I’m back again with more Twilight. At page 400, we finally have an antagonist, a danger, and something resembling a plot. And yet, despite this, there is no action. At page 400, we finally have some tragedy, and a reason for there to be drama. And yet there is no drama. I don’t know what to tell you, aside from the fact that the title of the chapter describes my feelings almost perfectly.

Chapter 20: Impatience

When the chapter opens, we find Bella waking up in a hotel room. At first she’s a little confused, wondering why the walls are so drab and the furniture so sparse, but as her sleep falls away the past night comes flooding back to her.

The gray light, streaking across the cloudless sky, stung my eyes. But I couldn’t close them; when I did, the images that flashed all to vividly, like still slides behind my lids, were unbearable. Charlie’s broken expression— Edward’s brutal snarl, teeth bared— Rosalie’s resentful glare— the Keen eyed scrutiny of the tracker— the dead look in Edward’s eyes after he kissed my that last time… I couldn’t stand to see them. So I fought my weariness and the sun rose higher. (p. 406)

Well, this is better than nothing, I guess. The enormous trauma the Bella has experienced seems to be catching up with her, providing evidence that this character might be more than a robot programmed to self-lubricate in the presence of Edward.

And yet, it’s lacking. This is perhaps because, when the action catches up to the present, the story goes right back to the dull, monotonous state of mind that Bella Swan is trapped in. I feel like I’m making this point over and over again, but Bella has just been through more trauma than most people will ever face in their lives. She has been forced to uproot her life and destroy her relationship with her father, all because a vampire is randomly obsessed with drinking her blood.

Trouble is, those kinds of feelings are hard to write that convincingly, and a bit depressing to boot. Too much, and you venture into wangst. And what if her mental state interferes with the plot? That can’t happen. But we’ve gotta show that all of this shit has caused her to suffer, or else she’ll look like a sociopathic robot… I know, let’s give her nightmares!

This way, the author gets to say “Look, this character is suffering!” without actually having to write any suffering. Congratulations, author. You just took a lazy shortcut that further neutered your story’s drama.

Suffice to say, once the narration catches up to present, the narration is put back on the “boring” setting. Bella describes the room again. The current time is 3:00 AM. She changes out of Esme’s clothes. Ho hum. Alice and Jasper are sitting around watching television. They’ve ordered her room service. And that’s as intense as the action gets.

I ate slowly, watcher her, turning now and then to glance quickly at Jasper. It began to dawn on me that they were too still. They never looked away from the screen, though commercials were playing now. I pushed the tray away, my stomach abruptly uneasy. Alice looked down at me.

“What’s wrong, Alice?” I asked.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Her eyes were wide, honest… I didn’t trust them. (p. 409)

Anyway, it turns out that Alice and Jasper are worried because Carlisle hasn’t called them yet. They try to comfort Bella, but she sees through their false composure. Something is wrong. And somehow, Bella knows it’s all her fault.

“You heard what Laurent said.” My voice was just a whisper, but I was sure they could hear me. “He said James was lethal. What if something goes wrong and they get separated? If something happens to any of them, Carliasle, Emmett… Edward…” I gulped. “If that wild female hurts Esme…” My voice had grown higher, an note of hysteria beginning to rise in it. “How could I live with myself when it’s my fault? None of you should be risking yourselves for me—” (p. 410)

Yes, Bella, people may get hurt. That’s what happens when supernaturally gifted psychopaths decide they want to eat you…

I just don’t get it. Would she prefer they let James eat her? And why is she blaming herself? Point in fact, this situation is not her fault. She was targeted at random, through no action of her own, by an evil, bloodthirsty predator. And yet, playing depressingly to type, she takes all the responsibility on herself and goes into hysterics at the thought that others might want to stick up for her, bringing back her dreary mantra of “I am not worthy”. Yes, it’s one thing to be worried about friends in danger, but quite another to believe that you are not worth protecting.

