My biggest problem with this book thus far has been the two main characters. I've repeated it so often that I'm not even going to link to previous posts regarding this opinion, it's far too hard for me to narrow it down to just one or two posts. However it has been a long time since I've harped on it, and this is because there has been an actual plot to distract both the reader and the writer from having to deal with the characters themselves. Now that the plot has thus been resolved there's nothing left to do but wrap up the relationship between them. Yes, we are nearing the end of this journey but even though we can see the end it's over a grand hill.
Bella is in the hospital talking with Edward and she's slipped back into the melodramatic Bella that we've endured for the first couple hundred pages of this book: "I wasn't referring to my most recent near death experience,' I said, growing irritated, 'I was thinking of the others--you can take your pick. If it weren't for you, I would be rotting away in the Fork's cemetery."
Bella's history isn't what she wants to make of it. First off, there has been only one near-death experience for her, and that's the car crash outside of the school. The encounter at Port Angeles wasn't a near-death experience, all it really amounted to was harassment, which admittedly unpleasant wasn't dangerous. We were only told that it was dangerous by Edward who seems to have his own agenda in instilling fear in Bella of the outside world. We can even count James's attack on Bella as NOT being a near death experience since he had no intention of killing her. Bella telling Edward that he can take his pick of the situations is just her being overly dramatic. This is the Bella we remember from the beginning of the book: self-important and prone to delusions of grandeur. What about the old Edward, the one who seems so quick to instill fear in Bella forcing her to become reliant on him for her own safety? Worry not faithful readers he's right here:
"I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose that you'll get your way...whether it kills you or not,"
There he is. The above quote is Edward's answer to Bella's request that he promise not to abandon her. Edward is feeling bad that he sucked her blood of out of her finger in order to take out James's venom, which would have turned her into a vampire had it been left in. He feels that he can no longer control himself around her, which is such bullshit because he did exactly just that. He tasted her blood and then broke off, I'm curious to know how his saliva didn't enter her at that point as it's a natural reaction to the action of sucking. I also wonder if all the descriptions of the two kissing have been consistently closed mouthed, which I assume that they have been, but also am going to be too lazy to go back and re-read them. If any fans of the series read this let me know...
Bella wonders about why Edward didn't just let her turn into a vampire, and it's a good question. Yet we never get a good solid answer for it. Instead we are treated to Edward's anger that Bella even knows how it is done, because Bella didn't just ask why she isn't a vampire she asked, "why didn't you just let the venom spread."
It's an poignant way of asking the question because Bella knows how one is turned, but up until that point Edward didn't know that Bella knew. It was a Rumsfeldian, "known unknown" in his mind. If we remember from the middle of the book, Edward balked at the description shuddering at the pain of the memory and wouldn't tell Bella. It was Alice in the motel that explained that it was the saliva that did it. It's curious because Edward gets unreasonably angry about it, which causes Bella to worry for Alice. Edward doesn't just terrorize his girlfriend he also apparently does so to his sister as well. Although Alice could probably see it coming.
Edward says that his doing so would have been wrong, ok I'll take that as a decent reason for two reasons: first being that it was a stranger doing it and Edward, as we have seen is a controlling borderline sociopathic boyfriend.* The second reason is an actual good reason: that it would have been against her will. Then stepping through Bella's counter arguments he asks her, "And the pain?"
Bella shudders at the mention of it. Now, during the last conscious moments after her attack he did mention the burning in her arm, but she also mentioned the pain in her legs, ribs, and head. I doubt she could isolate and identify the specific pain but maybe the burning was more intense. I suppose we can let this slide. Then he angrily responds to Bella's affirmation that the pain would be her choice by saying, "I refuse to damn you to an eternity of night."
This is the most nonsensical objection of all. First off, as most vampire "scholars" point out in their condemnation of these books: the Cullens can walk in the day light. They go to school, they are out and about in the town, and the conversation they are having in the hospital right now is happening in the daytime. Secondly, this isn't the 18th century. It's not like she'll be surrounded by dim candle light, with Edison lamps all around them light isn't a problem. Finally, he'd be better off explaining that he won't damn her to an eternity of a dreamless existence. Although that kind of comment is certainly too poetic and nuanced for him to make.
