Book Review: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
I.
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephanie
Meyer – She got the inspiration of writing twilight, quote; “In my dream, two
people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of
these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically
beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties
inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while
B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was
having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately. For
what is essentially a transcript of my dream, please see Chapter 13
("Confessions") of the book.” With Meyer’s busy schedule as a mom and
wife, she still pursued writing Twilight and created a story from her own very
dream.
II.
Setting:
Forks – It is a place surrounded by wild life and forest. It usually
rains and the sun shines rarely, perfect for vampires.
III.
Characters:
a.
Major Characters
Bella Swan – she is the narrator of the story
Edward Cullen – Bella’s mysterious lover. He can’t stop smelling Bella’s
scent of blood which he avoids Bella in some scenes.
Jacob Black – One of the werewolf pack sons. He tries to drag Bella away
from the Cullen family.
James – a tracker specialist vampire and is also attracted to Bella’s
scent of blood.
b.
Minor Characters
Charlie Swan – Bella’s biological father.
Carlisle Cullen – adaptive father of Edward Cullen
Victoria and Laurent – both helped James’ in hunt for Bella and are part
of the vampire coven of James.
c.
Dynamic
Bella Swan – She became interested being immortal but Edward doesn’t like
it for her.
Edward Cullen – He avoided Bella for him not to eat her but he couldn’t,
he simply instead resist the smell.
d.
Static
Charlie Swan – He remained unaware about the Cullen’s true identities.
e.
Round
Bella Swan – Her choice of avoiding the Cullen family or not.
Jacob Black – Conflicted with Bella.
f.
Flat
Bella’s friends in school – They all have the welcoming spirit towards
Bella and they are all friendly to her.
g.
Stock
Charlie Swan – Loving dad.
Edward Cullen – the lover boy that’s typical mysterious at first stereo
type
h.
Protagonist
Bella Swan – narrator of the story
Edward Cullen – the sparkling vampires that Bella falls in love with.
The Cullen family – they protected Bella from James.
i.
Antagonist
James – he is a vampire tracker that threatens Bella’s life.
Victoria – part of James’ coven
Laurent – part of James’ coven
j.
Anti – Hero
Bella Swan – She struggles with investigating vampires, instead of living
a normal life like the rest.
Edward Cullen – A vampire that fell in love with a scented blood human.
k.
FOIL
Rosalie Cullen – she hated Bella for some reason though everyone else
adores her
l.
Symbolic
Carlisle Cullen – He symbolizes a person in a society that tried to fit
in –so he wouldn’t be recognized that he is a vampire by the public, like a
person tries not to be in trouble in a good way.
IV.
PLOT
Beginning:
Isabella Swan or people call her Bella, is an accident prone girl that
choose to live with her father in Forks, Washington. Bella’s parents are
separated which then Renee is re-marrying a man named Phil Dwyer, who makes her
mother very happy. Bella feels that it
would make her mother more comfortable with Phil's traveling job if she were
living with her father Charlie Swan, who is the sheriff of the small town.
Growing up in Phoenix most of her life, she is not found of rainy and bleak
weather of Forks. Eventually she attends the local high school and makes some
friends. In the first week of school she
was introduced about the Cullen family that adopted 5 children which 2 pairs
were in love with each other, except one, Edward. As Bella attends classes, she
finds the youngest looking Cullen, Edward Cullen, is in her biology class, then
they got partnered up together which he reacts poorly to her, acting as if he
found her repulsive and he belives she is attractive in a seductive way but the
adience is not aware of it yet.
However, as time goes by Edward warms up to her a bit, whenever Bella
enters the room he no longer glares and he doesn’t ignore her anymore
throughout the class. On the day when
Edward is absent in biology class, Bella was horrified that the next topic of
the class is about blood types, which upon seeing blood, she becomes woosy.
Mike Newton – that has a crush on Bella obviously – immediately volunteers to
bring Bella to the nurse. They bumped
towards Edward, who has arrived just as class is ending , Bella has fallen
sickly to the ground, and Mike is patheticallly unable to move her. Upon being
told what's wrong, Edward chuckles, and scoops her up to frustrated Mike's
protests. He takes her to the nurse, mocking her for her intolerance for so
little blood. Angrily, Bella defends herself by explaining that it's the smell
of blood that gets her. Shocked, Edward says "People can't smell
blood". "I can" she replied.