Besides, she’s already hurt her father about as badly as he could be hurt, and she seem to be living with yourself just fine. The fact that Bella is able to brush this (and all of the other perfectly legitimate reasons she to be a hysterical wreck) aside so easily completely undermines this image of selflessness that Meyer seems so desperately intent on constructing. Of all the things she has to worry about, her relationship with her father, mother, and friends, and her own life, the safety of her immortal vampire guardians (who outnumber the bad guys 5-to-2) shouldn’t eclipse everything else.

Hypocrisy aside, however, it is truly astounding how little self-worth this girl has. When anybody, fictional or real, looks in the mirror, they should see something valuable, something worth fighting for. Of course, just because people should doesn’t mean they always do; everyone grapples with self-esteem issues at one point or another, and hopefully we overcome them. Bella having these feelings is not what I take issue with. They effect real people, and are well worth exploring. The fact that Meyer seems to be trying to pass off unhealthy self-loathing as noble selflessness, however, pisses me off like nothing else.

But onwards. After hearing this story, Alice and Jasper are understandably worried, and try to comfort Bella.

“You are under too much strain as it is; don’t add to it with unnecessary worries. Listen to me!” he ordered, for I had looked away. “Our family is strong. Our only fear is losing you.”

“But why should you—”

Alice interrupted this time, touching my cheek with her cold fingers. “It’s been almost a century that Edward’s been alone. Now he’s found you. You can’t see the changes that we see, we who have been with him so long.” (p. 410)

Don’t worry, Bella, your very existence as a human being is vindicated by Edward. Because whatever problem you may be having, from low self-esteem to predatory vampires, what you really always needed was a girlfriend boyfriend.

But for better or for worse, Bella calms down. Unfortunately, there isn’t much for them to do besides sit in the apartment and wait for the phone call. I don’t know if this was Meyer’s idea of suspense, but if the main character is so bored that she is describing the fabric of the hotel sofas (god, how I wish I was joking), chances are the reader is feeling the same way.

We stayed in the room. Alice called down to the frond desk and asked them to ignore our maid service for now. The windows stayed shut, the TV on, tough no one watched it. At regular intervals, food was delivered to me. The sliver phone resting on Alice’s bag seemed to grow bigger as the hours passed.

My babysitters handled the suspense better than I did. As I fidgeted and paced, they simply grew more still, two statues whose eyes followed me imperceptibly as I moved. I occupied myself by memorizing the room; the striped pattern of the couches, tan, peach, cream, dull gold, and tan again. Sometimes I stared at the abstract prints, randomly finding pictures in the shapes, like I’d found pictures in the clouds as a child. I traced a hand, a woman combing her hair, a cat stretching. (p. 411)

Question: Doesn’t this girl have horrible trauma she could be dwelling on? Feelings about her father to sort out? Anything to do besides describe the ceiling plaster? It’s like she’s trying to imitate J.R.R Tolkien, except instead of an epic landscape, she’s describing a dingy hotel room.

Eventually the monotony is broken by a conversation with Alice, who again reassures Bella that the lack of a phone call means that the plan is working. The Cullens up in Forks are merely worried that James might overhear. Bella decides that she’s being truthful. Then, our protagonist asks a very probing question.

“Tell me then… how do you become a vampire?”

My question caught her off guard. She was quiet. I rolled over to look at her, and her expression seemed ambivalent.

“Edward doesn’t want me to tell you that,” she said firmly, but I sensed she didn’t agree. (p. 413)

How does Bella “sense” all of this? Was she bitten by a radioactive spider or something?

After a little pleading, Alice agrees and explains the process of vampire creation (though for reasons unknown she doesn’t remember he own passage into undeath). Basically, vampires have venom, and if they bite you without actually killing you, you will be transformed after a few days of excruciating pain. Transformations are rare, however, because usually once a vampire bites you they acquire an overpowering desire to drain your blood.

After finishing her explanation, Alice has a vision of a room with mirrors and a wooden floor. She also sees James watching something on a VCR, but neither of these visions give them insight to his location or his plans. Shortly thereafter, Carlisle calls to inform them that James has gotten on an airplane (destination unknown) and Victoria has gone back to Forks to do research on Bella, though there’s little chance that either of them will turn up a lead. Charlie is safe. Nobody is hurt.