Bella responds by pulling out a trump card, "Alice already saw it didn't she?"
Alice has foreseen Bella as a vampire, but Edward points out that Alice is sometimes wrong and that Alice has foreseen Bella dead as well. Of Edward's response we have two problems: The first is that Alice hasn't been wrong yet. She missed the coming of the James's trio but that's an omission not an error. Her words at the time weren't, "I didn't think anyone would show up," but they were "I didn't see it--I couldn't tell." This doesn't make her wrong any more than Sherlock Holmes was wrong before he found the three glasses or the second foot print or whatever. The second issue is that if Alice has foreseen Bella as a vampire and Bella as a corpse, those aren't contradictory futures if they happen at different times.
Either case Edward has had enough of this conversation and calls for the nurse for more pain medication to put Bella out. Real nice there Eddie, despite the fact that he has no authority to order pain medication for a patient he's not the guardian for--this is more evidence of his desire to put Bella in her place. Why have a conversation when you can just have the person who has the gall to disagree with you knocked unconscious?
Before she phases out in a drug induced sleep she says, "I'm betting on Alice." Which means that she's betting on her own death,** which must come second to her turning in order to make any sense what so ever. Although with these two idiots who knows how it's going to play out.
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*I'll take that as a good reason for his character not a good reason mind you.
**I should mention that Bella makes a good point in her argument with Edward: she tells him that if they really love each other then he has to turn her because she will die and that every second she lives she gets older and thus closer to leaving the circles of this world. Again though, Edward just shrugs it off as the ramblings of a dumb girl. I hate to say this, but she's absolutely right. If this is true agape love, he doesn't have a choice unless he wants to pull an Arwen and choose to die rather than endure the constant flow of time in mourning.
Bella is in the hospital talking with Edward and she's slipped back into the melodramatic Bella that we've endured for the first couple hundred pages of this book: "I wasn't referring to my most recent near death experience,' I said, growing irritated, 'I was thinking of the others--you can take your pick. If it weren't for you, I would be rotting away in the Fork's cemetery."
Bella's history isn't what she wants to make of it. First off, there has been only one near-death experience for her, and that's the car crash outside of the school. The encounter at Port Angeles wasn't a near-death experience, all it really amounted to was harassment, which admittedly unpleasant wasn't dangerous. We were only told that it was dangerous by Edward who seems to have his own agenda in instilling fear in Bella of the outside world. We can even count James's attack on Bella as NOT being a near death experience since he had no intention of killing her. Bella telling Edward that he can take his pick of the situations is just her being overly dramatic. This is the Bella we remember from the beginning of the book: self-important and prone to delusions of grandeur. What about the old Edward, the one who seems so quick to instill fear in Bella forcing her to become reliant on him for her own safety? Worry not faithful readers he's right here:
"I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose that you'll get your way...whether it kills you or not,"
There he is. The above quote is Edward's answer to Bella's request that he promise not to abandon her. Edward is feeling bad that he sucked her blood of out of her finger in order to take out James's venom, which would have turned her into a vampire had it been left in. He feels that he can no longer control himself around her, which is such bullshit because he did exactly just that. He tasted her blood and then broke off, I'm curious to know how his saliva didn't enter her at that point as it's a natural reaction to the action of sucking. I also wonder if all the descriptions of the two kissing have been consistently closed mouthed, which I assume that they have been, but also am going to be too lazy to go back and re-read them. If any fans of the series read this let me know...
Bella wonders about why Edward didn't just let her turn into a vampire, and it's a good question. Yet we never get a good solid answer for it. Instead we are treated to Edward's anger that Bella even knows how it is done, because Bella didn't just ask why she isn't a vampire she asked, "why didn't you just let the venom spread."
It's an poignant way of asking the question because Bella knows how one is turned, but up until that point Edward didn't know that Bella knew. It was a Rumsfeldian, "known unknown" in his mind. If we remember from the middle of the book, Edward balked at the description shuddering at the pain of the memory and wouldn't tell Bella. It was Alice in the motel that explained that it was the saliva that did it. It's curious because Edward gets unreasonably angry about it, which causes Bella to worry for Alice. Edward doesn't just terrorize his girlfriend he also apparently does so to his sister as well. Although Alice could probably see it coming.
