"Having the advatnages that I do,' he murmurred touching his forhead discreetly, 'I have a better than average grasp of human nature. People are predictable. Buy you...you never do what I expect. You always take me by surprise."
On our special Friday update, we are returning to the lunch hall to talk about Edward some more. Last post I asked the question of why Bella likes Edward. Sure he's hot and everything, but what do we have to tell us that he's the ideal boyfriend that fans of the series are pining after? I suppose the above quote is an example of him being nice, after all it is a compliment that isn't the creamy filling in a twinky of threats. Dissecting this quote makes me hate Edward all the more because it reveals something about the Cullens that I feel must be overlooked for them to be so idolized--they are straight up idiots and I don't just mean Edward either. The whole damned lot of them.
In order to make that accusation stick I have to make the assumption that all of the vampires in the Stephanie Meyer's universe are telepathic. Since the new movie is going to feature a telepathic vampire baby, for a reason that I don't understand, I am going to discharge the assumption as a fact within the fictional universe. That being the case it stands to reason that the idiot hypothesis can be moved forward.
First off, we know that Edward avoided Biology class because he was afraid that the sight of blood would send him into a frenzy. This makes sense and we can't criticize him for it. What we can do is wonder why in hell Dr. Cullen works the ER at Forks Hospital. Sure, he might be older and have greater control over his instincts in seeing a scrape or a cut but can we assume the same thing when someone rolls into the ER with a gushing wound spraying blood all over the room? Or is he that good that the awestruck nurses just stare at his butt when he's licking the blood off the walls. All I'm asking is why should he be taking the chance?
If he's telepathic, there are a couple of jobs that he could do without running the risk of being a medical doctor at a hospital. First off, why not jump into psychology. He could skip all of that getting to know the patient, prying through their layers of bullshit and really help some people by revealing the issues that they themselves cannot admit. With the gift of immortality and telepathy there would be no end to the mysteries of the human mind that he could solve, his books would be the default text books of the entire discipline. Fame is risky though, but he could just run a successful practice in Forks or a larger town. Given his ability it could only be successful.
The second option is to become either an incredible poker/chess player. Both games rely on outsmarting your opponent by attempting to figure out what they are doing while at the same time hiding your own plans. Imagine Carlisle Cullen sitting down at the final table of the world poker tour, every year? He couldn't be bluffed, he would know exactly what hands to bet and fold. In fact, the only thing that could really beat him would be the cards if he drew cold too often. Chess would be very similar.
Thirdly, why doesn't he and his family set up shop in one of those psychic communities that populate the country. Again, the ability of being telepathic would help out, plus those types of places are already predisposed to believing in Vampires that they would welcome a group of people already claiming to be them.
Yet, all of these choices seem to passed over for the riskiest job possible for a creature that goes into a frenzy at the sight of human blood: Chief of Medicine at a hospital.
For all of Edward's bragging about his abilities, he doesn't seem to ever use them except to spy on his girlfriend. His insights into the fact that Mike doesn't like him aren't extraordinary. He's one hundred years old and still in high school, for the only purpose of possibly exposing himself and his family as to what they really are.
It makes no sense, if they are trying to hide their natures from everyone to be in high school or for the good doctor to be the chief of medicine anywhere. I'm reminded of an Opera (I cannot remember the name of it, only that it was something like "The Curious Case of [something]) that was about an immortal woman whose vanity compelled her to seek fame as an Opera star every so often which proved to be her undoing as her beauty made her recognizable to an old suitor from her past.
What happens in ten years when the Cullens are still in Forks and their high school reunion rolls around? Are they going to go? Probably, because they are that stupid, and while everyone else has aged ten years they will look astoundingly the same. What about their 25 year renunion?
If they are going to play the charade then they better start boning up on the rules because exposure is inevitable at this point.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Experience (Pg. 241-246)
While I sometimes flip-flop my opinion of Bella, I never do toward Edward. While Bella has some excuses for her self-pitying narcissism (the unstable mother, her chronic depression) Edward has no such excuses. He comes from a stable family, as far as we can tell, and exudes self-confidence. So the way he treats other people is despicable because he is choosing to do this, even worse, given his advanced age and experience he ought to know better. Especially if he's the good kind of vampire that Bella discovered on the internet. How is he supposed to be protecting humans when he views them as lacking any intrinsic self-worth?
One might excuse him for this view as he is a Vampire and not a person. Humans are simply not his equal. I can at least buy that to some extent but it changes the way that we must view Edward and the Cullens for the rest of the series. If they are to protect us from the evil vampires they must view us as a weaker and inferior species. In doing so, Edward takes the view of Achilles in the Iliad: a man-god hybrid who knows that he has more virtú than all of the warriors on either side of the Trojan war. A being that sits out of the war, almost causing his side to lose merely for spite. When he begins his fighting he fights like a pure blood god, single handedly changing the tide of the war.
However, that is Achilles, son of the goddess Thetis who has war as his single purpose in all of life. In this way he fulfills the Greek concept of "Goodness" and everything that he does must be viewed in that teleological sense. Our problem is that Edward is not Achilles, we don't know what Edward's purpose in life is, why he's in high school, and worst of all why he's behaving like someone at least eight decades younger than he. Without that purpose, we can't give him the excuse that we can give Achilles (or even Helen for that matter) and he comes across as an older man who is manipulating a teenage girl.
A girl, that allows it to happen because she's beaten her own sense of virtú so low that she probably places as a vicious person in Aristotle's ethics. All because she views Edward as being so much greater than she, "I couldn't imagine how an angel could be any more glorious" she muses to herself while staring at him.
The troubling aspect is that it is so far, only his looks that are attractive to any objective viewer of their relationship. Bella pines over and over about his appearance, but we never know what it is about his personality that she finds so desirable. Which leads me to think that there isn't anything there and she is only in it for the booty. It really can't be anything else.
For instance two days ago it was her turn to ask all of the questions, yesterday it was his turn. So now we should probably assume that it is going to be her turn again, "Nope,' he grinned, 'today is still mine."
This relationship is so far from being symbiotic she might as well be a fantasy of his. Which, I know is getting rather trite of me to say at this point, is a good mark of a sociopath. If she had any protest about it actually being her turn she knows better than to voice it because everyone knows that he isn't going to listen to her. Maybe that's because of his experience though...he's been around the block enough times that he thinks high-schoolers literally have nothing of any importance to add to anything. For him, they simply don't count, and if that's the case why is he there?
So far, today, he's been alright but as they talk about the weekend. Disposing of whether or not Charlie is going to be around he asks a question, "And if you don't come home, what will he think?"
Alright, I keep saying sociopath and here's evidence that even fans of the series can't argue against (if you're reading this go ahead and try). They are making their plans for their weekend date and the above quote is him wondering what her father will do if he fucking kills her and her body is never found. This it the type of person that you don't get in the car with, the type of person that probably killed Natalee Holloway, the type of warning from an individual that is predisposed to thinking these thoughts is one step closer to doing it then every other person.
Her response? She just makes excuses. Being so smitten with his angelic looks that she reminds herself that it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter that he just told her she could die on Saturday. Then again, why should it? This isn't the first time he's done it.
In one way I kind of get it, the bad boy shtick works on women. Funny and nice doesn't, especially in high school but at what point would even a naive high school girl realize that someone is crossing the line?
"His anger was much more impressive than mine." Is it even worth continuing on at this point? Even his anger is impressive?
Getting past all of that we are still in the lunchroom and finally Bella notices that Edward's family is also in the room with them. They disapprove of their relationship, and I think that it is fairly obvious why this is so. It's actually the smartest move the Cullens have made toward anonymity so far in the book. I mean it's clearly against heir usual attempts of inconspicuousness like driving expensive sports cars, wearing designer clothes, and never interacting with anyone else. When Bella sees them, "I peeked quickly behind me at his family. They sat staring off in different directions."