But of course, Bella is now excited because she gets to talk to Edward.

“Oh Edward! I was so worried.”

“Bella,” he sighed in frustration, “I told you not to worry about anything but yourself.” (p. 417)

See? Bella is thinking of others. She’s being so selfless. That’s a good thing. See, everybody?

Anyway, from Edward’s deposition it looks like they’ve got all of their bases covered. Although James got away and never strayed close enough to Edward for him to read his mind (how James knew about Edward’s power in the first place is anyone’s guess), the bad guys have no leads. The lovers will be reunited soon. Oh joy. After whispering how much they love each other, they hang up.

Our protagonist returns to Alice and Jasper to find that Alice has sketched out her vision. She doesn’t know what to make of it, but Bella recognizes it as a Ballet studio. Not just any Ballet studio, but the one down the street from her mother’s house. Uh oh…

Bella asks if she can call her mom to give her a warning. Unfortunately, since neither mom nor her fiancee have a cell phone, or left any other sort of contact information (seriously, guys?), apparently the only option they have it to call their home phone and leave a message on the answering machine. Bella does this, telling Renne to call Alice’s cell phone as soon as she gets the message.

Uh… what?

Ok, let’s get this straight. You think that the vampire is going to be in Phoenix very soon, so you leave a message for your mom in Phoenix? First off, if the vampire was gunning for your mother, he’ll know where she lives and when she’s going to return there (the former would be supplied by Victoria’s research, and the latter Charlie told him while you were running away); she’ll be pounced upon long before she gets to check her voicemail. Furthermore, if the vampire visits your house in the near future, you just told him how to contact you any time, anywhere, thereby making hostages much more useful to him.

Why didn’t Bella’s just use email? She and her mother were exchanging emails frequently at the beginning of the book, and this way Renee might get the message in time to steer clear of Phoenix, instead of having to flee from a vampire who’s already there.

But, as usual, the characters are oblivious to their obvious blunder and go back to the exciting things that they were doing…. which was sitting in their hotel room doing nothing. Please let this end…

There are a few more paragraphs of inaction, and then Bella falls asleep, bringing this chapter to a close.

Chapter 21: Phone Call

When Bella wakes back up, Alice is sketching out yet another vision. It’s the same scenario as the last one; James is watching something on a VCR, but this time it’s bright, so Alice can give more details about the environment. That environment just happens to be Bella’s old living room.

The implications of this are not lost on our protagonist.

“But, my mother… he came here for my mother, Alice!” Despite Jasper, the hysteria bubbled up in my voice.”

“Jasper and I will stay till she’s safe.”

“I can’t win, Alice. You can’t Guard everyone I know forever. Don’t you see what he’s doing? He’s not tracking me at all. He’ll find someone, he’ll hurt someone I love… Alice, I can’t.” (p. 425)

Well, maybe you shouldn’t have left your contact information on a tape recorder, so he can threaten you any time he wants to.

Anyway, Bella goes on again about how horrible it would be if someone, vampire or human, were to be hurt by James because she didn’t offer herself up like a sacrificial virgin lamb.

There was no escape, no reprieve. I could only see one possible end looming darkly in my future. The only question was how many other people would be hurt before I reached it. (p. 425)

Alone in her room, she tears herself up over the fact that other people might be hurt. She thinks of Edward, who she just learned was flying down to meet them. Perhaps he would be able to set things straight. An incoming phone call informs the group that Edward is going to arrive in less than five hours.

Then the phone rings again. It’s Bella’s mother, and she’s sounding very panicked. Alice hand the phone off to Bella. Her mother only has a chance to call out her name before another voice takes over.

“Be very careful not to say anything until I tell you to.” The voice I heard now was unfamiliar as it was unexpected. It was a man’s tenor voice, a very pleasant, generic voice— the kind of voice that you heard in the background of luxury car commercials. He spoke very quickly.

