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lliiraContent note: mental illness, partner abuse, car accident, head injury
My last post about Twilight covered Meyer's arrogant and ignorant treatment of weather in the first three pages of chapter 3. But there is more to these pages than weather. After all, Bella couldn't possibly go three whole pages without hating herself.
I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. And that was very, very stupid.
I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday. (54)
Bella did not babble to Edward yesterday. This is something that did not happen. She spoke with him a little bit, but there was nothing like "babbling" going on. In fact, Edward pried words out of her, and everything she said, she said reluctantly. There are a couple possibilities here. Bella could be making things up in order to hate herself more. Or her depression could be so bad that she's actually experienced a break from reality and is truly remembering things that did not happen. Or Meyer forgot what she wrote in the last chapter and cared so little about her craft that she did not bother with basic continuity.
And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him...
Okay, good, sensible reactions. Except the second thing didn't happen. Bella did not feel hostility from Edward yesterday. Also, "sometimes" implies that she has been around Edward a lot more than she has. She has only been in his presence a couple times during which he's had an emotional reaction to her, as opposed to having blank eyesex with her in the cafeteria. The first time, he was blatantly hostile; the second, he was a condescending, lying jerk. Again, I think Meyer forgot what she had written previously.
and I was still tongue-tied whenever I pictured his perfect face.
Apparently Bella has been trying to talk while imagining Edward, and being tongue-tied all by herself. Oookay, I don't get it, but I don't understand most things Bella does, thinks, or feels, so I'll leave it at that.
Driving to school on the black ice, Bella thinks about how boys seem a lot more interested in her here than in Phoenix. She has three theories: the boys in Phoenix knew her when she was twelve, she's a novelty in Forks, and her "crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic" (55). I think it's the second one, coupled with the fact that Edward Cullen pays attention to her, when he doesn't pay attention to anyone else. When one guy shows interest in a girl, lots of other guys suddenly crawl out of the woodwork. And when that guy is the handsome, aloof rich guy that every girl seems to want -- well, think of the status boost of getting the girl he wants. I think this stuff is mostly unconscious, but it happens. Even discounting Edward, Mike shows interest in Bella, and Mike is a popular guy.
In my own experience, a guy doesn't even have to be popular for this to happen -- one guy shows interest, and suddenly guys you've known for six years and who've never shown any romantic interest in you before are asking you out. At one point in my senior year, every time I was outside school and saw a guy I knew and who was a school friend but not a very good friend or going out with someone else, I hid. Because so many guys were showing sudden interest in me, I feared I would be asked out and it would be all kinds of awkward to say no. Unlike Bella, I didn't fear some kind of weird school-wide reprisal: I just didn't want to be asked out by one of these nice guys I saw every day but to whom I was not attracted at all.
Anyway, my point is, all these guys wanting Bella does not make her a Mary Sue. (I think the idea of canon Sues is kind of ridiculous anyway.) Nor does it make her drop-dead gorgeous. Stuff like this has happened to me and to my female friends. In my experience, when it comes to men, it's either feast or famine unless you're in a committed relationship.
Bella doesn't like "Mike's puppy dog behavior" and "Eric's apparent rivalry with him", finding them "disconcerting" (55). Again with the "puppy dog" stuff. She keeps telling us Mike's like a dog, but Meyer hasn't shown it. She hasn't shown Eric at all since the first time he was introduced, but I guess I have no choice but to believe Bella, even though she remembers things that do not happen.
When Bella gets to school, she notices the chains Charlie put on her tires, and she almost cries.
I wasn't used to being taken care of
Oh boy. All right. Something I can relate to in Bella's personality. Talk about "disconcerting."
To skip ahead, I believe this is why Bella wants Edward. No one has ever taken care of her. Instead, she was forced to try to take care of others when she did not have any of the tools to do so, and that has caused her serious harm. She has had no space of her own in which to grow. But Edward will take charge, he'll take command, and she won't have to try to run everything any more. She'll be able to relax and feel safe. That is incredibly erotic for someone who has never had it before.