I also picture them whistling in the air and twirling their hands on the table. Clearly they were just busted spying on their conversation. It's a complete non-sequitor only written to remind us that there will be a coming conflict. Look, this isn't an Elizabethan tragedy about gang warfare written by Shakespeare, so we don't don't need to be reminded that there are "two houses." There isn't, Charlie doesn't know what is going on and it's still doubtful if he would disapprove. Edward knows this, he's probably using it to hook her even further. Not only is he the dangerous type, but even his family doesn't approve of him dating her.
When we finally meet one of his sisters, Alice it gets odd. Alice, the one that doesn't dislike the relationship comes over to grab Edward so he can snack up before the date, but unlike everyone else in the book (save Mike) she's cordial and says, "It's nice to meet you Bella."
Which is normal. Alice's politeness and ability to act like a decent person earns her a dark glance from Edward. Obviously there are illusions that must be held up here we can't have the bad boy tolerating such decency in front of his woman.
One might excuse him for this view as he is a Vampire and not a person. Humans are simply not his equal. I can at least buy that to some extent but it changes the way that we must view Edward and the Cullens for the rest of the series. If they are to protect us from the evil vampires they must view us as a weaker and inferior species. In doing so, Edward takes the view of Achilles in the Iliad: a man-god hybrid who knows that he has more virtú than all of the warriors on either side of the Trojan war. A being that sits out of the war, almost causing his side to lose merely for spite. When he begins his fighting he fights like a pure blood god, single handedly changing the tide of the war.
However, that is Achilles, son of the goddess Thetis who has war as his single purpose in all of life. In this way he fulfills the Greek concept of "Goodness" and everything that he does must be viewed in that teleological sense. Our problem is that Edward is not Achilles, we don't know what Edward's purpose in life is, why he's in high school, and worst of all why he's behaving like someone at least eight decades younger than he. Without that purpose, we can't give him the excuse that we can give Achilles (or even Helen for that matter) and he comes across as an older man who is manipulating a teenage girl.
A girl, that allows it to happen because she's beaten her own sense of virtú so low that she probably places as a vicious person in Aristotle's ethics. All because she views Edward as being so much greater than she, "I couldn't imagine how an angel could be any more glorious" she muses to herself while staring at him.
The troubling aspect is that it is so far, only his looks that are attractive to any objective viewer of their relationship. Bella pines over and over about his appearance, but we never know what it is about his personality that she finds so desirable. Which leads me to think that there isn't anything there and she is only in it for the booty. It really can't be anything else.
For instance two days ago it was her turn to ask all of the questions, yesterday it was his turn. So now we should probably assume that it is going to be her turn again, "Nope,' he grinned, 'today is still mine."
This relationship is so far from being symbiotic she might as well be a fantasy of his. Which, I know is getting rather trite of me to say at this point, is a good mark of a sociopath. If she had any protest about it actually being her turn she knows better than to voice it because everyone knows that he isn't going to listen to her. Maybe that's because of his experience though...he's been around the block enough times that he thinks high-schoolers literally have nothing of any importance to add to anything. For him, they simply don't count, and if that's the case why is he there?
So far, today, he's been alright but as they talk about the weekend. Disposing of whether or not Charlie is going to be around he asks a question, "And if you don't come home, what will he think?"
Alright, I keep saying sociopath and here's evidence that even fans of the series can't argue against (if you're reading this go ahead and try). They are making their plans for their weekend date and the above quote is him wondering what her father will do if he fucking kills her and her body is never found. This it the type of person that you don't get in the car with, the type of person that probably killed Natalee Holloway, the type of warning from an individual that is predisposed to thinking these thoughts is one step closer to doing it then every other person.
Her response? She just makes excuses. Being so smitten with his angelic looks that she reminds herself that it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter that he just told her she could die on Saturday. Then again, why should it? This isn't the first time he's done it.
In one way I kind of get it, the bad boy shtick works on women. Funny and nice doesn't, especially in high school but at what point would even a naive high school girl realize that someone is crossing the line?
"His anger was much more impressive than mine." Is it even worth continuing on at this point? Even his anger is impressive?
Getting past all of that we are still in the lunchroom and finally Bella notices that Edward's family is also in the room with them. They disapprove of their relationship, and I think that it is fairly obvious why this is so. It's actually the smartest move the Cullens have made toward anonymity so far in the book. I mean it's clearly against heir usual attempts of inconspicuousness like driving expensive sports cars, wearing designer clothes, and never interacting with anyone else. When Bella sees them, "I peeked quickly behind me at his family. They sat staring off in different directions."
I also picture them whistling in the air and twirling their hands on the table. Clearly they were just busted spying on their conversation. It's a complete non-sequitor only written to remind us that there will be a coming conflict. Look, this isn't an Elizabethan tragedy about gang warfare written by Shakespeare, so we don't don't need to be reminded that there are "two houses." There isn't, Charlie doesn't know what is going on and it's still doubtful if he would disapprove. Edward knows this, he's probably using it to hook her even further. Not only is he the dangerous type, but even his family doesn't approve of him dating her.
When we finally meet one of his sisters, Alice it gets odd. Alice, the one that doesn't dislike the relationship comes over to grab Edward so he can snack up before the date, but unlike everyone else in the book (save Mike) she's cordial and says, "It's nice to meet you Bella."
Which is normal. Alice's politeness and ability to act like a decent person earns her a dark glance from Edward. Obviously there are illusions that must be held up here we can't have the bad boy tolerating such decency in front of his woman.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Daddy Issues (Pg. 235-241)
The Blacks have arrived at Bella's door. This is just a friendly visit, an attempt to reunite Charlie Swan with Billie Black after the fight that was apparently much bigger then we were told. To recap the situation*, since it involves extrapolating the story from the report we were given, is that the Blacks are from the reservation and ever since the Dr. Cullen took residency at the hospital they have refused to get medical treatment. We know why Mr. Black has refused to let his family go to the hospital but what we don't know is what he told Charlie.
Charlie if we remember stood up for the Cullens, and in particular Dr. Cullen, in the beginning of the book. Saying that they were decent people being shunned and gossiped about by xenophobic small town residents. The fact that the Blacks no longer go to the hospital because of him is what caused the fight. The problem for me is what Billy told Charlie. Jacob informed us that the whole legend surrounding the Cullens and the ancient Quileutes is supposed to be a secret not to be shared with the pale faces. Billy can't just tell the Sheriff, "Oh we're not going to the hospital anymore because the chief of medicine is a blood drinking vampire;" there has to be another reason he has given them.
What reason could he possible have given them. It's clear that the Blacks used to go to the Hospital or else this wouldn't be the type of conflict that would separate two people that were friends. They just abruptly stopped. The Sheriff obviously cares about the Blacks and doesn't want to see them get into any trouble so Billy has to give him something. He could claim they joined one of those churches like the Followers of Christ in nearby Oregon which forbids medical treatment in lieu of faith healing** or something. Perhaps that was what the fight was about, that Billy wouldn't spill the beans. Either way the Blacks are back.
Bella is afraid she's going to be busted by Billy for dating Edward which she mysteriously thinks that her father shouldn't know about. Which brings us, yet again, to the why this is the case. Not only does Charlie respect Dr. Cullen, he's even risked the relationship with his best friend in Forks over him. Why the hell does she think she needs to keep the relationship a secret?
Well I have my theory, and it abounds with the familiarity that Bella expresses toward her father. Now being the child of divorced parents one might assume that Bella expresses the same familiarity with her mother that she does with her father. This however isn't proven by the book we've read through so far. When Bella emails her mom after just moving to Forks she refers to her as "mom" even though she worries about her mother as though the authoritative situation was reversed her mom is still her mom. She doesn't talk down to her nor does she ever really belittle her despite the fact that we've been told that she actually has problems.
On the other hand her father isn't treated with the same respect. Almost exclusively she takes calls him by his name, and constantly dotes on him about dinner and shopping. This is all in spite of the fact that for many years he's lived in Forks by himself without her and has managed to not starve to death. I've known people that have called their parents by their first name but it was done under certain circumstances one of which was when the one parent was not the biological parent. When Bella refers to her mom's boyfriend as Phil it is understandable. The other circumstance is when the person is being defiant, calling a parent by their name is a way of attempting to level the playing field when words are being used.
