"Then I'm very sorry I upset you."
Eddie Cullen is making this statement to Bella because she's angry with him for reading Mike's mind. Which, as I said last week, doesn't make a quark of sense because she knew that he was going to do this. Edward, has taken an annoying path here, a path that while it seems and has the technical words that an apology needs to have isn't actually an apology.
This should be familiar to anyone that has ever watched the excruciating uncomfortable public apologies that people in the public sector think that they have to make when they are caught doing something they shouldn't have. Whether it was Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, or Mark Sanford regarding their affairs to Tiger Woods...also with an affair*, or MTV and Janet Jackson's nipple; anyway the list is long for the public apologies but they all have something in common: they aren't actually apologies. Sure, the word "sorry" appears but if you read/listen very carefully the issue is not with "sorry" but with two words that appear around it, "if" and "then."
This is obviously crafted in this manner designed to give the appearance of an apology without actually making the speaker responsible for it. Placing "if" and "then" into an apology changes it to a hypothetical syllogism which then removes all responsibility from the guilty party. Edward isn't apologizing because he knows he did something wrong, he's apologizing for her reaction. Janet Jackson, after the Super Bowl thing issued this as part of her statement, "I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention."
I don't think that 9/16ths of a second can offend anyone, it's simply too fast to do the damage the FCC claimed it did, but reading the statement it's clear that Jackson isn't sorry she did it. She's sorry for the reaction she didn't anticipate.
There are things that are wrong in essence and things that are wrong in effect. Those things that are wrong in essence are wrong/immoral even if the person offends no one. Marital infidelity is usually portrayed as being one of those things, public nudity is not. Spitzer, Clinton, Woods, etc., all committed acts which the general population believes to be wrong no matter the circumstance which means that apologizing for it shouldn't contain a phrase that negates the apology if no one is offended. Eddies isn't apologizing for reading Mike's mind he's apologizing for Bella's reaction, essentially making it so that she's responsible, something that he should actually apologize for.
With the non-apology for something that wasn't actually wrong to begin with has been offered the planning of the Seattle trip must go on. Bella has convinced Edward that she will drive, much to his disdain. They can't leave his car in the drive way because "it doesn't help with the Charlie situation if an unexplained Volvo is left in the driveway."
Of course an unexplained Chevy would be just fine, but this begs the question of what exactly is the "Charlie situation?" It's been established that Bella wants to hide her relationship from Charlie, we don't know why she does this. This is the long running problem that The Slacktivist,** has witth the "Left Behind" book series: it's breaking the fourth wall. We know that Edward is a dangerous sociopathic vampire and that Charlie should want to keep his daughter from him, but more important than what we know is what Charlie doesn't know. Charlie knows none of this, his character doesn't know that he's in a vampire story so the only trepidation he should express is about letting his daughter go to Seattle with a boy. The book also wants you to think that Charlie would be against his daughter dating a Cullen, but that flies in the face of his already established admiration for Dr. Cullen. Simply put, the "Charlie situation" doesn't exist.
If there was an actual situation, then Edward does have a plan, "I wasn't intending to bring a car."
Bella regards this with some shock, which is odd. Her awe is indicative that he's going to use his abnormal vampire powers to get to her house, which is the dumbest assumption that she could make since it is the most complicated being in violation of Okham's Razor. Doesn't it make more sense to assume that he's getting dropped off?
The topic of conversation then returns to Eddie's need to apologize again, "I apologize for scaring you." This time it's a real apology and it refers to his reaction when Bella asked if she could see him hunt. The problem with this apology is that it makes no sense when you consider Eddie's words at the time, "you need a healthy dose of fear," and his repeated insistence that she should stay away from him. That means that this apology is only word play, it's sincere in syntax but in meaning it is completely nullified by his actions, like if Tiger Woods was caught on his first affair and then continued.
The question that remains is whether this was a purposeful decision by the writer or not. If it was than Edward the idealized boyfriend for many fans of the series comes far short on the morality list. If it's accidental it means that Meyer didn't think that far through with her character. Honestly I don't know which is worse.
____________________________
*I should say here, that I think none of these people need to apologize. Their public office has nothing to do with their private life.
**I've been kind of waiting for an opportunity to link to this blog as it is the inspiration for this series. Check it out.