As Bella and Edward spend more time together, they become closer, even
beginning to sit together at lunch on occasion –But still, he remains
mysterious– then she notices that his eyes change color, sometimes golden,
sometimes eerily black. One day, while Bella is in the parking lot at school,
she is nearly crushed by a van that is spinning out of control. But then she
was saved by Edward. In the ER, Bella is examined by Dr. Carlisle Cullen -
Edward's father which is a well-loved doctor in this local hospital. Edward is
there as well, and she finds that he is not hurt at all. This (along with the
fact that she saw him stop a full-size van) peaks her curiosity, but Edward is
quick to avoid the topic, telling her she hit her head pretty hard on the
concrete. Back at school, they resume their odd friendship, and she asks him at
lunch what he is exactly. He smirks and asks her what her theories are. He
dismisses her cliche superhero-like guesses with humor, but then seriously asks
"What if I'm not the hero, what if I'm the monster?", making her all
the more curious about him.
Over a weekend, several of Bella's friends decide to have a bonfire on a
beach at La Push, the Quiluete Native American reservation. Bella invites
Edward to come, but he declines, telling her that he and his family are not
welcome at the reservation. He will not say why. At the bonfire, Bella meets
the son of an old friend of her father's - named Jacob Black. Bella becomes
intrigued at Jacob's knowledge of the Cullen family. Getting him alone, she
figured out of him into telling Quiluete
legends until he gets to the one that Jacob's father –Bella's father's friend
Billy Black– claims is about the Cullen family. According to the stories, they
are "Cold Ones", or vampires. Jacob scoffs at the stories, saying his
father is a crazy old man. But to Bella, the pieces begin to fit and she puts
it all together.
Bella goes out one weekend with Angela and Jessica to Port Angelos, a
nearby city. She splits off from the other two to look for a specific store,
Bella gets lost in the darkening town. Creepy men intentionally followed Bella
for their own planned pleasure, Bella tried to get far away from them but at
the last possible moment, a shiny Volvo –Edward Cullen's car– screeches to a stop
and he throws the door open ordering her to get in. Gratefully she does so, and
they speed away. Edward snaps at Bella, asking her why in the world she had
been so foolish, and asking her to distract him by babbling on about some
boring subject, so that he could calm down. After Bella fails ease his temper
by much, Edward suggests he take her to dinner as a distraction. On their way
into the restaurant they run into Angela and Jessica, who head home without
Bella to leave the two alone together.
The two had dinner –except that Edward didn’t ate at all– Bella opens up
what she learned from Jacob and Edward opened up doubly that he is a vampire and the Cullen family as well
and that he can read minds except for Bella’s. Bella asks more about Edward’s
mysteriousness and she learns more about the Cullen family, and Edward
neglected that vampires don’t sleep in coffins and they don’t get hurt or burn,
instead they sparkle. This made Bella more comfortable with Edward with all his
honesty. They eventually develop feelings for each other –but they never touch
hands.
One day Edward invited Bella over the mountains and she agrees and has
faith within Edward but Bella told her father that she and her friends are
going to the mall in Seattle. As they drove to there and as she trusted
Edward’s company even he said it clear that he does not trust himself to not
harm her, Bella has faith with him. There they saw the meadows; Bella saw the
most beautiful meadows she had ever seen.
There Edward show off his body, embedded with looking shattered diamonds
and he explains what is it like to be around her, that he always wanted to kill
her –because of his senses, even though he loves her. And he says the iconic
line: "You are exactly my brand of heroin", and lies his head on her
chest, listening to her heart. They lied on top of the meadows together,
holding hands and all sweet –still Edward tries to have some distance and they
kissed passionately.
Rising Action:
The next day, Bella was invited to Edward’s home, for her to be
introduced to his family. Everybody welcomes her delightfully except for
Rosalie –one was happy that finally Edward brought someone to introduce. Edward
gives Bella a short tour of the house, stopping by Carlisle's room (more of an
office since he doesn't sleep). On the walls are many pictures from all
different time periods. Edward asks Carlisle to tell his history, and Carlisle
tells Edward to tell it, since he knows it as well as he. Pointing to a
painting of old London, Edward tells of how Carlisle lived in the 1600s in
England, the son of a very self-righteous religious leader that busied himself
hunting down "evil". Carlisle was a disapointment because he was slow
to accuse people without solid proof. One night while hunting down vampires
that were actually real for once, he was cornered and attacked. However, the
vampire being weak nearly to the point of being crippled, it couldn't finish
the job before slinking away. Carlisle managed to hide from those who would
have killed him upon finding he had been bitten. When the change was complete,
he wandered the countryside, refusing his thirst out of the pure goodness of
his heart. However, one day he realized he could feed on animals, and had been
ever since. Next, Edward pointed to a painting of Renaissance Italy. There were
four figures, all looking like Gods, one very much like Carlisle. He explains
that Carlisle stayed with these patrons of the arts for a while: Marcus, Caius,
and Aros. (These characters are intoduced in the next book in the series).