In neither case is Bella doing this with her father. When Billy and Jacob enter the house Bella is afraid of Billy's glance. Looking for an excuse to leave the room she asks the Blacks if they want some food when they refuse, "How about you Charlie' I called over my shoulder as I fled around the corner."
She then spends most of her time talking to Jacob about the Cullens while making her father dinner, it's also unclear as to whether or not Bella eats herself, but that's beside the point. I bring it all up because Bella doesn't act like Charlie is her father, instead like his subordinate 1950s wife. She tries to be there for the homemaking and to act like that is all she ever aspires to. She hides ever facet of her life outside the house from him, she makes his meals, does the shopping, and when he has friends over she busies herself in the kitchen. She places herself in the situation of being his equal and taking care of him.
It isn't until page 240 in the book that we first hear her address Charlie Swan as her father, "Dad!' I groaned." This is in response to his suggestion that she ask Mike to the dance. It gets repeated twice, which leads me to think that the author herself became suddenly conscious of the burgeoning Electra Complex.*** The two are living as a happy couple until the exact point where the topic of romantic love is brought in, and suddenly everything is snapped back into reality the way things ought to be...for a little bit anyway.
The Blacks have left by then, the game over and plans made for a weekend fishing trip, Charlie is for some reason gripped by an odd wave of emotion regarding his seemingly ignoring of his teenage daughter (which I am told is something that they want once in awhile). It's a good scene only because it forces her back into the daughter role and out of the creepy pseudo-wife role, I should note that this completely on her end and he never reciprocates this relationship.
After worrying about her she tries to allay his fears, "Dad, you're doing a great job"
It's cute, because I'm sure after many years of living by himself he's worried that he can't raise his daughter full time. Having her for the summers all the previous years was just like long vacations for the two of them. The worry is nice but since this is Twilight we have to get back into creepy relationship mode, "I've never minded being alone--I'm too much like you.' I winked at him, and he smiled his crinkly eyed smile."
She winks at him like Sarah Palin to a crowd of Tea Party (People, Members, Partiers?) and she smiles back at him. The smile, that she used to justify why her mother fell in love with her father right out of high school. The difference between knowing that someone can be found attractive by someone else and actually finding them attractive is quite blurred here. While it should be the easiest relationship to write (since it is completely secondary to the story it can be pretty much left to the reader's imagination) it's made difficult by the unneeded controversies that Meyer puts in.
My problem with this section (other than rehashing long dead Freudian/Jungian psychology) is that it is entirely pointless. The drama of Billy Black possibly seeing Bella and Edward together comes to nothing more than a slight warning that Black gives to Bella, "You take care, Bella,' he added seriously." The banter between Jacob and Bella is only interesting because Bella expresses some very slight remorse over having manipulated him at the beach, but not because of his feelings rather how she would have to deal with it. The only thing we get out of the whole section is a revealing look into the odd and creepy relationship between Bella and her father.
________________________________
*For now we are leaving out all references to Vampires and Werewolves, surprisingly it doesn't really matter right here.
**Which also caused the state of Oregon in 1999 to pass a special law due to the number of child deaths in which standard medical treatment, like a penicillin would have saved the life of Ava Worthington.
***Think "Oedipus Complex" only with the genders reversed. This term was rejected by Freud but endorsed by Carl Jung.
Charlie if we remember stood up for the Cullens, and in particular Dr. Cullen, in the beginning of the book. Saying that they were decent people being shunned and gossiped about by xenophobic small town residents. The fact that the Blacks no longer go to the hospital because of him is what caused the fight. The problem for me is what Billy told Charlie. Jacob informed us that the whole legend surrounding the Cullens and the ancient Quileutes is supposed to be a secret not to be shared with the pale faces. Billy can't just tell the Sheriff, "Oh we're not going to the hospital anymore because the chief of medicine is a blood drinking vampire;" there has to be another reason he has given them.
What reason could he possible have given them. It's clear that the Blacks used to go to the Hospital or else this wouldn't be the type of conflict that would separate two people that were friends. They just abruptly stopped. The Sheriff obviously cares about the Blacks and doesn't want to see them get into any trouble so Billy has to give him something. He could claim they joined one of those churches like the Followers of Christ in nearby Oregon which forbids medical treatment in lieu of faith healing** or something. Perhaps that was what the fight was about, that Billy wouldn't spill the beans. Either way the Blacks are back.
Bella is afraid she's going to be busted by Billy for dating Edward which she mysteriously thinks that her father shouldn't know about. Which brings us, yet again, to the why this is the case. Not only does Charlie respect Dr. Cullen, he's even risked the relationship with his best friend in Forks over him. Why the hell does she think she needs to keep the relationship a secret?
Well I have my theory, and it abounds with the familiarity that Bella expresses toward her father. Now being the child of divorced parents one might assume that Bella expresses the same familiarity with her mother that she does with her father. This however isn't proven by the book we've read through so far. When Bella emails her mom after just moving to Forks she refers to her as "mom" even though she worries about her mother as though the authoritative situation was reversed her mom is still her mom. She doesn't talk down to her nor does she ever really belittle her despite the fact that we've been told that she actually has problems.
On the other hand her father isn't treated with the same respect. Almost exclusively she takes calls him by his name, and constantly dotes on him about dinner and shopping. This is all in spite of the fact that for many years he's lived in Forks by himself without her and has managed to not starve to death. I've known people that have called their parents by their first name but it was done under certain circumstances one of which was when the one parent was not the biological parent. When Bella refers to her mom's boyfriend as Phil it is understandable. The other circumstance is when the person is being defiant, calling a parent by their name is a way of attempting to level the playing field when words are being used.
In neither case is Bella doing this with her father. When Billy and Jacob enter the house Bella is afraid of Billy's glance. Looking for an excuse to leave the room she asks the Blacks if they want some food when they refuse, "How about you Charlie' I called over my shoulder as I fled around the corner."
She then spends most of her time talking to Jacob about the Cullens while making her father dinner, it's also unclear as to whether or not Bella eats herself, but that's beside the point. I bring it all up because Bella doesn't act like Charlie is her father, instead like his subordinate 1950s wife. She tries to be there for the homemaking and to act like that is all she ever aspires to. She hides ever facet of her life outside the house from him, she makes his meals, does the shopping, and when he has friends over she busies herself in the kitchen. She places herself in the situation of being his equal and taking care of him.
It isn't until page 240 in the book that we first hear her address Charlie Swan as her father, "Dad!' I groaned." This is in response to his suggestion that she ask Mike to the dance. It gets repeated twice, which leads me to think that the author herself became suddenly conscious of the burgeoning Electra Complex.*** The two are living as a happy couple until the exact point where the topic of romantic love is brought in, and suddenly everything is snapped back into reality the way things ought to be...for a little bit anyway.
The Blacks have left by then, the game over and plans made for a weekend fishing trip, Charlie is for some reason gripped by an odd wave of emotion regarding his seemingly ignoring of his teenage daughter (which I am told is something that they want once in awhile). It's a good scene only because it forces her back into the daughter role and out of the creepy pseudo-wife role, I should note that this completely on her end and he never reciprocates this relationship.
After worrying about her she tries to allay his fears, "Dad, you're doing a great job"
It's cute, because I'm sure after many years of living by himself he's worried that he can't raise his daughter full time. Having her for the summers all the previous years was just like long vacations for the two of them. The worry is nice but since this is Twilight we have to get back into creepy relationship mode, "I've never minded being alone--I'm too much like you.' I winked at him, and he smiled his crinkly eyed smile."
She winks at him like Sarah Palin to a crowd of Tea Party (People, Members, Partiers?) and she smiles back at him. The smile, that she used to justify why her mother fell in love with her father right out of high school. The difference between knowing that someone can be found attractive by someone else and actually finding them attractive is quite blurred here. While it should be the easiest relationship to write (since it is completely secondary to the story it can be pretty much left to the reader's imagination) it's made difficult by the unneeded controversies that Meyer puts in.
