Reading Twilight So You Don't Have To: Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four: An Impasse
Bella wakes up in a hospital. Stephanie Meyer does a much better job with the first-person POV here, actually describing the details of the room as Bella slowly awakens and doesn't quite know where she is. She sees Edward and his "exquisite face."
Okay, but if he's been hovering at her bedside for God knows how long, wouldn't a little haggardness be in order here? Well, vamps don't need sleep, so I guess they can "sparkle" (metaphorically here, since there's no sunlight) even when pulling a vigil at a hospital bedside. Still, it just feels wrong.
We find out (though Edward) that Bella's mom is in the hospital and he told her that Bella's injuries are because she "fell down two flights of stairs and through a window." Then he adds, "You have to admit, it could happen."
Yes. Let's not miss a single opportunity for Edward to ride Bella about how clumsy she is, even when she's in the hospital.
More exposition about what happened in the last chapter, because exposition of the climactic battle scene is always more interesting than actually getting to see it for ourselves. Oh, wait... We find out the extent of Bella's wounds: broken leg, broken ribs, bruises everywhere, lost a lot of blood.
Oh, here's a rather unintentionally ironic bit. Bella is bothered by the IV in her hand because she's afraid of needles. Edward's response:
"Afraid of a needle," he muttered to himself under his breath [Department of Redundancy Department much?], shaking his head. "Oh, a sadistic vampire, intent on torturing her to death, sure, no problem, she runs off to meet him. An IV, on the other hand..."
He's talking about Tracker James, of course, but I think it fits him better. She only ran off to meet James the once. Edward she runs off to meet with all the time.
Then we have yet more exposition about the story Edward spun for Bella's mom: he'd come to Phoenix with Carlisle and Alice ("'Of course there was parental supervision,' he inserted virtuously...", because as long as the sadistic vampire intent on torturing her is with chaperones, it's all good in Meyers-verse Dating Morality) to talk Bella into going back to Forks. She agreed to meet him at their hotel, but tripped and fell down the flight of stairs. Alice even "manufactured evidence" of said fall. So it's all good!
Oh, Lord. Then we get to see them experiment with the heart monitor--see how it beeps faster when Edward touches her. And when he actually kisses her--it stops altogether!!!! ::barf::
Mom shows, up and Bella calls out to her, her "voice full of love and relief." And yet again we have a complete failure to understand POV. If you are seeing someone you love and not long ago thought had been kidnapped by a homicidal maniac, would you hear the love and relief in your voice, or would you actually feel love and relief? I don't want this described to me like a scene in a movie. I want to feel what Bella's feeling.
So we finally meet Renee. Mother/daughter chatting (read: more exposition) ensues. Renee's husband got signed to a baseball team somewhere in the South, and she assumes Bella will return to live with them, since she only left so that Renee could travel with Phil, and now he won't be on the road as much. (Not sure how that works, but...) Bella, of course, informs her "I live in Forks."
Naturally, Renee not being a complete moron, figures out she wants to stay because of Edward. She tells Bella she got a chance to talk to Eward while Bella was unconscious, and confides that she "think[s] that boy is in love with you." When she asks Bella how she feels about him, her response is odd:
"I'm pretty crazy about him." There--that sounded like something a teenager with her first boyfriend might say.
Um. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Bella is a teenager with her first boyfriend, right? What exactly is she pretending at here? That hers and Edward's love is so speshul that it transcends what any other teenager with her first boyfriend could possibly feel? Please, Bella, can you just get over yourself even a little?
Then Renee goes on about how young she is, and geez, she's 17! It's not like she's getting engaged to the guy! Why is everyone treating this like something SOOOOO serious? I mean, not that it isn't serious to them, but vampire stuff aside, how is their relationship any different than any other teenage love? So Bella soothes her, saying it's "just a crush," and Renee is happy to believe the lie.
Okay. As a parent, this is exactly why I don't think the kind of parenting that says "You're not allowed to have a serious boyfriend, and let's never discuss this again" even remotely works. Point one: Bella is of course going to lie about this. What kid wouldn't lie about how serious their relationship is if that meant they got to continue it? And it also means that Renee gets shut out of any meaningful discussion.
Now, maybe I'm in no position to judge, because my kids are only 12 and just reaching the very edge of interest dating, but when I imagine my kids at 17 falling in love, I imagine myself kinda squeeing along with them, and TALKING about it. Rules and boundaries, yes, but she just completely set herself up for being shut out of participating in this part of her daughter's life. Not that my kids will necessarily be open with me, but if I'm open to them, I hope that there's at least a chance of it. I just don't get the kind of parenting where discussion is shut down by the parent.