However, he left them because he couldn't stand their blood-soaked and ruthless
lifestyles. Eventually, Carlisle ended up in America, and discovered his talent
for being a doctor. Becoming extremely lonely over the years, he had been
contemplating creating a companion. During the Spanish Influenza epidemic in
the 1910s, Carlisle came across a dying 17 yr. old boy, past any hope of
recovery, his mother, also dying suddenly gripped Carlisle, and begged Carlisle
to save her son - inexplicably insinuating that she knew what Carlisle could
really do. When she died, Carlisle wheeled Edward to the morgue, and bit him.
From then on, Edward had been his son and closest friend.
Alice announces that there will be a thunderstorm that evening, so the
Cullens would be able to play baseball without the sound of their equally
thunderous batting drawing attention. Bella tags along. They take Emmett's jeep
up a road until it ends, then the vampires run. Left behind by the others,
Edward tells Bella to get on his back, but remembering how sick she felt last
time, she refuses. Leaning her agaisnt the jeep he kisses her softly until she
agrees, then kisses her hard once, and like their first kiss he has to stave
her off. Making it clear that he is far from completely mastering his
self-control around her, he exclaims she'll be the death of him, then slings
her up, and they run to join the others in another clearing.
Bella and Esme (as referee) watch the others play baseball, and all is
well until suddenly Alice halts the game, warning that other vampires are on
their way...the bad kind. Three vampire nomads - Laurent, James, and Victoria - enter the clearing and
are intrigued by the gathering. Zeroing in on Bella, they ask if the Cullens
will share their "snack". When Edward moves protectively to sheild
Bella, James, the Tracker, notices. Now it is too late, this is what James
loves: a challenge.
Climax:
To save Bella, the Cullens split up. Jasper and Alice will take Bella to
Phoenix (the idea being that James would not expect her to go where she said
she was going), Esme changes clothes with Bella and along with Rosalie will try
to draw James off, and Emmett, Edward, and Carlisle will hunt James down -
though Carlisle abhors violence he sees no other way. Bella stops by home,
Edward telling her she only has moments to grab some things, and make an excuse
to Charlie why she must leave so that he won't worry and search for her. It
breaks her heart, but she must break his heart. She shreiks at him that she
hates it here, and is going back to her true home, even throwing in the last
words her mother had said to him before he left him. Sobbing on Alice's
shoulder, she falls asleep as Jasper drives the three of them to Pheonix.
Jasper, Alice, and Bella are stuck in a hotel room together. Bella feels
awful - guilty and frightened. Jasper begins to use his ability to calm her.
Talking with Alice while Jasper is out, Bella learns that usually people die
when bitten by a vampire because like a shark, they go into a feeding frenzy.
In order for someone to become one of the undead, they must be bitten but not
drained, and that takes more self-control than most have. The vampire venom
works in them then, for three days of unimaginably excruciating pain, one of
the many reasons Alice says Edward refuses to change Bella. Later, Alice has a
vision of a dark room with mirrors, and she cries out "Bella!" before
coming to. Jasper is concerned for her, and sits with her while she draws the
room from her vision. Bella looks over her shoulder, and recognizes it as the
ballet studio she went to as a child. This worries the two Cullens even more.
The cell rings, and Bella answers in hopes that it's Edward. It's James. In the
background Bella hears her distressed mother. James says he will let Renee go
if Bella meets him in the ballet studio. He gives her until noon to break away
from her protectors, which seems impossible to Bella.