My problem with this section (other than rehashing long dead Freudian/Jungian psychology) is that it is entirely pointless. The drama of Billy Black possibly seeing Bella and Edward together comes to nothing more than a slight warning that Black gives to Bella, "You take care, Bella,' he added seriously." The banter between Jacob and Bella is only interesting because Bella expresses some very slight remorse over having manipulated him at the beach, but not because of his feelings rather how she would have to deal with it. The only thing we get out of the whole section is a revealing look into the odd and creepy relationship between Bella and her father.
________________________________
*For now we are leaving out all references to Vampires and Werewolves, surprisingly it doesn't really matter right here.
**Which also caused the state of Oregon in 1999 to pass a special law due to the number of child deaths in which standard medical treatment, like a penicillin would have saved the life of Ava Worthington.
***Think "Oedipus Complex" only with the genders reversed. This term was rejected by Freud but endorsed by Carl Jung.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Questions and Answers (Pg. 226-234)
Bella is home, waking up after sleeping and is now getting dressed. I need to point out that many posts ago I wrote my belief that Bella may be suffering from clinical depression. Clinical depression, not "I'm just a bit down," but actual DSM IV depression to further back up the truth of my assumption I point out the frequency in which Bella sleeps. Unless she's around other people she seems to be unable to stay awake. One of the symptoms of actual depression is frequency in sleeping to escape the weight of the person's troubles.
We have little to no knowledge of Bella's fashion sense, we have only one real clue which took place in Port Angeles as she gave advice on dresses to her acquaintances. Finally we get a real idea of her clothing style and preferences, "I pulled on my brown turtleneck and inescapable jeans sighing as I daydreamed of spaghetti straps and shorts."
I'm not exactly her daydream here, the brown turtleneck I understand. The jeans I understand as well, except for that adjective "inescapable." That can go one of two ways for me, readers help me out here: does she mean "inescapable" in the fact that they are tight or that she is always wearing them. I read the first two times as the former and now that I write this I'm thinking the latter. Her daydreaming is problematic because she has given us the impression of a sullen loner who dressed the part. In fact, she stressed the fact in the beginning that although she was from Arizona she had no tan. How in the name of Odin's six-legged steed did she maintain no tan while wearing halter tops and shorts? The only explanation is that this is an attempt by the author to have Isabella Swan wax nostalgic for her home town and it fails if you remember anything about the character said earlier.
Dressed in clothes she apparently hates she encounters her father* and they have a brief chit-chat about her social life. Bella continues the absurd habit of hiding her relationship with Eddie from her father and she again posits no reason for this, "How ghastly it would be, I thought, shuddering if Charlie had even the slightest inkling of what I did like."
I kind of agree, if my daughter brought home a douche-bag sociopathic narcissist I would be aghast as well but this is not what she means. She thinks she's hiding a vampire, but she isn't. Because her father doesn't know that Edward and the entire Cullen clan are vampires. I know I'm beating the dead horse having mentioned it three times already but until he expresses anything disapproving of the Cullens she has no reason to laugh at her father's ignorance of her little secret.
Bella, in another display of thinking this secret boyfriend through, gets another ride from Edward to school. The entire time he rapid fires questions at her, which she regards as an annoyance but the rest of us normal people understand as regular. Information on pop-culture, emotions, feelings and such things are the normal ways that people get to know each other. The whole thing with the CD in the car is a coincidence but a normal one, and actually a rather cute one.
I'm skipping, it seems that Bella's mother's boyfriend gave her a CD that she listened to a little while ago when she was still trying to process that Eddie was a vampire. It turns out that not only has Eddie heard of the band, he also has the CD in his car. This is taken as semi-significant by Bella, but I'm not sure why. It's an odd coincidence but then again we don't know the name of the band, the internet states that Phil (the mother's boyfriend) gave her a Linkin Park CD. The timing of the book's writing means that this wouldn't be that odd. Linkin Park, was unfortunately kind of popular early in the millennium.
The rest of this whole back and forth is normal. I repeat it because I don't understand why it's envisioned as anything but by Bella. In the movie High Fidelity (I never read the book nor do I intend to), Rob makes the point that no matter how shallow it sounds a person's preferences for music, books, and movies, are good indicators of how the relationship is going to go. Especially for a high school girl with virtually no life experience. What else is she going to talk about?
Edward then prompts her to talk about her life experience in Arizona, which she has none. Edward should be more frustrated about this, and then I wish the book wasn't written from her point of view, but he does ask a good question: what she misses about Arizona. "I miss brown. Everything that's supposed to be brown--tree trunks, rocks, dirt--is all covered up with squashy green stuff here."
Are there a lot of tree trunks in Arizona that are brown? I picture Arizona has being an orange-ish red color that only exists elsewhere in Crayola 128 count boxes. Originally, I really wanted to attack her for this statement but then I realized that it isn't a hate of green or a love of brown, it's a love of home. This is the real nostalgia, she misses the place she grew up and in expressing it this way makes it much different than her absurd despising of the snow. Every once in awhile Meyer does shed cliche for nuance it's just too bad that the cliche always comes storming back.
Sitting in the car outside of Bella's house the time passes quickly as he pries into her mind. So quickly that Bella forgets their alleged need for secrecy and the time of Charlie's arrival back home is upon them. Edward teases her about it, "So, unless you want to tell him that you'll be with me Saturday...' he raised one eyebrow."
There's the potential for a good secondary plot wherein the hypothetical vampire continues to question why Bella is keeping him a secret but that must wait. I really like that Edward teases her because at least one character in the book realizes that this is stupid and pointless. All of Bella's friends know who she is dating and it's pretty safe to say that the entire school at this point knows, but for some reason she still wants to keep it a secret no matter how futile that might be. More importantly the people for whom it should be kept secret, Bella's family, already know. She's being ludicrous, and rather than give us futher explanation we retreat back into the cliche.
Edward peels off muttering something about complications as Charlie comes home. Curiously Charlie, as Bella's father and as a cop, doesn't notice the car that just sped out of his driveway. That may be reasonable because tension builds as a truck pulls in as well, "In the passenger seat was a much older man, a heavyset man with a memorable face--a face that overflowed, the cheeks resting against his shoulders, with creases running through the russet skin like an old leather jacket."
The blacks have arrived and we must now renew the tired conflict between vampires and werewolves.
__________________________
*I'm still sitting on a future post regarding her relationship to her father, but this time it is less creepy than before.
We have little to no knowledge of Bella's fashion sense, we have only one real clue which took place in Port Angeles as she gave advice on dresses to her acquaintances. Finally we get a real idea of her clothing style and preferences, "I pulled on my brown turtleneck and inescapable jeans sighing as I daydreamed of spaghetti straps and shorts."
I'm not exactly her daydream here, the brown turtleneck I understand. The jeans I understand as well, except for that adjective "inescapable." That can go one of two ways for me, readers help me out here: does she mean "inescapable" in the fact that they are tight or that she is always wearing them. I read the first two times as the former and now that I write this I'm thinking the latter. Her daydreaming is problematic because she has given us the impression of a sullen loner who dressed the part. In fact, she stressed the fact in the beginning that although she was from Arizona she had no tan. How in the name of Odin's six-legged steed did she maintain no tan while wearing halter tops and shorts? The only explanation is that this is an attempt by the author to have Isabella Swan wax nostalgic for her home town and it fails if you remember anything about the character said earlier.
Dressed in clothes she apparently hates she encounters her father* and they have a brief chit-chat about her social life. Bella continues the absurd habit of hiding her relationship with Eddie from her father and she again posits no reason for this, "How ghastly it would be, I thought, shuddering if Charlie had even the slightest inkling of what I did like."
I kind of agree, if my daughter brought home a douche-bag sociopathic narcissist I would be aghast as well but this is not what she means. She thinks she's hiding a vampire, but she isn't. Because her father doesn't know that Edward and the entire Cullen clan are vampires. I know I'm beating the dead horse having mentioned it three times already but until he expresses anything disapproving of the Cullens she has no reason to laugh at her father's ignorance of her little secret.