“Now, I don’t need to hurt your mother, so please do exactly as I say, and she’ll be fine.” He paused for a minute while I listened in mute horror. “That’s very good,” he congratulated. (p. 427)

That’s right, it seems that James got to Renee, and because Bella was stupid enough to leave her contact information sitting on a tape recorder in her own house, the vampire can now call to make threats.

Calmly, the vampire instructs Bella to walk into another room, telling her exactly what to say so she doesn’t blow their cover to Alice. He then asks her whether she can get away from her vampire escort.

“Now I want you to listen very carefully. I’m going to need you to get away fro your friends. Do you think you can do that? Answer yes or no.”

“No”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I was hoping you would be a little more creative than that. Do you think you could get away from them if your mother’s life depended on it? Answer yes or no. (p.428)

I actually thought this sequence was remarkably well done. For once, you can truly feel Bella’s helplessness. In every line of dialogue, the villain dominates the the situation. Bella can not even speak until he give her his permission, until he forces her to whisper words of comfort to a mother that can’t hear, and then arrange her own death. James’s gentle, direct manner throws the horror of the situation in to sharp relief, and the effect is surprisingly chilling.

James tells her to lose Alice and Jasper, go to her mom’s house, and call the number he left there, at which point he will give her further instructions, preferably before noon. Of course, because of Alice’s vision, Bella knows damn well where this will end up.

“It’s important, now, that you don’t make your friends suspicious when you go back to them. Tell them that your mother called, and that you talked her out of coming home for the time being. Now repeat after me, ‘Thank you , mom’. Say it now.” (p. 429)

That, my friends, was the sound of Bella getting pwnd.

Of course, there are some plot holes here, namely that James is assuming an awful lot about Bella that he shouldn’t know. First and foremost, he’s assuming that she’s in Phoenix. I mean, had Bella been clever she would have said that she couldn’t get to her house because she’s halfway across the country. But also, he’s assuming that Bella won’t just spill everything to her vampire friends and organize an ambush. Between Alice’s foresight and Edward’s mind reading, it shouldn’t be too hard to get the drop on him, especially since they know exactly where he’ll be waiting.

But no, Bella is so consumed by guilt and self-loathing that she feels she must fling herself into the jaws of a death.

For I had no choices now but one: to go to the mirrored room and die. I had no guarantees, nothing to give to keep my mother alive. I could only hope that James would be satisfied with winning the game, that beating Edward would be enough. Despair gripped me; there was no way to bargain, nothing I could withhold that could influence him. But I still had no choice. I had to try.

I pushed the terror back as well as I could. My decision was made. It did no good to waste time agonizing over the outcome. I had to think clearly, because Alice and Jasper were waiting for me, and evading them was absolutely essential, and absolutely impossible. (p. 430)

What? What is this? Don’t surrender. Don’t go passively along with whatever he says. Fight back! Or at the very lease, show some doubt, some apprehension apprehension at the prospect of a horribly gruesome death. I mean, does she truly care so little about herself? A few minutes ago she was in hysterics, but now that she’s decided to die she suddenly has the ability to think clearly. What is wrong with this girl?

Coming out of the bathroom, Bella suppresses all of her feelings, deciding that her best shot at ditching her babysitters will be at the airport. She tells Alice that she convinced her mom to stay away from Phoenix, just like James told her to. She then borrows a piece of paper and writes a letter to Edward (though she tells Alice it is for her mother), saying how sorry she is, and how much she loves him, but how she couldn’t bear it if anyone got hurt because of her: more of the same forced, self-effacing gallantry that has been shoved down our throats for the past two chapters.