The three head to the Phoenix airport, where Bella and Edward will meet
up and fly somewhere safe. However, worried sick about her mom, Bella goes to a
bathroom that she knows has two exits, and runs out the far side, just barely
managing to get away from Jasper, and jumping into a nearby cab. Arriving at
the ballet studio, James is waiting for her. She is releaved to find that he
had been playing a home video from her house in the background of the phonecall
to trick her into thinking that he had her mom. James sets up a camcorder so
that Edward can watch him kill Bella later. He sniffs her, mocks her, trips her
as she tries to flee, breaks her leg, and throws her into the mirrored wall.
She lies bleeding to death amid shards of glass on the floor, and James goes in
for the kill, biting her wrist.
Falling Action:
Just then the Cullens rush in, and drag James off of her. Three of them:
Edward, Alice, and Carlisle kneel over Bella. Alice braces Bella's head as
Carlisle works on her leg. Edward holds her hand and begs her to live. Bella's
whimpers turn to screams as the place where James bit her wrist begins to burn.
Carlisle (who was the one to change the others) realizes what is happening, and
tells Edward he will have to suck out the venom or she will become a vampire.
Terrified, he proclaims he can't, that he'll be unable to stop himself from
draining her dry. But Carlisle urges that he must because the only other person
that could is himself, and her leg must be tended to immediately. Steeling
himself, Edward sucks on her wrist, which initially makes Bella hurt worse, and
Alice has to brace her harder, but then after awhile she starts to feel sleepy
and the pain numbs. All that is left to be seen is if Edward can stop himself
before killing her...and he does, triumphantly proclaiming "Her blood
tastes clean". By this time James is dead (having been ripped to shreds
and set on fire - that's how you kill a vampire) and the ballet studido is
burning down. Edward picks her up, and Bella loses conciousness as he carries
her.
Resolution:
Waking up days later in the hospital, Bella finds herself hooked up to
various machines, sporting casts, an IV in her arm, a bandaged hand, and Edward
at her bedside. He tells her that Alice had seen the videotape that James was
making in a vison. To add to the insult, James had told that he knew where
Alice came from. He even knew her last name. The reason she couldn't remember
anything was because she had been locked away in a dark cold hole of an insane asylum
because of her visions. Her unfeeling family had faked her death and sent her
there to rot. James found her and wanted to make her his, but an older vampire
beat him to it, and he had wanted vengeance ever since. After Bella is through
absorbing this story, Renee comes into the room, Carlisle having called her
(Alice had too much fun fabricating an "accident" at a hotel), and
Edward pretends to be asleep. To please her mom, she proclaims Edward to be
just a crush, and her mom leaves. Edward then tells Bella that he really is
just a crush, and she can't believe he could think that! Bella demands Edward
to promise to never ever leave her. He feels that all this is his fault, and
will only agree to promise not to leave her so long as she needs him. He kisses
her softly and the heart monitor goes wild.
Conclusion:
Disappointing her mom, Bella says she wishes to continue living with her
dad, and goes with the Cullens back to Forks, where she apologizes profusely to
Charlie. Months later, the delighted Alice gets Bella all dolled up – who is
not sure why. Edward comes and picks her up, in a tux, and she is horrified
that he takes her to the prom. However, Edward is suave enough that despite the
fact that her leg is still in a cast, she has a good time. At the prom, Jacob
shows up and says that his dad payed him in car parts (he loves to fix up old
cars) to come tell her to beware of Edward. Embarrased, he shrugs and leaves.
Edward and Bella exit the dance to sit outside. He asks her what she thought
they were going to do if not prom (still frustrated by the fact that he can't
read her mind). She tells him she was hoping he would make her a vampire. He is
angry and sad because he has already tried to convince her that's not what she
wants. Perking up, he mischeiviously asks if now is a good time, and puts his
mouth on her neck. Bella gets scared but excited...and he turns it into a kiss,
saying "Did you really think I'd give in that easily?" Our story ends
with Bella on Edwdard's lap, the two of them looking out at the Twilight, and
with a sigh Edward comments on how there's always another ending.
V.
VOCABULARY WORDS
1.
Outdoorsy - of, associated with, or fond of the
outdoors.
2.
Raucous – harsh and loud noise
3.
Saturating – a change of tone
4.
Yank - to suddenly pull (something) in a quick,
forceful way
5.
Smugly - contentedly confident of one's ability,
superiority, or correctness; complacent.
6.
Fidget - to move about restlessly, nervously, or
impatiently.
7.
Gratuitous - being without apparent reason,
cause, or justification
8.
Chuckled – to laugh softly or amusedly, usually
with satisfaction
9.