Bella, in another display of thinking this secret boyfriend through, gets another ride from Edward to school. The entire time he rapid fires questions at her, which she regards as an annoyance but the rest of us normal people understand as regular. Information on pop-culture, emotions, feelings and such things are the normal ways that people get to know each other. The whole thing with the CD in the car is a coincidence but a normal one, and actually a rather cute one.
I'm skipping, it seems that Bella's mother's boyfriend gave her a CD that she listened to a little while ago when she was still trying to process that Eddie was a vampire. It turns out that not only has Eddie heard of the band, he also has the CD in his car. This is taken as semi-significant by Bella, but I'm not sure why. It's an odd coincidence but then again we don't know the name of the band, the internet states that Phil (the mother's boyfriend) gave her a Linkin Park CD. The timing of the book's writing means that this wouldn't be that odd. Linkin Park, was unfortunately kind of popular early in the millennium.
The rest of this whole back and forth is normal. I repeat it because I don't understand why it's envisioned as anything but by Bella. In the movie High Fidelity (I never read the book nor do I intend to), Rob makes the point that no matter how shallow it sounds a person's preferences for music, books, and movies, are good indicators of how the relationship is going to go. Especially for a high school girl with virtually no life experience. What else is she going to talk about?
Edward then prompts her to talk about her life experience in Arizona, which she has none. Edward should be more frustrated about this, and then I wish the book wasn't written from her point of view, but he does ask a good question: what she misses about Arizona. "I miss brown. Everything that's supposed to be brown--tree trunks, rocks, dirt--is all covered up with squashy green stuff here."
Are there a lot of tree trunks in Arizona that are brown? I picture Arizona has being an orange-ish red color that only exists elsewhere in Crayola 128 count boxes. Originally, I really wanted to attack her for this statement but then I realized that it isn't a hate of green or a love of brown, it's a love of home. This is the real nostalgia, she misses the place she grew up and in expressing it this way makes it much different than her absurd despising of the snow. Every once in awhile Meyer does shed cliche for nuance it's just too bad that the cliche always comes storming back.
Sitting in the car outside of Bella's house the time passes quickly as he pries into her mind. So quickly that Bella forgets their alleged need for secrecy and the time of Charlie's arrival back home is upon them. Edward teases her about it, "So, unless you want to tell him that you'll be with me Saturday...' he raised one eyebrow."
There's the potential for a good secondary plot wherein the hypothetical vampire continues to question why Bella is keeping him a secret but that must wait. I really like that Edward teases her because at least one character in the book realizes that this is stupid and pointless. All of Bella's friends know who she is dating and it's pretty safe to say that the entire school at this point knows, but for some reason she still wants to keep it a secret no matter how futile that might be. More importantly the people for whom it should be kept secret, Bella's family, already know. She's being ludicrous, and rather than give us futher explanation we retreat back into the cliche.
Edward peels off muttering something about complications as Charlie comes home. Curiously Charlie, as Bella's father and as a cop, doesn't notice the car that just sped out of his driveway. That may be reasonable because tension builds as a truck pulls in as well, "In the passenger seat was a much older man, a heavyset man with a memorable face--a face that overflowed, the cheeks resting against his shoulders, with creases running through the russet skin like an old leather jacket."
The blacks have arrived and we must now renew the tired conflict between vampires and werewolves.
__________________________
*I'm still sitting on a future post regarding her relationship to her father, but this time it is less creepy than before.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Apology? (Pg. 223-226)
"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.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Bella and Mike (Pg. 216-222)
In an effort to be fair, I do have to admit that the whole experience between Edward and Bella in Biology class is really well written. The awareness that she shows towards his presence is very realistic and her descriptions of the whole experience is quite explicit, "I was stunned by the unexpected electricity that flowed through me, amazed that it was possible to be more aware of him than I already was."
What is shocking to me is that passages like this are so well accomplished and others so miserably done. Often times it really is difficult to reconcile this author with the author of the rest of the book. What it tells me is that Meyer is writing out of experience, her details are too vivid for this to be an alien experience. It's either that or she's the most inconsistent writer that I have ever read given that other passages are so bland and her characters so unlikable. When Eddie comments, "That was interesting" referring to the electricity that Bella already spoke of it makes sense. We, those of us having been in the situation of proximity to an intense crush, know exactly what he is talking about. For once the hypothetical vampire comes through just as we expect. He acknowledges the feeling, the experience, and then he drops it. It's like the moment when your eyes lock with someone, you smile, they smile, but you never mention that one moment because it doesn't need to be spoken of.
Those experiences are forces of nature, they aren't comprised of anything tangible but they can knock you down. The movie over in biology, Bella stands up...carefully, "I stood with care, worried my balance might have been affected by the strange new intensity between us." It's too bad really, because everything goes downhill from there. Her balance has never been displayed as being that bad. She sucks at sports, therefore gym, but this care she's exhibiting is false. She's only telling us this because she needs to remind us how much she sucks at life. She's an outcast, we get it Stephanie, stop beating us over the head with the reminders. At this point in the narrative, the imbalance gun can never be fired to our satisfaction, we are going to be disappointed but how much we are is up to her, and I fear for the future.
After Biology, it's coincidentally on to Gym where they are playing Badminton. I don't know much about the sport aside from the fact that it is a cross between tennis and volleyball, and the thing you hit is called a "shuttlecock;" I am confused as to why this is a gym sport (or an Olympic sport for that matter). Furthermore isn't following up Volleyball with Badminton a bit overkill on the part of the "lobbing" sports. Why not follow these two up with tennis just to round it out?
Then Chivalrous Mike appears. Mike, we may remember, is now dating Jessica whilst carrying the torch for Bella who doesn't like him in that way. We know why, it's because Mike is too nice to Bella. Mike is the equivalent of John Cusack in Say Anything or any of the other movies from that period. Where Edward sort of pays attention to Bella and treats her with disdain. In this respect Bella seems pretty normal, the nice guy routine never works. In keeping with the stereotype of this alleged code of chivalry Mike volunteers to be on Bella's team, "Don't worry I'll keep out of your way.' He grinned. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mike."
So easy to like Mike, but not easy enough. While Bella is the surrogate for the intended audience of the book, Edward isn't the male substitute, Mike is. Which is why Meyer throws him a girlfriend, this way the teenage males reading a vampire novel aimed at teenage women won't hate Bella for ditching Mike. Aside from being the pathetically nice guy Mike's handicap is that he's not Edward. He needs a little more of the bad guy in him, for sure, but that isn't enough. The superficial Bella needs more than just a guy that won't treat her right, she needs to be apart from everyone else. This was plainly obvious the first time she drooled with envy staring at the Cullens sitting by themselves while everyone noticed them but didn't pay attention to them. Mike is pretty transparent, people know who he is, he throws the gatherings and arranges for the parties. You can pretty much count on the fact that even if Mike wasn't told about Jessica* he was going to have a date. He isn't too nice, he's just a decent person. And being that, we really ought not to spend too much time wondering why Bella ditched him.
He volunteers to be on her team, as I said, because no one else will (we gather) and he's her friend. The games begin, "I somehow managed to hit myself in the head with my racket and clip Mike's shoulder on the same swing." So she's retarded now!?
Bella's problems just rack up don't they. When I first read this passage I did the "magic bullet" recreation scene from JFK in a futile attempt to figure out how she accomplished hitting herself in the head and someone else. The only thing that I could come up with is that she did it on purpose. In retrospect, I think there might be some veracity to this idea. She's always claiming that she's clumsy but we never see it. We only hear about it when she's talking about how Gym class went, but we never actually live through her experience in Gym.
As soon as the class ends the tone of the narrative switches. It's no longer recollections about gym class in the past tense** but is now in real time as she talks with Mike about Edward. Mike, being a concerned friend, worries about Bella and her new relationship. Bella responds quite reasonably...for her, "That's none of your business Mike,' I warned, internally cursing Jessica straight to the fury pits of Hades.
