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Twilight word vomit: Eclipse

Monday, 13 April, 2009

Eclipse is loosely based on Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights has never been one of my favourite books, however, the one thing it really hammered home for me was how selfish people can be. Selfishness surfaces in Bella (as usual). Other than that, I don't know Wuthering Heights well enough to draw any more parallels (if they are any ...)

Eclipse opens with Bella and Jacob still unreconciled, Bella and Edward still going fairly well (with the graduation deadline still on the table, along with Edward's offer of marriage), and the threat of Victoria starting to loom (with random killings in Seattle). The rest of the book plays along these three threads. Jacob decides he wants more than friendship, and tries to get Bella to acknowledge she feels for him as much as he feels for her (and she does—right at the end; how's that for a good love triangle?). Edward wants her to stay away from Jacob and the other werewolves because his protective instincts are kicking in and he doesn't trust the werewolves. But after some very fatherly (and very uncool) behaviour, he gives in to Bella because he recognises the strength of her friendship with Jacob (yep, he's so understanding!) Bella agrees to marry Edward after she starts to understand where he's coming from (he is more concerned about virtue than she is). And Victoria, after raising an army of very young, very bloodthirsty vampires, is defeated, as the vampires and the werewolves team up to destroy them. But Bella makes it clear she's choosing Edward, so Jacob runs away into the sunset in wolf form, trying to leave his pain behind him. (It's curious that Meyer suddenly changes narrative point of view for the Epilogue; all the way through, we've seen everything from Bella's eyes. I would call that sloppy, but it's a nice change being in Jacob's head instead of Bella's.)

(Yay me for condensing 600 pages of plot into one paragraph!)

Now for what I really want to talk about ...

Love, love, love

It's interesting the kind of love that Meyer depicts and advocates. Consider this description of what “imprinting” is like for the werewolves (“imprinting” happens when the werewolves meet the person of the opposite sex who is the best candidate for carrying on the werewolf genes. It can even happen with babies [note here Meyer displays her Mormon beliefs in celestial marriage—marriage that is “divine”, “intended to last beyond the grave and through eternity”]):

“Quil ... imprinted ... with a two-year-old?” I was finally able to ask.

“It happens.” Jacob shrugged ... “Or so the stories say.”

“But she's a baby,” I protested.

He looked at me with dark amusement. “Quil's not getting any older,” he reminded me, a bit of acid in his tone. “He'll just have to be patient for a few decades.”

“I ... don't know what to say.”

I was trying my hardest not to be critical, but, in truth, I was horrified. Until now, nothing about the werewolves had bothered me since the day I'd found out they weren't committing the murders I'd suspected them of.

“You're making judgements,” he accused. “I can see it on your face.”

“Sorry,” I muttered. “But it sounds really creepy.”

“It's not like that; you've got it all wrong,” Jacob defended his friend, suddenly vehement. “I've seen what it's like, through his eyes. There's nothing romantic about it at all, not for Quil, not now ... It's so hard to describe. It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like ... gravity moves. When you see her, suddenly it's not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her. And you would do anything for her, be anything for her ... You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother.

“Quil will be the best, kindest big brother any kid ever had. There isn't a toddler on the planet that will be more carefully looked after than that little girl will be. And then, when she's older and needs a friend, he'll be more understanding, trustworthy, and reliable than anyone else she knows. And then, when she's grown up, they'll be as happy as Emily and Sam.” (Eclipse, Little Brown, New York, 2007, pp. 175-76.)

Imprinting sounds awfully like Edward, doesn't it: Bella is the one grounding him, nothing matters more than her, and he would do anything and be anything for her sake. “You are my life now,” he says in Twilight (p. 314). And everything he does from then onwards is for her sake and hers alone.

Edward

Of course, Edward is a female fantasy. (Really, the whole Twilight saga is a female fantasy; who wouldn't want to have many male admirers? Who wouldn't want to have the handsomest and most desirable guy in the school fall in love with you? Who wouldn't want to be beautiful and to have your own personal stylist [Alice] making you up all the time so you always look beautiful?) I thought about what makes Edward so attractive to women and came up with this list (which I posted first on SydneyAnglicans because Mark Hadley asked):

1. He's incredibly good-looking (*drily* as Meyer keeps reminding us in such egregious passages as “He threw a mocking smile in my direction, and my breath caught in my throat. Would I ever get used to his perfection?” [Twilight, p. 481]). Also, he's not just a pretty face; he also has a seriously “hot” body: “He was remocing a light beige leather jacket now; underneath he wore an ivory turtleneck sweater. It fit him snugly, emphasizing how muscular his chest was.” (Twilight, p. 170.)
2. He's a gentleman (even though sneaking into girls' bedrooms, eavesdropping in other people's thoughts and stealing cars isn't very gentlemanly ...). He is concerned for her virtue. And he was raised in a different age:

   “You see, Bella, I was always that boy. In my world, I was already a man. I wasn't looking for love—no, I was far too eager to be a soldier for that; I thought of nothing but the idealized glory of the war that they were selling prospective draftees then—but if I had found ... I was going to say if I had found someone, but that won't do. If I had found you, there isn't a doubt in my mind how I would have proceeded. I was that boy, who would have—as soon as I discovered that you were what I was looking for—gotten down on one knee and endeavored to secure your hand. I would have wanted you for eternity, even when the word didn't have quite the same connotations.” (Eclipse, p. 276-77)

3. He's also the bad boy:

   “It's just that you are so soft, so fragile. I have to mind my actions every moment that we're together so that I don't hurt you. I could kill you quiet easily, Bella, simply by accident ... If I was too hasty ... if for one second I wasn't paying enough attention, I could reach out, meaning to touch your face, and crush your skull by mistake. You don't realise how incredibly breakable you are. I can never, never afford to lose any kind o control when I'm with you.” (Twilight, p. 310.)

4. He's kind and considerate (e.g. driving Bella home, bringing her a jacket in case she gets cold, etc.).
5. He's extremely attentive: he's interested in every little detail about her—her favourite colour, favourite books, why she likes Arizona, etc. He's not faking the attentiveness either; he is genuinely interested in finding out what she thinks because he can't hear what she thinks. (Arguably, if he could hear what she thinks, he wouldn't be as attracted to her ...)
6. He's protective of her (over-protective of her in New Moon, but then he mellows and becomes way too understanding; he doesn't even get angry at her for kissing Jacob—and this occurs after she agrees to marry him). Count the number of times he steps in to save her from some terrible fate. He's a true knight in shining armour.
7. He wants the best for her, even if it means he loses her:

   “You love her enough that you have to see the advantages of that plan. She thinks you're very unselfish ... are you really? Can you consider the idea that I [Jacob] might be better for her than you are?”

   “I have considered it,” Edward answered quietly. “In some ways, you would be better suited for her than another human. Bella takes some looking after, and you're strong enough that you could protect her from herself, and from everything that conspires against her. You have done that already, and I'll owe you for that for as long as I live—forever—whichever comes first ...

   “I even asked Alice if she could see that—see if Bella would be better off with you. She couldn't of course. She can't see, and then Bella's sure of her course, for now.

   “But I'm not stupid enough to make the same mistake I made before, Jacob. I won't try to force her into that first optiona gain. As long as she wants me. I'm here.”

   “And if she were to decide that she wanted me?” Jacob challenged. “Okay, it's a long shot, I'll give you that.”

   “I would let her go.”

   “Just like that?”

   “In a sense that I'd never show her how hard it was for me, yes. But I would keep watch. You see, Jacob, you might leave her someday. Like Sam and Emily, you wouldn't have a choice. I would always be waiting in the wings, hoping for that to happen.”

   (Eclipse, p. 502.)

8. He is extremely keen to meet her needs and make her happy, but he takes it too far sometimes:

   Edward held my face, searching it for a brief time.

   “Deal's off,” he said abruptly.

   “What?” I gasped. “You're backing out? No!”

   “I'm not backing out, Bella. I'll still keep my side of the bargain. But you're off the hook. Whatever you want, no strings attached.”

   “Why?”

   “Bella, I see what you're doing. You're trying to make everyone else happy. And I don't care about anyone else's feelings. I only need you to be happy.” (Eclipse, pp. 615-16)

9. He's unselfish; he doesn't want her to become a vampire because he wants her to enjoy a normal human life even though he selfishly wants her to be his forever. (See also point 7.)
10. He's extremely generous (e.g. he's so keen for her to go to college, he offers to pay for her college tuition; his wedding present to her is a Ferrari). And he's thoughtful (e.g. he composes a lullaby for her [the lullaby he sings to help her sleep] and burns her a CD of his music for her).
11. He's rich. (Is that too superficial? ;P)
12. He wants her—her!—even though she's nothing special and has done nothing to deserve him.
13. Nothing makes him happier than spending oodles of time with her—even if it's doing something he wouldn't enjoy (e.g. watching Romeo and Juliet).

I'm sure there are more, but I really can't be bothered thinking of any more.

Still, you can see the appeal, can't you. The problem is, the ideal of Edward doesn't match the reality. I mentioned in my first post that now a whole generation of boys will grow up to learn to despise Edward the way that men throughout the ages have learned to despite Mr Darcy for giving girls around the world a whole set of expectations when it comes to love and romance. I wonder how much Meyer will affect single vs. married rates as more and more women refuse to settle for anything less ...

Bella partially redeemed

One thing I liked about the end of Eclipse is that Bella acknowledges how bad her behaviour has been—especially towards Jacob in leading him on (even if she didn't intend to). She makes amends in person and repents of her ways. She makes up her mind to do thing properly. It showed me that she is finally moving out of her selfishness and learning to consider others—taking responsibility for her selfishness instead of denying it or sweeping it under the carpet (not that she was doing it before, but that's what we tend to do when confronted with our own sin).

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