A romantic relationship like this can work, and can heal a lot of old wounds, if everyone involved knows exactly what they're getting into. There must be mutual respect, clear boundaries, and lots and lots of talking. Someone with Bella's personality and needs is in great danger of mistaking control and abuse for care, especially when she's so young. Her self-hatred opens her up to all sorts of horrible things from an abuser pretending to be a dominant.
Back to the present in the book, Edward's about to show that he can take care of Bella in a physical sense by saving her life. A van hurtles toward Bella in the parking lot. It happens very fast. She sees Edward Cullen, four cars down, and the van. "I didn't even have time to close my eyes" (56). How does she see Edward then, four cars away?
Something hits Bella and she lands on the pavement, hard. Then the van does some kind of twisty thing and "was about to collide with me again", though it hasn't hit her once. I know Meyer's trying to say that the van came close to hitting Bella one time and then another time, but the writing is unclear. And the van seems magnetically attracted to Bella. Someone with "long, white hands" stops the van. Then -- something else happens that I don't understand. I think Bella is picked up and put somewhere else by someone; she mentions being dragged "like a rag doll."
An action scene like this should be comprehensible, with all the parts clearly in place, and this one isn't. An action scene should also be exciting. This means using passive voice as little as possible. This one doesn't. But at least it's a couple pages without Bella hating herself, so that's an improvement.
After the accident, people start screaming (?), and Edward is asking Bella if she's all right. Her head hurts, though she doesn't realize it until Edward tells her she hit her head.
"Ow," I said, surprised.
"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.
Someone who thinks it's funny that you have a head injury is not someone who is going to take care of you.
"How did you get over here so fast?"
"I was standing right next to you, Bella."
Someone who lies to you is not someone who is going to take care of you.
Bella tries to get up and Edward pushes her down.
"Just stay put for now."
"But it's cold," I complained. It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath.
Someone who pushes you to the ground against your will, and laughs when you complain of physical discomfort after you have just sustained a painful head injury...
Edward is not caring. He is controlling, and he is controlling without Bella's consent and without regard for her feelings. Bella does not know what care looks like, so she's going to fall for this. It's depressing.
My last post about Twilight covered Meyer's arrogant and ignorant treatment of weather in the first three pages of chapter 3. But there is more to these pages than weather. After all, Bella couldn't possibly go three whole pages without hating herself.
I knew I was eager to get to school because I would see Edward Cullen. And that was very, very stupid.
I should be avoiding him entirely after my brainless and embarrassing babbling yesterday. (54)
Bella did not babble to Edward yesterday. This is something that did not happen. She spoke with him a little bit, but there was nothing like "babbling" going on. In fact, Edward pried words out of her, and everything she said, she said reluctantly. There are a couple possibilities here. Bella could be making things up in order to hate herself more. Or her depression could be so bad that she's actually experienced a break from reality and is truly remembering things that did not happen. Or Meyer forgot what she wrote in the last chapter and cared so little about her craft that she did not bother with basic continuity.
And I was suspicious of him; why should he lie about his eyes? I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him...
Okay, good, sensible reactions. Except the second thing didn't happen. Bella did not feel hostility from Edward yesterday. Also, "sometimes" implies that she has been around Edward a lot more than she has. She has only been in his presence a couple times during which he's had an emotional reaction to her, as opposed to having blank eyesex with her in the cafeteria. The first time, he was blatantly hostile; the second, he was a condescending, lying jerk. Again, I think Meyer forgot what she had written previously.
and I was still tongue-tied whenever I pictured his perfect face.
Apparently Bella has been trying to talk while imagining Edward, and being tongue-tied all by herself. Oookay, I don't get it, but I don't understand most things Bella does, thinks, or feels, so I'll leave it at that.
Driving to school on the black ice, Bella thinks about how boys seem a lot more interested in her here than in Phoenix. She has three theories: the boys in Phoenix knew her when she was twelve, she's a novelty in Forks, and her "crippling clumsiness was seen as endearing rather than pathetic" (55). I think it's the second one, coupled with the fact that Edward Cullen pays attention to her, when he doesn't pay attention to anyone else. When one guy shows interest in a girl, lots of other guys suddenly crawl out of the woodwork. And when that guy is the handsome, aloof rich guy that every girl seems to want -- well, think of the status boost of getting the girl he wants. I think this stuff is mostly unconscious, but it happens. Even discounting Edward, Mike shows interest in Bella, and Mike is a popular guy.