Setting aside the fact that Hades doesn't have fury pits, she's being a bitch here. First off, why is she even angry at Jessica? She told Jessica about the secret relationship, she knows that Jessica likes to talk, and she knows that Jessica is seeing Mike. What did she expect Jessica to do, clam up and not talk about it?
Secondly, of course her relationship is his business, he's her friend-in fact Mike is the first person she met in Forks that wasn't a creepy anime loving sweat hog named Eric. If he's worried about her he should express it, that's what friends do right? The fact that he liked her poisons his testimony but why doesn't he approve of this relationship?
"He looks at you...like you're something to eat.' Ok this is a lame attempt at humor. We know that he does this because we know something about him that Mike doesn't, that's the humor. A halfway decent writer would just let this joke out and then cease from acknowledging it ever again, perhaps out of embarrassment at something that seemed funny at 2am. What does Meyer do? Something no one telling a joke ever should, laugh at it herself, "I choked back the hysteria that threatened to explode, but a small giggle managed to get out despite my efforts."
Mike is expressing concern for her, however steeped in jealousy that concern might by and she laughs in his face. Remember last post when I mentioned that she ought to go to the dance because she would have friends there? Well, she should have just lost one. Her reactions are full of pretension and arrogance, entirely appropriate for a woman that thinks she just married into the Medici. This is a telling aspect of her personality, showing something that I knew she had way back in the beginning: her sense of superiority. She laughs at Mike not because he's wrong, or in this case more correct than he knows, but because he shouldn't dare question her relationship with Edward. Someone beneath her is showing concern for her, the absurdity of the situation amuses her.
Bumping back into Edward after Gym class, Edward confesses that Mike is getting on his nerves. This makes sense because Edward and Mike are more like rivals than friends. Edward, not used to being around high school kids read Mike's mind and new what was up. This is telling because I could have told you once the Mike character was established that he would have a problem with her dating Edward. Yet Eddue needed his magical vampire powers, what exactly has he been doing for the last hundred years? Bella gets upset, yelling at him, "You weren't listening again?"
Of course he was, he's an abusive obsessive boyfriend. He can't listen to her thoughts but he can listen to everyone else's. What I'm amazed about is her surprise, because she never asked him to not do it. In fact he specifically commented earlier in the chapter that he was going to listen, and Bella has been feeding Jessica information specifically because she knew he was going to listen. She's such a hypocrite.
They get to the car slipping past a crowd of guys admiring Rosalie's blending-in-mobile, a BMW M3 Convertible. Bella, revealing her vanity once again, notices that none of the guys around the car pay attention to her and her new secret boyfriend as they speed off together in another example of Bella's ignorance of what the word "secret" means.
____________________________
*The women are going to be the ones actually in charge of the social life at Forks HS, being that this book is written by a woman. If you think about it all of those John Hughes movies (with rare exception) the men controlled life at the school being a male director.
** Yeah, yeah, the whole book is a first person recollection, I get that. Most of the book can be considered 'live' she's telling us what happened as it happened, but the actions scenes are done as a playback.
What is shocking to me is that passages like this are so well accomplished and others so miserably done. Often times it really is difficult to reconcile this author with the author of the rest of the book. What it tells me is that Meyer is writing out of experience, her details are too vivid for this to be an alien experience. It's either that or she's the most inconsistent writer that I have ever read given that other passages are so bland and her characters so unlikable. When Eddie comments, "That was interesting" referring to the electricity that Bella already spoke of it makes sense. We, those of us having been in the situation of proximity to an intense crush, know exactly what he is talking about. For once the hypothetical vampire comes through just as we expect. He acknowledges the feeling, the experience, and then he drops it. It's like the moment when your eyes lock with someone, you smile, they smile, but you never mention that one moment because it doesn't need to be spoken of.
Those experiences are forces of nature, they aren't comprised of anything tangible but they can knock you down. The movie over in biology, Bella stands up...carefully, "I stood with care, worried my balance might have been affected by the strange new intensity between us." It's too bad really, because everything goes downhill from there. Her balance has never been displayed as being that bad. She sucks at sports, therefore gym, but this care she's exhibiting is false. She's only telling us this because she needs to remind us how much she sucks at life. She's an outcast, we get it Stephanie, stop beating us over the head with the reminders. At this point in the narrative, the imbalance gun can never be fired to our satisfaction, we are going to be disappointed but how much we are is up to her, and I fear for the future.
After Biology, it's coincidentally on to Gym where they are playing Badminton. I don't know much about the sport aside from the fact that it is a cross between tennis and volleyball, and the thing you hit is called a "shuttlecock;" I am confused as to why this is a gym sport (or an Olympic sport for that matter). Furthermore isn't following up Volleyball with Badminton a bit overkill on the part of the "lobbing" sports. Why not follow these two up with tennis just to round it out?
Then Chivalrous Mike appears. Mike, we may remember, is now dating Jessica whilst carrying the torch for Bella who doesn't like him in that way. We know why, it's because Mike is too nice to Bella. Mike is the equivalent of John Cusack in Say Anything or any of the other movies from that period. Where Edward sort of pays attention to Bella and treats her with disdain. In this respect Bella seems pretty normal, the nice guy routine never works. In keeping with the stereotype of this alleged code of chivalry Mike volunteers to be on Bella's team, "Don't worry I'll keep out of your way.' He grinned. Sometimes it was so easy to like Mike."
So easy to like Mike, but not easy enough. While Bella is the surrogate for the intended audience of the book, Edward isn't the male substitute, Mike is. Which is why Meyer throws him a girlfriend, this way the teenage males reading a vampire novel aimed at teenage women won't hate Bella for ditching Mike. Aside from being the pathetically nice guy Mike's handicap is that he's not Edward. He needs a little more of the bad guy in him, for sure, but that isn't enough. The superficial Bella needs more than just a guy that won't treat her right, she needs to be apart from everyone else. This was plainly obvious the first time she drooled with envy staring at the Cullens sitting by themselves while everyone noticed them but didn't pay attention to them. Mike is pretty transparent, people know who he is, he throws the gatherings and arranges for the parties. You can pretty much count on the fact that even if Mike wasn't told about Jessica* he was going to have a date. He isn't too nice, he's just a decent person. And being that, we really ought not to spend too much time wondering why Bella ditched him.
He volunteers to be on her team, as I said, because no one else will (we gather) and he's her friend. The games begin, "I somehow managed to hit myself in the head with my racket and clip Mike's shoulder on the same swing." So she's retarded now!?
Bella's problems just rack up don't they. When I first read this passage I did the "magic bullet" recreation scene from JFK in a futile attempt to figure out how she accomplished hitting herself in the head and someone else. The only thing that I could come up with is that she did it on purpose. In retrospect, I think there might be some veracity to this idea. She's always claiming that she's clumsy but we never see it. We only hear about it when she's talking about how Gym class went, but we never actually live through her experience in Gym.
As soon as the class ends the tone of the narrative switches. It's no longer recollections about gym class in the past tense** but is now in real time as she talks with Mike about Edward. Mike, being a concerned friend, worries about Bella and her new relationship. Bella responds quite reasonably...for her, "That's none of your business Mike,' I warned, internally cursing Jessica straight to the fury pits of Hades.
Setting aside the fact that Hades doesn't have fury pits, she's being a bitch here. First off, why is she even angry at Jessica? She told Jessica about the secret relationship, she knows that Jessica likes to talk, and she knows that Jessica is seeing Mike. What did she expect Jessica to do, clam up and not talk about it?
Secondly, of course her relationship is his business, he's her friend-in fact Mike is the first person she met in Forks that wasn't a creepy anime loving sweat hog named Eric. If he's worried about her he should express it, that's what friends do right? The fact that he liked her poisons his testimony but why doesn't he approve of this relationship?
