Monday, February 14, 2011

Twilight by: Stephanie Meyer

Bella Swan moves to Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie. Upon her arrival, Bella finds her welcome home gift, a big red truck. Bella attends Forks High school in the small cold and rainy town. At Forks High School, Bella meets new friends, which for her, was surprising. She has a quiet and shy personality and down in Pheonix, Arizona she had never accumulated a bunch of friends. Also at Forks High School, she meets Edward Cullen. At first, Edward is cold towards Bella, but as time progresses he shows more of an interest in her and even saves her life for the first time from an SUV sliding out of control in the parking lot. He grabs her and smashes the car inward to prevent it from hitting the both of them. At this point, Bella begins to suspect that the boy she feels so fond of isn't exactly human. She begins to question him and is tipped off by her friend Jacob Black the the Cullen family is actually a clan of vampires. Unphased, Bella confronts Edward about this belief and he reveals his secret to her on the condition she must keep his secret. Edward and Bella fall deeply in love and are unable to be apart for long. However, underneath Edward's love for Bella lies a lust for her blood and he must resist this longing while he is near Bella. Although the Cullens are 'vegetarians', there are still vampires that still rely on human blood to satisfy their thirst and while playing baseball with Edward's family, Bella's scent is discovered by a tracker, James, who begins to hunt Bella for sport. The Cullens do everything in their power to keep Bella safe, but James loves his sport and is cunning. He tricks Bella into thinking he has her mother, Renee, by recording an old family movie with her mother's voice and Bella gives herself up to James in return for her mother's safety. James is about to deliver the fatal blow to Bella right as Edward arrives and kills James. Bella is nursed back to health by Carlisle, and continues her life with Edward in Forks, even attending school prom.

Edward has a special power and is able to hear people's thoughts, however, he is unable to hear Bella's. Why do you think he is unable to hear the thoughts of the one most important to him?

Edward was created by Carlisle 90 years ago when he was on the brink of death because of an illness plaguing where he lived. Edward's mother had pleaded, and was also dying, to Carlisle to do everything in his power to ensure that Edward lived. Carlisle, lonely and wanting companionship, changed Edward into a vampire thinking he would teach Edward his way of hunting animals instead of humans. Do you think Carlisle did the right thing in turning Edward into a vampire, or was it selfish?

22 comments:

Ashley B. 1-2 said...

1) As for number one i think the real answer is discovered in the following books.

2)I think he was not acting selfish because Edward was practically on his death bed and his mother pleaded with Carlisle to save his life. Even though he was lonely, this act is part of his personality of saving lives.

Kyle N.1-2 said...

1. I haven't read any Twilight books so I don't truly know. My thought is that he can't hear hers is because he loves her, and he shouldn't be able to feel her thoughts for him, or maybe it's because he gets thoughts from having part of people out of their blood, but I don't think that's it.
2. From what I hear, it was the right thing, since he was going to die. If he had died, he would never have met Bella and fallen in love, even if he has "blood-lust" now.

Sydney M 7-8 said...

2. I think that it was a little bit selfish of Carlisle, but he did save Edward's life. Now Edward has met Bella and if he had died, none of this would have happened. Really Carsisle did save Edward's life, even if it was just because he was lonely.

Nicole H. 7-8 said...

I think Carlisle can't hear Bella's thoughts because he loves her and she is his soulmate, I don't think it would be right if he could hear the way she felt about him it's something for him to discover on his own. I also think it was a bit selfish if Carlisle but he did save Edward's luge and in the end gave him happiness.

Megan M 1-2 said...

1. I agree with Ashley for number one. That answer is fully described in the rest of the series.
2. I think yes it was a little selfish, however he was very close to Edward's mom and I think he would feel guilty for not doing her last dying wish to him; to save her son. So he was really doing a favor to save him.

Sarah N. 7-8 said...

2. I agree with Megan in the sense that he was very close to Edwards mom and he felt obligated to fulfill his mother's wishes. I don't think that the only reason he changed Edward was because he was lonely, but he felt he needed to do everything to save him. I don't know if by saving Edward he really gave him a better life, but he did follow his promise, so it wasn't really selfish.