For all of Bella’s apparent selflessness, I see remarkably little evidence that she’s thinking of others. If she was, she might consider the many people she’d be hurting by getting herself killed off. Of course, since this is a romance novel, most of the focus is on Edward’s loss. But Bella also has friends, both human and vampire, who would presumably like to see her again. She has the relationship with her father to repair (unless she truly wants him to live the rest of his life believing he failed as a father and a husband). And, perhaps most importantly, by giving herself up, Bella would be forcing Renee to watch her only child be brutally murdered. Not to put too fine a point on it, but most parents would prefer death. If you ask me, Bella’s sacrifice doesn’t seem like an act of compassion, but a desperate, suicidal play to rid herself of guilt, regardless of its impact on those who love her.

And this is, of course, ignoring the last 400 pages Bella spent blowing off everybody who wasn’t sparkly or handsome.

In the next article, we will see the climax of the book, where Bella finally confronts James. I use the word “confront” in its broadest possible meaning, since what actually happens is Bella bathes herself in barbecue sauce, splays herself before James like a sacrificial goat, and gets the shit kicked out of her. Ok, they’re no actual barbecue sauce, but there might as well be for all the fight she puts up.

Till then, I’m Artimaeus, signing off.

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  1. swenson on 9 September 2010, 10:48 said:

    Argh! Bella is just so… so… passive! It drives me crazy and makes me wonder why on Earth anyone would ever think she’d be an interesting protagonist. She has no imagination, no personality, not even the slightest hint of common sense or a sense of self-preservation!

    Also, I was getting bored just reading the commentary on the hotel room description. Seriously? Smeyer really had to write out all of that? Couldn’t she just have, I dunno, skipped ahead to the interesting bits?!

    But no, then the book might actually have been good. sigh

  2. dragonarya on 9 September 2010, 12:33 said:

    Trouble is, those kinds of feelings are hard to write that convincingly, and a bit depressing to boot. Too much, and you venture into wangst.

    How much is enough, then? Showing a physical reaction, like convulsive shuddering, sleeplessness, etc.?

    When anybody, fictional or real, looks in the mirror, they should see something valuable, something worth fighting for.

    I know a mirror scene is one of those writing taboos, but… this is interesting. You could have a scene that shows a character’s thoughts and how they value themselves. That would really flesh them out.

    Well. I think swenson said it. Bella’s so passive that I’m staring at this screen and blinking at the quotes and trying to comprehend but failing, miserably.

  3. Artimaeus on 9 September 2010, 13:13 said:

    Argh! Bella is just so… so… passive! It drives me crazy and makes me wonder why on Earth anyone would ever think she’d be an interesting protagonist. She has no imagination, no personality, not even the slightest hint of common sense or a sense of self-preservation!

    Exactly. She just decides, “Uh oh, there’s nothing I can do. I guess I’ll go die now.” Of course, the whole point is to set up another Edward rescue, though I couldn’t tell you what he thinks is worth saving.

    How much is enough, then? Showing a physical reaction, like convulsive shuddering, sleeplessness, etc.?

    That’s a good question. It’s mostly up to personal taste, I’d expect. In Order of the Phoenix, was Harry’s angst justified or over the top? Usually it’s a bad thing if the action completely stops so the character can bemoan their personal tragedy.

    I think the best to avoid overdoing this is to think about how the stress would effect the character’s other activities. Say, for example, she’s eating dinner and suddenly realizes that she spent the last five minutes stirring her mashed potatoes with her fork. Or she was so distracted that she forgot what her PIN number was at the ATM. A few details like that can be as powerful as paragraphs of internal monologue.

    As you said, the physical aspects are definitely worth looking at, so long as its consequences are recognized. If the character can’t sleep, she should have trouble concentrating, maintaining conversations, and so on. Or if she’s twitching a lot, she should be dropping her fork while she eats.

  4. swenson on 9 September 2010, 13:29 said:

    Say, for example, she’s eating dinner and suddenly realizes that she spent the last five minutes stirring her mashed potatoes with her fork.

    And DO NOT spend five minutes worth of page describing her stirring her potatoes and then going “Oh my, I have been stirring my potatoes.” Because that is just boring. Instead, let the reader actually get inside the character and experience that same realization of “Wow, I’ve been stirring my potatoes for five minutes and didn’t even realize it.”

