Looking for Excerpts worthy of commenting about from "New Moon" and "Eclipse."

[moonlitaffairs]

Currently, I'm working on a Twilight versus Breaking Dawn rant and comparison. However, as this is turning into a slow, but steady rant on the poor quality of the series overall, I've realized that I'm going to need some quotes from New Moon and Eclipse to comment on

Comments

[beta_aquilae]

My personal issue with the Twilight morals is that they are viewed as a finite set of rigidly defined rules, like don't drink human blood and don't have sex before marriage. But that's not going to be enough to live your life as a moral person: there are always going to be situations that your rulebook doesn't cover, no matter what it's called. Looking at morality as a part of human relations is more fruitful, since you can apply universal principles to situations, like Kant, who asked if he was treating the other person as a person instead of as a means to an end.

(and that's as much moral philosophy I've learnt from proofreading a textbook for teenage students the philosophy department at my uni was putting together some years ago. Ironically, it's been stopped in development hell since the teachers in philosophy and religion would have preferred something that presented morality as a set of simple rules. Go figure.)

One example of the simple rules proving insufficient that I liked (but is not mine, so I'll have to look for the original poster) in Breaking Dawn is when the Cullens convene forty hungry, human-eating vampires to act as witnesses on Nessie's behalf. Eventually, they must feed. Even if the Cullens themselves don't drink human blood, are they morally responsible for the mass killing that is going to ensue?
Or let's consider Bella and her nightly making-out sessions with Edward while Charlie is sound asleep and thinks Bella is, too. Is it okay of them to deceive him, just because they're OMGSOINLOVE and not having actual sex?

That brings me over to the Suehood issue, but I sort of said all I had to say at the moment in a post in this thread: http://community.livejournal.com/whysofailsmeyer/24935.html

Regardless of Edward's sparkliness, Bella is the sun in this literary universe, and everyone and everything else circles around her, ready to serve as her personal fairy godmothers at a moment's notice, providing her with everything she needs from motorcycles to sexy lingerie, or a magical glowy baby she doesn't even know she needs. (Can I just say ICK at wearing underwear someone else chose for me? On a honeymoon? Of course it's all right for Bella. As long as Alice buys her pretty things and dresses her like a doll, she can go on pretending to be uninterested in clothes.)
(and by all means pick and choose freely among everything I've written if it's any use to you.)

[moonlitaffairs]

I just loved your first paragraph. While I have difficulties with many of the morals Stephanie Meyer attempts to present within the series, I never thought of it in such a manner. Maybe I can tie it in with a bit of developmental psychology. (Moral development, I believe.)

I think I read your post. I really enjoy your views, so thank you very much for sharing them. (I just might have to quote your first paragraph. Your viewpoint is very well-stated.)