Ashlyn W. 7-8 said...

1) I agree with Nicole. I think Edward cannot hear Bella's thoughts because he loves her. He has to discover her thoughts on his own.

Morgan O 7-8 said...

1) I disagree with what everyone has said. I don't believe Stephanie Myer had a reason for Edward not being able to read Bella's thoughts, other than the fact it would have ruined the novel, because they wouldn't have been able to build a normal relationship.

Abby M. 1-2 said...

1. I think that this was done by Meyer to show how special Bella is as opposed to everyone else in Edward's eyes and to highlight her. Also I think she wrote it this way to give the fragile human character of Bella more power next to that of the super-strong vampire Edward, so that she wasn't the fragile one in the relationship and they were more of equals.

Morgan O 7-8 said...

But was Bella not highlighted enough? A socially awkward girl transferring to a new high school in the middle of the year draws quite a bit of attention on its own, not to mention almost all the boys at school are interested in her. Even though giving Bella this power did make her highlighted even more so, I doubt Meyer did it for that reason.

Josh R. 1-2 said...

2. I think that it was selfish of Carlisle, but he did save Edward's life, even if it was for his benefit. If he had died he would have never met Bella and none of this would have happened.

Josie D 7/8 said...

1. I don't think that is the issue. Firstly, the matter is addressed in one of those later books, and his family is close to him and he can read their minds.

2. I don't think it was selfish. The mother asked him to. And it seems to me that Carlisle didn't wish his fate upon others just for the sake of company.

Lisa T. 1-2 said...

1. I agree with Morgan. Edward's inability to hear Bella's thoughts had a huge impact on the direction of the storyline and if he was able, the story would have been much different.
2. Carlisle's decision may not have been the right thing for Edward, but I don't think he did it for selfish reasons. He had the ability to save his life, and it would have been awful to just let him die. Even if it wasn't what Edward wanted, he did it with good intentions.

Avi D. 7/8 said...

1. Maybe Bella has a secret of her own. Perhaps she is a vampire also and she is using her powers to negate Edward's powers of Mind Reading.

2. It was not selfish at all. He was saving Edward. For Edward it was a new life, but for him it was a personal gain. So what if humanitarian work comes with a bonus.

Freddy B. 7-8 said...

1. I agree with Morgan. The author made it so that he couldn't hear her thoughts because it would make it a more interesting book.
2. It was probably both. He did save his life, so it can't be considered too selfish.

Unknown said...

1. I agree with Ashley, it is explained in the other books about Edward's special power and why he can not hear Bella's thoughts.

2. I think Carlisle did the right thing. He wanted Edward to live and so did his mother, even if that ment turning him into a vampire.

Hannah K. 1-2 said...

1. I think that the story is simply meant to be a love story, and if Edward had been able to read Bella's mind it would have disrupted any sense of equality the pair had.
2. I believe that Carlisle should not make that decision for anyone else, but it was done with good intentions, and Edward now would obviously prefer to have met Bella, so it worked out.

Lindsay S. 7-8 said...

1. I agree I think that Edward has to discover Bellas thoughts on his own because he loves her.
2. No I did not think it was selfish of Carlisle to turn Edward into a vampire because Edward was on his deathbed and if Carlisle didn't do what he did, Edward would be dead.

Anonymous said...

1. I think that Edward can not hear Bella's thoughts because he is in love with her and the author wants to show the reader that because he loves her, he knows her every hope and desire.

2. Carlisle did the right thing and was not being selfih because he saved Edward by changing him.

Jacob C. 1-2 said...

1. I'm thinking maybe he can't hear her's because he subconsciously chooses not to.

2. Well, I think it kind of borders on both doing the right thing and being selfish. It could be taken as Carlisle was doing the right thing, and having a companion was a bonus, or the other way around; Carlisle was being selfish but can now say she was doing the right thing.

Rafiq O. 1-2 said...

1.) I think he can't hear her because she has a supernatural shield that gets even more enhanced when she changes into a vampire :)

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