  5. dragonarya on 9 September 2010, 13:52 said:

    @Artimaeus & swenson:
    You guys make very good points. I’ll definitely keep it in mind when writing and reading that sort of situation.

    And DO NOT spend five minutes worth of page describing her stirring her potatoes and then going “Oh my, I have been stirring my potatoes.” Because that is just boring.

    I laughed here. That’s exactly what Meyer would do if it was her. Except I don’t think she does subtle well.

  6. RomanticVampireLover on 9 September 2010, 15:49 said:

    IT’S ALMOST OVER! Yaayy! :D Thanks for this, Arty. :D

  7. Nate Winchester on 14 September 2010, 12:15 said:

    a robot programmed to self-lubricate in the presence of Edward

    Dunno why, that just really makes me laugh today.

    through no action of her own, by an evil, bloodthirsty predator

    I dunno… if she had refused Edward’s company, it seems like this would have been avoided. I mean, if you’re going to associate with bloodthirsty predators that are behaving themselves, you almost have to expect that other – less savory – bloodthirsty predators are going to show up eventually.

    Yes, it’s one thing to be worried about friends in danger, but quite another to believe that you are not worth protecting.

    Totally agree there.

    When anybody, fictional or real, looks in the mirror, they should see something valuable, something worth fighting for. Of course, just because people should doesn’t mean they always do; everyone grapples with self-esteem issues at one point or another, and hopefully we overcome them.

    Plenty of people do have to struggle with depression issues though. The difference is… we really don’t want to read about them especially if you’re one struggling with a depression issue.

    The fact that Meyer seems to be trying to pass off unhealthy self-loathing as noble selflessness, however, pisses me off like nothing else.

    Or as CS Lewis put it:
    “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less”
    Or if you’re in the mood for a longer essay…

    Don’t worry, Bella, your very existence as a human being is vindicated by Edward. Because whatever problem you may be having, from low self-esteem to predatory vampires, what you really always needed was a girlfriend boyfriend.

    To be fair, this COULD be a legitimate point (if it was done better). For a family/tribe unit, when a new member joins, there will be a period of growth and integration within that family/tribe. One of the first steps of said growth would be association of the new member with an existing member and the former’s effect on the latter. It makes a strange kind of sense.

    I don’t know if this was Meyer’s idea of suspense, but if the main character is so bored that she is describing the fabric of the hotel sofas (god, how I wish I was joking), chances are the reader is feeling the same way.

    Gah! Such wasted opportunity! You could have Bella interact with A&J, develop the characters more, get to know them and demonstrate their relationships… play games… so – much – WASTED! (note that in Nagasaki Moon whenever I had similar “dead time” to fill, I tried to put in some exposition – plot or character wise)

    How does Bella “sense” all of this? Was she bitten by a radioactive spider or something?

    A lot of people can “sense” this by reading body language and such.

    Shortly thereafter, Carlisle calls to inform them that James has gotten on an airplane (destination unknown) and Victoria has gone back to Forks to do research on Bella, though there’s little chance that either of them will turn up a lead.

    Wait…. none of that makes any sense! He’s going to get on an airplane and then… what? Fly around until Victoria calls him with info and then he’ll jump out over where Bella is or something?

    You think that the vampire is going to be in Phoenix very soon, so you leave a message for your mom in Phoenix?

    Forget that, isn’t her mom in like… Florida? When or how will she ever be checking that answering machine any time soon?

    “But, my mother… he came here for my mother, Alice!” Despite Jasper, the hysteria bubbled up in my voice.”

    Where is her mom? I’m so freakin’ confused!

    She thinks of Edward, who she just learned was flying down to meet them.

    Am I the only one thinking vampires in an airplane are not a good idea?

    For once, you can truly feel Bella’s helplessness. In every line of dialogue, the villain dominates the the situation.

    Too bad Bella is no good at charades or miming a message to her guards. One would think she’s probably wearing a very panicked expression, which should clue A&J in that something is wrong.

    But also, he’s assuming that Bella won’t just spill everything to her vampire friends and organize an ambush.