Impish - maliciously or playfully annoying.
10.
Faint - lacking brightness, vividness
VI.
THEMES
1.
Love and Romance is the first major theme of the book, as the
main action hinges on Bella and Edward uniting and the adventures resulting
from this union. Bella and Edward are the ideal couple in some ways -
thematically, they represent a balance between vampiric passion and human
intellect --but also fatally flawed in that they can also be predator and prey,
which would happen if the balance is lost. The vampire-human bond brings out an
image of the victim being ravished - that is, being taken in hungrily by the predatory
nature of the vampire. However, that ravishing is also balanced in order to
preserve the love, as Edward reins in his instinct constantly and Bella - in
her kisses and forward behavior - gives in to her own instinct and becomes
quite passionate and even aggressive with Edward.
2.
Change and Risk, for his part, Edward changes
his attitude towards humans, bringing Bella closer than any before, and in
doing so places himself and his family at risk. However, the opportunity this
affords him - the chance of true love, even with someone who could just as
easily be his meal - is too great a reward for him to resist. Carlisle is
changed into a vampire in the 1600s, but uses that as an opportunity to study
medicine and eventually tame his vampiric impulses. In contrast, the refusal to
change results in stultification, in following a single path which limits
opportunity: Charlie stays in Forks and becomes police chief, but is alienated
from his daughter until the novel; Billy Black has fixed opinions on the Cullens
based on past interactions between the vampires and the Quileute werewolves;
Mike is so focused on Bella that she must force him to consider Jessica before
he can find some dating happiness.
3.
Humanity and Mortality is the next major theme
of the novel, which encompasses the motif of vampirism since vampires as a
species are traditionally positioned as being both "above" and
"against" humans by being immortal and preying on human blood. In
Twilight humans in general represent intellect and reason, but also a limited
perspective on the world due to both limited senses and a limited lifespan.
4.
Family is the last major theme of the book. It's
worth noting right off the bat the three major families in the novel - the
Swans / Dwyers, the Blacks, and the Cullens - are not typical
"nuclear" families. Bella's parents divorced and her mother
remarried; Billy Black is a widower; and the Cullen children are
"adopted" through vampirism.
5.
Popularity is a minor theme in the book,
explored through intertwining subplots: Bella is the new girl at Forks High
School, earning the attention of several boys who wish to date her; meanwhile,
the Cullen children are a clique unto themselves, beautiful but aloof from the
rest of the school. Bella does not like the popularity she experiences, not
having stood out in Forks, and manages to even out her popularity by becoming a
part of the Cullen clique. At the end of the novel, she attends the prom with
the Cullen clique, but feels herself perfectly at home among the humans as
well. Popularity is thus developed as something not worth pursuing - that it is
actually a source of weakness in bringing undue attention to oneself.
VII.
EVALUATION
If you are looking for an exciting
vampire romance novel to read, I’m sure you will be captivated by Twilight. It
is not only a successful book read but also a successful series all throughout;
it even has a remake movie and some merchandise and was published around the
year of 2005 by Stephanie Meyer. Following the success of Twilight, Meyer
expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006),
Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). The conclusions of this book
certainly stirred up a firestorm of fans and a great number of critical
reviews.
Besides this particular tale
regarding love, the twilight series critiques also have acquired in regards to
the many different ways the tale showcases frequent teenage difficulties —
though it may be a fantasy switching about vampires! In the start we have seen
the way Bella carries a stretched relationship along with her daddy, combined
with struggle she faces within starting a fresh university, trying to find her
spot and her real personality.
People would enjoy this book
because of its appropriate irony. It has good irony because there was not too
much of it making the book not fun to read. Plus I noticed on how every
character and setting is described as if I can imagine what he/she or it looks
like as if I am directly looking at it or her/him; “His skin, white despite the
faint flush from yesterday’s hunting trip, sparkled like thousands of tiny
diamonds were embedded in the surface.”
In addition, how Meyer wrote every dialogue
within the book is incredibly believable because it is so great in this story that
it makes the reader feel like they were talking directly to you. Readers who
take pleasure in vampire romance novels would be delighted with Twilight
because of its all throughout characteristics. The dialogue is so remarkable in
this book because of how it makes the reader feel like a character within the
book. So next time you want to find a great love story to be captivated by,
pick Twilight and I’m sure once you start, you won’t be able to stop –and yes
just like the famous chips Pringles
motto.
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