"He looks at you...like you're something to eat.' Ok this is a lame attempt at humor. We know that he does this because we know something about him that Mike doesn't, that's the humor. A halfway decent writer would just let this joke out and then cease from acknowledging it ever again, perhaps out of embarrassment at something that seemed funny at 2am. What does Meyer do? Something no one telling a joke ever should, laugh at it herself, "I choked back the hysteria that threatened to explode, but a small giggle managed to get out despite my efforts."
Mike is expressing concern for her, however steeped in jealousy that concern might by and she laughs in his face. Remember last post when I mentioned that she ought to go to the dance because she would have friends there? Well, she should have just lost one. Her reactions are full of pretension and arrogance, entirely appropriate for a woman that thinks she just married into the Medici. This is a telling aspect of her personality, showing something that I knew she had way back in the beginning: her sense of superiority. She laughs at Mike not because he's wrong, or in this case more correct than he knows, but because he shouldn't dare question her relationship with Edward. Someone beneath her is showing concern for her, the absurdity of the situation amuses her.
Bumping back into Edward after Gym class, Edward confesses that Mike is getting on his nerves. This makes sense because Edward and Mike are more like rivals than friends. Edward, not used to being around high school kids read Mike's mind and new what was up. This is telling because I could have told you once the Mike character was established that he would have a problem with her dating Edward. Yet Eddue needed his magical vampire powers, what exactly has he been doing for the last hundred years? Bella gets upset, yelling at him, "You weren't listening again?"
Of course he was, he's an abusive obsessive boyfriend. He can't listen to her thoughts but he can listen to everyone else's. What I'm amazed about is her surprise, because she never asked him to not do it. In fact he specifically commented earlier in the chapter that he was going to listen, and Bella has been feeding Jessica information specifically because she knew he was going to listen. She's such a hypocrite.
They get to the car slipping past a crowd of guys admiring Rosalie's blending-in-mobile, a BMW M3 Convertible. Bella, revealing her vanity once again, notices that none of the guys around the car pay attention to her and her new secret boyfriend as they speed off together in another example of Bella's ignorance of what the word "secret" means.
____________________________
*The women are going to be the ones actually in charge of the social life at Forks HS, being that this book is written by a woman. If you think about it all of those John Hughes movies (with rare exception) the men controlled life at the school being a male director.
** Yeah, yeah, the whole book is a first person recollection, I get that. Most of the book can be considered 'live' she's telling us what happened as it happened, but the actions scenes are done as a playback.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Instilling Fear (Pg. 211-216)
One of the easier things about writing this blog series is that the relationship between the two protagonists is a bad one. It's not that the writing is bad, but that the characters themselves are. Especially Edward who after a century ought to know what he is doing, and the scary thing about him is that he probably does. I would contend that Edward was a predator before he was a vampire, maybe just a victim of his time who can't help but treat women as beneath him. Or maybe it's not women (since we have yet to see how he interacts with his sisters) but it's a class thing. In either case this whole relationship is based on control.
Not say that Bella is any better. Far from being the strong intellectual type that she wishes us to think her as, she plays right into it hoping that she won't do anything to anger him, and only rebuking him for minor issues, "You know I haven't forgiven you for the Tyler thing yet."
Still at lunch she abruptly changes the subject from the warnings that she is receiving from Edward. What I don't understand is how she can blame Edward for Tyler assuming that the two are going to the prom. Tyler's motivation is obvious, his actions are commendable in that light if not a little misplaced. Tyler, so far, is one of the most likable characters in the book because he still feels guilt over almost killing Bella. Bella is embarrassed by the guilt and somehow thinks that it is Eddie's fault...which it sort of is since had he not saved Bella's life she would not have to deal with it. Tyler doesn't like Bella, at least not in that way, he just wants to atone for his actions. It isn't Edward's fault that he is a decent person and that isn't something we can really say deserves forgiveness.
With the Girl's Choice dance looming on the weekend, we still have Bella's commitment to going to Seattle that day. I still question her motivation on this, she has nothing to lose by going. Everyone knows that she is clumsy but now that she has friends the only thing that she is going to miss is the first hand accounts of everything that her friends are going to be talking about on Monday. Not going does give her two things that she really wants. The first is time with Edward, which is only a recent development. The second is that the "lonely loner" in her is going to get the type of attention that she would only get by not going. She gets to seem doubly mysterious now that everyone is currently seeing the two eat together, by themselves, at lunch.
Several times she notices that everyone is staring at them. Edward doesn't seem to care, but his failing to pick up on this not-so-good aspect of her personality reinforces my contention that he's an idiot. He still thinks she's going to Seattle because of her embarrassment, "Are you referring to the fact that you can't walk across a flat, stable surface without finding something to trip over?"
We know that he's exaggerating because she walked to his car, and then from class to class without doing anything close to that but she keeps the lie up. Telling him that he's never seen her in gym. The two situations are completely different and the comparison fails. This is the fault of the writer who has thus far shown that she is quite capable of doing banter between the two. The problem is that she's written Bella into another corner, and Meyer isn't the best at getting out of them. Everyone but Edward knows she is lying, so why not just come out with it?
The only thing that Bella does accomplish is that she strikes a bargain with Edward that she will drive. Edward frowns because this will be missed opportunity to keep the fear going in her. She wants to drive for two reasons, "leaving my truck at home would just bring up the subject (with her father) unnecessarily. And also, because your driving frightens me."
She wants to keep the new boyfriend secret from her father, I can buy that. If that's the case though, why did she leave her truck at home? I mentioned this two weeks ago, Forks is a small town and her father could very easily just swing home from work for lunch. If she was that concerned about him finding out* she would do better to hide it.
Edward makes a suggestion that they don't go to Seattle, since Bella has no real reason to go there in the first place. Indeed, the only reason that she is claiming to go is that it is far enough away that people won't expect her to make a trip and still go to the dance. It's a bit observant but not for the right reason, "The weather will be nice, so I'll be staying out of the public eye...and you can stay with me, if you'd like to,' Again, he was leaving the choice up to me."
Is really leaving the choice up to Bella? The whole idea of ditching the dance was hers in the first place. I don't know if this was done to trick the reader or if Bella is just that desperate for his affection because she completely buys it. Not only that, but she also seems grateful for him to allow her to make the choice that she set up to begin with. This would be like cooking a burger for someone else and that person telling you that you could have one as well.
If they are still going to Seattle Edward gets worried because of the location, "I shudder to think of the trouble that you could find in a city that size." He's got a noticeable pattern, it's normal banter, typical boy-girl stuff and then he inserts the danger back into the conversation. He needs to remind her that she isn't safe, and only he can protect her--more evidence of his desire to subjugate Bella so that she will come to completely depend on him. Bella objects, and realistically as well, by reminding Edward that Phoenix was three times the population of Seattle and also larger in size as well.**
It's a good objection. We don't know anything about Bella's life in Arizona, but we do know is that she got out unscathed. Edward reminding her that she's a danger magnet isn't borne out by the facts, it only serves his interests. Unflustered by the audacity of her retort he comes back with, "your number wasn't up in Phoenix."
This is just creepy. The only way he could know that is if he is going to be dialing her number. I get that he likes to be the bad boy but comments like this put him passed that level and into the sociopath department. The chapter then gets worse as Edward explains that Bella ought to tell Charlie who he's going with, why? "To give me some small incentive to bring you back."
Ok, that's not good. If no one knows where she's going and with who Edward has no reason to return her? I thought he was the good kind of vampire. Even if he's joking I fail to understand the humor, and the writing doesn't bear this out either as Bella seems to be genuinely shocked by his comment. She changes the subject to his eating habit, probably out of fear for the two comments that imply he's going to murder her.
This gets to a part of the lore that Meyer is establishing. The vampires in her world can feed off of animals. Edward prefers to eat mountain lion, while his brother Emmett prefers Grizzly Bear. See, the type of personality that they have apparently dictates what their favorite food will be. Mountain Lions feed off of deer, elk, and moose. Unlike their African relatives, the Puma (same animal many different names) attacks by ambush, leaping from trees on unsuspecting defenseless prey. The Grizzly attacks up front, but the Cougar slips in quietly waiting for the easy meal. Yeah I agree, the choice of food does match the personality of the vampire. It means that Edward is a d-bag.