Eddie Cullen is making this statement to Bella because she's angry with him for reading Mike's mind. Which, as I said last week, doesn't make a quark of sense because she knew that he was going to do this. Edward, has taken an annoying path here, a path that while it seems and has the technical words that an apology needs to have isn't actually an apology.
This should be familiar to anyone that has ever watched the excruciating uncomfortable public apologies that people in the public sector think that they have to make when they are caught doing something they shouldn't have. Whether it was Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, or Mark Sanford regarding their affairs to Tiger Woods...also with an affair*, or MTV and Janet Jackson's nipple; anyway the list is long for the public apologies but they all have something in common: they aren't actually apologies. Sure, the word "sorry" appears but if you read/listen very carefully the issue is not with "sorry" but with two words that appear around it, "if" and "then."
This is obviously crafted in this manner designed to give the appearance of an apology without actually making the speaker responsible for it. Placing "if" and "then" into an apology changes it to a hypothetical syllogism which then removes all responsibility from the guilty party. Edward isn't apologizing because he knows he did something wrong, he's apologizing for her reaction. Janet Jackson, after the Super Bowl thing issued this as part of her statement, "I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention."
I don't think that 9/16ths of a second can offend anyone, it's simply too fast to do the damage the FCC claimed it did, but reading the statement it's clear that Jackson isn't sorry she did it. She's sorry for the reaction she didn't anticipate.
There are things that are wrong in essence and things that are wrong in effect. Those things that are wrong in essence are wrong/immoral even if the person offends no one. Marital infidelity is usually portrayed as being one of those things, public nudity is not. Spitzer, Clinton, Woods, etc., all committed acts which the general population believes to be wrong no matter the circumstance which means that apologizing for it shouldn't contain a phrase that negates the apology if no one is offended. Eddies isn't apologizing for reading Mike's mind he's apologizing for Bella's reaction, essentially making it so that she's responsible, something that he should actually apologize for.
With the non-apology for something that wasn't actually wrong to begin with has been offered the planning of the Seattle trip must go on. Bella has convinced Edward that she will drive, much to his disdain. They can't leave his car in the drive way because "it doesn't help with the Charlie situation if an unexplained Volvo is left in the driveway."
Of course an unexplained Chevy would be just fine, but this begs the question of what exactly is the "Charlie situation?" It's been established that Bella wants to hide her relationship from Charlie, we don't know why she does this. This is the long running problem that The Slacktivist,** has witth the "Left Behind" book series: it's breaking the fourth wall. We know that Edward is a dangerous sociopathic vampire and that Charlie should want to keep his daughter from him, but more important than what we know is what Charlie doesn't know. Charlie knows none of this, his character doesn't know that he's in a vampire story so the only trepidation he should express is about letting his daughter go to Seattle with a boy. The book also wants you to think that Charlie would be against his daughter dating a Cullen, but that flies in the face of his already established admiration for Dr. Cullen. Simply put, the "Charlie situation" doesn't exist.
If there was an actual situation, then Edward does have a plan, "I wasn't intending to bring a car."
Bella regards this with some shock, which is odd. Her awe is indicative that he's going to use his abnormal vampire powers to get to her house, which is the dumbest assumption that she could make since it is the most complicated being in violation of Okham's Razor. Doesn't it make more sense to assume that he's getting dropped off?
The topic of conversation then returns to Eddie's need to apologize again, "I apologize for scaring you." This time it's a real apology and it refers to his reaction when Bella asked if she could see him hunt. The problem with this apology is that it makes no sense when you consider Eddie's words at the time, "you need a healthy dose of fear," and his repeated insistence that she should stay away from him. That means that this apology is only word play, it's sincere in syntax but in meaning it is completely nullified by his actions, like if Tiger Woods was caught on his first affair and then continued.
The question that remains is whether this was a purposeful decision by the writer or not. If it was than Edward the idealized boyfriend for many fans of the series comes far short on the morality list. If it's accidental it means that Meyer didn't think that far through with her character. Honestly I don't know which is worse.
____________________________
*I should say here, that I think none of these people need to apologize. Their public office has nothing to do with their private life.
**I've been kind of waiting for an opportunity to link to this blog as it is the inspiration for this series. Check it out.
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