Edward says that his doing so would have been wrong, ok I'll take that as a decent reason for two reasons: first being that it was a stranger doing it and Edward, as we have seen is a controlling borderline sociopathic boyfriend.* The second reason is an actual good reason: that it would have been against her will. Then stepping through Bella's counter arguments he asks her, "And the pain?"
Bella shudders at the mention of it. Now, during the last conscious moments after her attack he did mention the burning in her arm, but she also mentioned the pain in her legs, ribs, and head. I doubt she could isolate and identify the specific pain but maybe the burning was more intense. I suppose we can let this slide. Then he angrily responds to Bella's affirmation that the pain would be her choice by saying, "I refuse to damn you to an eternity of night."
This is the most nonsensical objection of all. First off, as most vampire "scholars" point out in their condemnation of these books: the Cullens can walk in the day light. They go to school, they are out and about in the town, and the conversation they are having in the hospital right now is happening in the daytime. Secondly, this isn't the 18th century. It's not like she'll be surrounded by dim candle light, with Edison lamps all around them light isn't a problem. Finally, he'd be better off explaining that he won't damn her to an eternity of a dreamless existence. Although that kind of comment is certainly too poetic and nuanced for him to make.
Bella responds by pulling out a trump card, "Alice already saw it didn't she?"
Alice has foreseen Bella as a vampire, but Edward points out that Alice is sometimes wrong and that Alice has foreseen Bella dead as well. Of Edward's response we have two problems: The first is that Alice hasn't been wrong yet. She missed the coming of the James's trio but that's an omission not an error. Her words at the time weren't, "I didn't think anyone would show up," but they were "I didn't see it--I couldn't tell." This doesn't make her wrong any more than Sherlock Holmes was wrong before he found the three glasses or the second foot print or whatever. The second issue is that if Alice has foreseen Bella as a vampire and Bella as a corpse, those aren't contradictory futures if they happen at different times.
Either case Edward has had enough of this conversation and calls for the nurse for more pain medication to put Bella out. Real nice there Eddie, despite the fact that he has no authority to order pain medication for a patient he's not the guardian for--this is more evidence of his desire to put Bella in her place. Why have a conversation when you can just have the person who has the gall to disagree with you knocked unconscious?
Before she phases out in a drug induced sleep she says, "I'm betting on Alice." Which means that she's betting on her own death,** which must come second to her turning in order to make any sense what so ever. Although with these two idiots who knows how it's going to play out.
____________________________
*I'll take that as a good reason for his character not a good reason mind you.
**I should mention that Bella makes a good point in her argument with Edward: she tells him that if they really love each other then he has to turn her because she will die and that every second she lives she gets older and thus closer to leaving the circles of this world. Again though, Edward just shrugs it off as the ramblings of a dumb girl. I hate to say this, but she's absolutely right. If this is true agape love, he doesn't have a choice unless he wants to pull an Arwen and choose to die rather than endure the constant flow of time in mourning.
I believe that when he says "an eternity of night" he is speaking metphorically, as he believes that becoming a vampire will make Bella lose her soul. This isn't stated implicitly until later in the series, but there have been several veiled remarks through the first book where it is implied.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you are aware of this, but the author had begun writing another book, called Midnight Sun, that tells the events of Twilight from Edward's perspective. It was leaked on the internet before it was finished, so she stopped working on it, but the first half of the novel is now posted on her website. After you finish your analysis of Twilight, you may wish to read what there is of Midnight Sun, as it may give you a better perspective of what Edward is really thinking in certain situations. (You'll still hate him, as I do, but the character will be less one-dimensional.)
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html
Metaphorically would at least make sense, but since Edward isn't in the habit of using metaphors I would doubt it. I like to think that he just isn't sure that he wants her around for ever, if you think about it...it's really the perfect way out of a relationship, just wait it out until time scythes her down.
ReplyDeleteI may try and read as per your suggestion as I am in conflict about what to do after I review the movie. Maybe that book would suffice as a substitute.