Surprisingly Edward tops his previous statements to scare Bella. She reminds him that hunting is seasonal and that now isn't the season. Edward comes back with an odd reading of the hunting laws saying that the laws only limit hunting with weapons. Somehow I doubt this is the case but she gets scared again but her curiosity gets her and she asks if she could witness them hunting. Shocked and angry he replies no. She can never come, not because it is frightening, in fact, "if that were it, I would take you out tonight," he said his voice cutting. "You need a healthy dose of fear. Nothing could be more beneficial for you."
The only reason she needs to be afraid is so she'll need him more. It's this type of threat that makes me want to weep when I see girls wearing "Team Edward" shirts at the mall.
__________________________
*Which aside from normal teenage girl reasons, doesn't make sense. Her father, Charlie, has thus far only mentioned the Cullen family in a positive light. Even heaping admiration on Dr. Cullen for taking a job in such a small town when his talents could make him more money elsewhere. One might assume that a parent wouldn't have a problem with their daughter dating the son of a doctor.
**Two things come up here which I am resisting. The first is to nitpick the shit out of her statement by looking up the size and population of the two cities but that would be stupid because Bella wouldn't know it exactly. The second is to make an immigration joke (which I admittedly don't have one handy) but I am going to resist the impulse and keep this blog away from partisan politics.
Not say that Bella is any better. Far from being the strong intellectual type that she wishes us to think her as, she plays right into it hoping that she won't do anything to anger him, and only rebuking him for minor issues, "You know I haven't forgiven you for the Tyler thing yet."
Still at lunch she abruptly changes the subject from the warnings that she is receiving from Edward. What I don't understand is how she can blame Edward for Tyler assuming that the two are going to the prom. Tyler's motivation is obvious, his actions are commendable in that light if not a little misplaced. Tyler, so far, is one of the most likable characters in the book because he still feels guilt over almost killing Bella. Bella is embarrassed by the guilt and somehow thinks that it is Eddie's fault...which it sort of is since had he not saved Bella's life she would not have to deal with it. Tyler doesn't like Bella, at least not in that way, he just wants to atone for his actions. It isn't Edward's fault that he is a decent person and that isn't something we can really say deserves forgiveness.
With the Girl's Choice dance looming on the weekend, we still have Bella's commitment to going to Seattle that day. I still question her motivation on this, she has nothing to lose by going. Everyone knows that she is clumsy but now that she has friends the only thing that she is going to miss is the first hand accounts of everything that her friends are going to be talking about on Monday. Not going does give her two things that she really wants. The first is time with Edward, which is only a recent development. The second is that the "lonely loner" in her is going to get the type of attention that she would only get by not going. She gets to seem doubly mysterious now that everyone is currently seeing the two eat together, by themselves, at lunch.
Several times she notices that everyone is staring at them. Edward doesn't seem to care, but his failing to pick up on this not-so-good aspect of her personality reinforces my contention that he's an idiot. He still thinks she's going to Seattle because of her embarrassment, "Are you referring to the fact that you can't walk across a flat, stable surface without finding something to trip over?"
We know that he's exaggerating because she walked to his car, and then from class to class without doing anything close to that but she keeps the lie up. Telling him that he's never seen her in gym. The two situations are completely different and the comparison fails. This is the fault of the writer who has thus far shown that she is quite capable of doing banter between the two. The problem is that she's written Bella into another corner, and Meyer isn't the best at getting out of them. Everyone but Edward knows she is lying, so why not just come out with it?
The only thing that Bella does accomplish is that she strikes a bargain with Edward that she will drive. Edward frowns because this will be missed opportunity to keep the fear going in her. She wants to drive for two reasons, "leaving my truck at home would just bring up the subject (with her father) unnecessarily. And also, because your driving frightens me."
She wants to keep the new boyfriend secret from her father, I can buy that. If that's the case though, why did she leave her truck at home? I mentioned this two weeks ago, Forks is a small town and her father could very easily just swing home from work for lunch. If she was that concerned about him finding out* she would do better to hide it.
Edward makes a suggestion that they don't go to Seattle, since Bella has no real reason to go there in the first place. Indeed, the only reason that she is claiming to go is that it is far enough away that people won't expect her to make a trip and still go to the dance. It's a bit observant but not for the right reason, "The weather will be nice, so I'll be staying out of the public eye...and you can stay with me, if you'd like to,' Again, he was leaving the choice up to me."
Is really leaving the choice up to Bella? The whole idea of ditching the dance was hers in the first place. I don't know if this was done to trick the reader or if Bella is just that desperate for his affection because she completely buys it. Not only that, but she also seems grateful for him to allow her to make the choice that she set up to begin with. This would be like cooking a burger for someone else and that person telling you that you could have one as well.
If they are still going to Seattle Edward gets worried because of the location, "I shudder to think of the trouble that you could find in a city that size." He's got a noticeable pattern, it's normal banter, typical boy-girl stuff and then he inserts the danger back into the conversation. He needs to remind her that she isn't safe, and only he can protect her--more evidence of his desire to subjugate Bella so that she will come to completely depend on him. Bella objects, and realistically as well, by reminding Edward that Phoenix was three times the population of Seattle and also larger in size as well.**
It's a good objection. We don't know anything about Bella's life in Arizona, but we do know is that she got out unscathed. Edward reminding her that she's a danger magnet isn't borne out by the facts, it only serves his interests. Unflustered by the audacity of her retort he comes back with, "your number wasn't up in Phoenix."
This is just creepy. The only way he could know that is if he is going to be dialing her number. I get that he likes to be the bad boy but comments like this put him passed that level and into the sociopath department. The chapter then gets worse as Edward explains that Bella ought to tell Charlie who he's going with, why? "To give me some small incentive to bring you back."
Ok, that's not good. If no one knows where she's going and with who Edward has no reason to return her? I thought he was the good kind of vampire. Even if he's joking I fail to understand the humor, and the writing doesn't bear this out either as Bella seems to be genuinely shocked by his comment. She changes the subject to his eating habit, probably out of fear for the two comments that imply he's going to murder her.
This gets to a part of the lore that Meyer is establishing. The vampires in her world can feed off of animals. Edward prefers to eat mountain lion, while his brother Emmett prefers Grizzly Bear. See, the type of personality that they have apparently dictates what their favorite food will be. Mountain Lions feed off of deer, elk, and moose. Unlike their African relatives, the Puma (same animal many different names) attacks by ambush, leaping from trees on unsuspecting defenseless prey. The Grizzly attacks up front, but the Cougar slips in quietly waiting for the easy meal. Yeah I agree, the choice of food does match the personality of the vampire. It means that Edward is a d-bag.
Surprisingly Edward tops his previous statements to scare Bella. She reminds him that hunting is seasonal and that now isn't the season. Edward comes back with an odd reading of the hunting laws saying that the laws only limit hunting with weapons. Somehow I doubt this is the case but she gets scared again but her curiosity gets her and she asks if she could witness them hunting. Shocked and angry he replies no. She can never come, not because it is frightening, in fact, "if that were it, I would take you out tonight," he said his voice cutting. "You need a healthy dose of fear. Nothing could be more beneficial for you."
The only reason she needs to be afraid is so she'll need him more. It's this type of threat that makes me want to weep when I see girls wearing "Team Edward" shirts at the mall.
__________________________
*Which aside from normal teenage girl reasons, doesn't make sense. Her father, Charlie, has thus far only mentioned the Cullen family in a positive light. Even heaping admiration on Dr. Cullen for taking a job in such a small town when his talents could make him more money elsewhere. One might assume that a parent wouldn't have a problem with their daughter dating the son of a doctor.
**Two things come up here which I am resisting. The first is to nitpick the shit out of her statement by looking up the size and population of the two cities but that would be stupid because Bella wouldn't know it exactly. The second is to make an immigration joke (which I admittedly don't have one handy) but I am going to resist the impulse and keep this blog away from partisan politics.
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