In my own experience, a guy doesn't even have to be popular for this to happen -- one guy shows interest, and suddenly guys you've known for six years and who've never shown any romantic interest in you before are asking you out. At one point in my senior year, every time I was outside school and saw a guy I knew and who was a school friend but not a very good friend or going out with someone else, I hid. Because so many guys were showing sudden interest in me, I feared I would be asked out and it would be all kinds of awkward to say no. Unlike Bella, I didn't fear some kind of weird school-wide reprisal: I just didn't want to be asked out by one of these nice guys I saw every day but to whom I was not attracted at all.
Anyway, my point is, all these guys wanting Bella does not make her a Mary Sue. (I think the idea of canon Sues is kind of ridiculous anyway.) Nor does it make her drop-dead gorgeous. Stuff like this has happened to me and to my female friends. In my experience, when it comes to men, it's either feast or famine unless you're in a committed relationship.
Bella doesn't like "Mike's puppy dog behavior" and "Eric's apparent rivalry with him", finding them "disconcerting" (55). Again with the "puppy dog" stuff. She keeps telling us Mike's like a dog, but Meyer hasn't shown it. She hasn't shown Eric at all since the first time he was introduced, but I guess I have no choice but to believe Bella, even though she remembers things that do not happen.
When Bella gets to school, she notices the chains Charlie put on her tires, and she almost cries.
I wasn't used to being taken care of
Oh boy. All right. Something I can relate to in Bella's personality. Talk about "disconcerting."
To skip ahead, I believe this is why Bella wants Edward. No one has ever taken care of her. Instead, she was forced to try to take care of others when she did not have any of the tools to do so, and that has caused her serious harm. She has had no space of her own in which to grow. But Edward will take charge, he'll take command, and she won't have to try to run everything any more. She'll be able to relax and feel safe. That is incredibly erotic for someone who has never had it before.
A romantic relationship like this can work, and can heal a lot of old wounds, if everyone involved knows exactly what they're getting into. There must be mutual respect, clear boundaries, and lots and lots of talking. Someone with Bella's personality and needs is in great danger of mistaking control and abuse for care, especially when she's so young. Her self-hatred opens her up to all sorts of horrible things from an abuser pretending to be a dominant.
Back to the present in the book, Edward's about to show that he can take care of Bella in a physical sense by saving her life. A van hurtles toward Bella in the parking lot. It happens very fast. She sees Edward Cullen, four cars down, and the van. "I didn't even have time to close my eyes" (56). How does she see Edward then, four cars away?
Something hits Bella and she lands on the pavement, hard. Then the van does some kind of twisty thing and "was about to collide with me again", though it hasn't hit her once. I know Meyer's trying to say that the van came close to hitting Bella one time and then another time, but the writing is unclear. And the van seems magnetically attracted to Bella. Someone with "long, white hands" stops the van. Then -- something else happens that I don't understand. I think Bella is picked up and put somewhere else by someone; she mentions being dragged "like a rag doll."
An action scene like this should be comprehensible, with all the parts clearly in place, and this one isn't. An action scene should also be exciting. This means using passive voice as little as possible. This one doesn't. But at least it's a couple pages without Bella hating herself, so that's an improvement.
After the accident, people start screaming (?), and Edward is asking Bella if she's all right. Her head hurts, though she doesn't realize it until Edward tells her she hit her head.
"Ow," I said, surprised.
"That's what I thought." His voice, amazingly, sounded like he was suppressing laughter.
Someone who thinks it's funny that you have a head injury is not someone who is going to take care of you.
"How did you get over here so fast?"
"I was standing right next to you, Bella."
Someone who lies to you is not someone who is going to take care of you.
Bella tries to get up and Edward pushes her down.
"Just stay put for now."
"But it's cold," I complained. It surprised me when he chuckled under his breath.
Someone who pushes you to the ground against your will, and laughs when you complain of physical discomfort after you have just sustained a painful head injury...
Edward is not caring. He is controlling, and he is controlling without Bella's consent and without regard for her feelings. Bella does not know what care looks like, so she's going to fall for this. It's depressing.