    But no, Bella is so consumed by guilt and self-loathing that she feels she must fling herself into the jaws of a death.

    Maybe James knows Bella too well. XD

    Coming out of the bathroom, Bella suppresses all of her feelings, deciding that her best shot at ditching her babysitters will be at the airport.

    Isn’t it convenient that Alice isn’t future!seeing the consequences of Bella’s decision here?

  8. swenson on 14 September 2010, 13:59 said:

    When anybody, fictional or real, looks in the mirror, they should see something valuable, something worth fighting for. Of course, just because people should doesn’t mean they always do; everyone grapples with self-esteem issues at one point or another, and hopefully we overcome them.

    Plenty of people do have to struggle with depression issues though. The difference is… we really don’t want to read about them especially if you’re one struggling with a depression issue.

    Although depression can be done very well. The example which immediately comes to mind for me is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson about a teenage girl struggling with depression as a result of trauma she experienced (you don’t find out what caused it until toward the end, iirc, so I won’t say what it is here). It’s handled remarkably well, and her struggle with depression makes for a very powerful book.

    Unfortunately again, even if Smeyer tried to do something like that, I’m pretty sure she’d do it terribly, so maybe we should all be glad Bella is only accidentally depressed, instead of depressed by authorial intent.

  9. Nate Winchester on 14 September 2010, 14:09 said:

    Although depression can be done very well. The example which immediately comes to mind for me is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson about a teenage girl struggling with depression as a result of trauma she experienced (you don’t find out what caused it until toward the end, iirc, so I won’t say what it is here). It’s handled remarkably well, and her struggle with depression makes for a very powerful book.

    Yeah, it’s definitely one of those “landmine” issues of writing. If you do it very VERY well, you can have a very powerful scene, etc. However, falling short of that, even a little leaves a monstrous abomination.

    Unfortunately again, even if Smeyer tried to do something like that, I’m pretty sure she’d do it terribly, so maybe we should all be glad Bella is only accidentally depressed, instead of depressed by authorial intent.

    Swenson speaks great truth.

  10. Dominique on 19 September 2010, 01:59 said:

    The fact that Meyer seems to be trying to pass off unhealthy self-loathing as noble selflessness, however, pisses me off like nothing else.

    If you ask me, Bella’s sacrifice doesn’t seem like an act of compassion, but a desperate, suicidal play to rid herself of guilt, regardless of its impact on those who love her.

    Yes, yes, yes! Suicide, even assisted as in this case, is by nature a selfish act. Running like a bat out of hell to one’s death is extremely self-centered if you have even one person who loves you. Bella has everyone she’s ever met.

    And yet, Bella doesn’t care about her family or friends at all. If she did, she’d think of an alternative to being eaten to save them the grief and pain. Besides, even if that is ultimately her fate, how selfish is she to go about the way she does?

    Doesn’t she think Alice and Jasper will feel terrible, knowing they had failed to protect her? What about her precious Edward, who couldn’t be there to save her? Doesn’t she think his relationship with Alice and Jasper will be ruined, since they let his priceless princess run off and die?

    Hell, she doesn’t even think about her parents, who won’t even know what happened to her except that she was sadistically mauled by an “animal” when they weren’t around. Her relationship with Charlie will be ruined forever; he’ll always blame himself for letting her leave and be killed. Renee will blame herself for letting Bella move to Forks in the first place.

    There are so many alternatives to just blinding following James’ orders, but Bella is too stupid or stubborn to see them. She just does whatever she can to make everything worse. Everything she does is based around placing herself in danger so Edward can save her, her family and friends be damned.

    I could almost chalk this stupidity up to panic-induced confusion, except this is how Bella always acts. As Artimaeus points out, she’s constantly bemoaning how worthless she is, begging everyone to ignore her, etc. and yet still being a judgmental, prissy bitch. Bella needs therapy, but her mental instability is presented as selfless love. It’s not. It’s a horrible mental deficiency, and it’s horrible writing.