in spite of his wishes?
We are back in the car driving from Port Angeles to Forks, and Edward has consented to answering a couple of questions after the absurd accusation and confirmation of ESP. He's permitted Bella to ask a couple of questions, which is odd in itself since what he is telling her would necessitate that she ask many follow ups. She asks the question regarding why he can't read her mind and, "he sighed."
See what I mean? He sighs impatiently like she's pestering him with questions about some trivial matter that she's making up in her head...the waitress from earlier perhaps, however since she is asking him about an ability that he possesses on everyone on the planet but her the question should have been anticipated. This might be excusable if he were actually 17 and not over a century old. This may, in fact, be the problem with the legions of fans of the relationship between the two. At seventeen we might cut a boy some slack because hormones are driving their actions, but at a certain point it ends, and certainly after a century he should behave somewhat better toward women.
The relationship has never been that good to begin with. Edward makes it worse by reminding Bella that he's her guardian angel, only Edward can keep her safe, not even Bella can stay out of trouble without him. This sets up a one-way dependence relationship where if she begins to believe it (and she does) she will begin to understand that she's completely helpless without him. This is the same mentality that keeps abused women going back to their husbands/boyfriends. Defenders might comment that Edward is correct, he has saved Bella twice so far.
That might be the case, we know that he did save her from the car accident. We don't know what the four men were planning but up until Edward pulled up, all they had done was harass her. Yet, Edward reinforces the danger Bella is in by driving excessively fast. When she freaks out he explains that he's never been in an accident nor ever gotten a ticket. That's not the point though, the point is that Bella is obviously scared, Edward in true form argues before slowing down to 80. Every chance he gets Edward reminds her that she's in danger and that it is only his will keeping her alive. He keeps her in a state of subjugation.
What's worse is that she makes excuses for him, "Your eyes. I told you I had a theory...I've noticed that people-men in particular-are crabbier when they're hungry." He's not angry because she's asking questions, it's because he's hungry...silly blogger, I guess I have the whole thing wrong. Men get upset when they are hungry, not because some silly girl is asking pertinent questions about the nature of their being. Edward doesn't need to relax, he needs to eat...which is worse considering what it is that he eats.
Edward goes on to reinforce his role in their relationship, "I suppose, being you, it could have been much worse--and that possibility tormented me the entire time I was away." He feels panged when he's not around her to protect her from herself. That is the "it" that he is referring to? The fact that she fell and scraped her hand a tiny bit. Something that was deemed to be of so little importance to Bella, that this is the first time that she is mentioning it. I don't know what scenario he's envisioning but unless her fall took place while she was walking on coals while juggling running chainsaws I don't think that it really could have been much worse.
Edward then moves back to the much more dangerous situation of the four men. Bella didn't run because she was trying to remember how to fight off an assailant, her brilliant plan, "I was going to smash his nose into his brain."
Which is a profoundly bad idea for two important reasons. The first is despite what we all learned from the movie "The Last Boyscout" it isn't actually possible. The nose isn't made of bone, it's made of cartilage, a substance that is significantly weaker than bone and tends to snap instead of driving like a nail into the gushy brain anyway. Breaking the nose is a good defensive move since it bleeds a good deal and will cloud the other person's vision as their eyes reflexively water up. It won't be fatal though. The other reason is that unless she was going to perform the maneuver in rapid succession four times in a row she was still in danger. Probably more so, after harming one of the attackers, as the awe factor would last approximately a second before one them grabbed her.
Another minor reason that this was a bad idea, is that Bella would have to overcome that clumsiness that she always reminds us of. Making a decent upward palm strike on an attacker is an action that requires coordination from a person that can't play Badminton without falling down. In no way was Bella going to get out of this by herself. However, it is noteworthy that she at least had enough confidence to come up with something. The trouble is that Edward showed up and she didn't have to assert herself in anyway.
Before she gets out of the car, Bella is told to take Edward's jacket. He doesn't want her to catch a cold, it's a nice sentiment and odd coming from someone that has been reminding (and then proving although not in the way he intended) that he's dangerous. I wonder what the gesture is motivated by, in Psychology one of the things we learned about sociopathy is that those people pay out like slot machines. They are good every so often making their victims think that there is some hope, Bella's repeating over and over again to herself and to Edward throughout the book thus far that, "he's not bad" is illustrative that this method has already worked on her.
The next day Bella awakes, her father gone, and she notices that Edward is in the driveway waiting for her in his shiny Volvo. He asks her if she would like to ride in his car to school. I wonder if this is Mormon second base, but he does ask which is a nice change of pace from his usual orders.
Maybe I'm being hard too hard on the whole thing. She's young, he's playing a seventeen year old, and this is how some teenage relationships are without ever turning into actual abuse. Surely the overly intelligent Bella, fan of Jane Austen, the girl who viewed Chaucer and Shakespeare as basic, who had to turn to books in Arizona because she was such a social outcast would see the signs and determine what she was getting used to. She couldn't willingly engage in a dominating relationship, she knows better right?
"He was really giving me a choice--I was free to refuse,"
Since this is viewed by her as a surprise, I guess she doesn't.
_____________________________
*i.e. I can only make these posts so long before people stop reading and just start skimming.
**Do a google search on Twilight and take a gander at some of the websites. You'll see what I mean.
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