Okay, now we're back to--you guessed it--exposition. Renee says she's been sleeping at the hospital because she "was too nervous... there's been some crime in the area." This is to set up where we learn that the dance studio was burned to the ground (to cover up what happened, I'm sure), but more than that, it shows where Bella gets her self-centeredness from. The reason she stays in the hospital at her child's bedside is because she's afraid to go home because of crime in the neighborhood. Because, you know, wanting to be at your battered daughter's bedside in the hospital isn't reason enough. Eventually, she leaves, telling her "Try to be more careful when you walk, honey. I don't wanna lose you." Does everyone in Bella's life have to hammer her about being clumsy? Granted, Renee believes she just fell down a flight of stairs, but still.
Then we get some foreshadowing of the second book, as Edward wonders why Bella wouldn't want to go with her mom to Florida, and Bella talks about how it would be too sunny for him, and he says he'd stay in Forks to keep her safe.
Bella completely panics at this. Makes him promise not to leave her, and he swears, even though he does exactly that in the next book.
Then they go through the same conversation again, only this time he capitulates, and she notes that he didn't promise, even though he "swore" two pages earlier.
Then things get interesting, in a twisted sort of way. Bella asks Edward why he stopped the venom from spreading. If he hadn't, then she'd be a vampire like him.
"I'll be the first to admit that I have no experience with relationships," I said. "But it just seems logical...a man and a woman have to be somewhat equal.. as in, one of them can't always be swooping in and saving the other one. They have to save each other equally."...
"You have saved me," he said quietly.
"I can't always be Lois Lane. I want to be Superman, too."
This passage is so odd to me, because Bella's words on face value are the complete antithesis of everything we've seen in this book thus far. Boys are supposed to swoop in and save fragile little snowflake girls, and tell them what to do, and boss them around, know what's best.
But Bella's focus is on physical power. Edward rightly notes that Lois Lane doesn't have to be Superman's physical equal to save him, too. And I'm gonna switch the metaphor here because I really really hate Lois Lane, but look at Spider-Man and Mary Jane. That's such a great example of a very egalitarian relationship between a "super" and a "regular." She doesn't have to have Peter's powers to be equal to him, because she has her own unique strengths and brings as much to the relationship as he does. And he recognizes this and cherishes it about her.
Edward, despite his lip service to "you save me too" is constantly putting Bella down, telling her how weak she is, how she'd die without him to save her. The lack of equality in their relationship has nothing to do with vamp power vs. human strength. It's about the unhealthy dynamic they both reinforce where she is needy and helpless and pathetic and he is strong and capable. It's like, Stephanie Meyer got the words right, but completely missed what they actually mean and what equality actually looks like.
So the argument goes on for two more pages. Edward doesn't want to vamp her because she still has her life to live, as opposed to him having been on his deathbed when Carlisle turned him. She points out she was on her deathbed, and he counters that she will recover.
"You're wrong," I insisted. "I'm going to die.... I may not die now...but I'm going to die sometime. Every minute of the day, I get closer. And I'm going to get old." (emphasis in text)
OHHHHH NOEEEEESSS!!1111!!! I'M GOING TO GET OLD AND WRINKLY AND UGLY!!!!11! DON'T CONSIGN ME TO SUCH A HORRIBLE FATE!!!!
Further discussion reveals that Alice had a vision that Bella would end up a vampire, but Edward doesn't accept it. He's really, really against the whole vamping thing because then she can't have babies, and what point is there to having a woman if she can't make babies for you????. So they're at an impasse. (Hence, the chapter title.) Although, I'm not sure how this is an impasse since Edward yet again has all the power. If I tell my kids they can't have a cookie, that's not an impasse. It's only an impasse if there's some kind of bargain going on, something both parties bring to the table. But I'm nitpicking the bad writing again.
Finally the chapter ends when he calls in the nurse and gives her pain medication, putting both Bella and the readers out of their agony.
Epilogue
Quick Links:
Why I'm doing this | Preface & 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16.2 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Epilogue |
Discussion Questions
Chapter Twenty-Four: An Impasse
Bella wakes up in a hospital. Stephanie Meyer does a much better job with the first-person POV here, actually describing the details of the room as Bella slowly awakens and doesn't quite know where she is. She sees Edward and his "exquisite face."
Okay, but if he's been hovering at her bedside for God knows how long, wouldn't a little haggardness be in order here? Well, vamps don't need sleep, so I guess they can "sparkle" (metaphorically here, since there's no sunlight) even when pulling a vigil at a hospital bedside. Still, it just feels wrong.
We find out (though Edward) that Bella's mom is in the hospital and he told her that Bella's injuries are because she "fell down two flights of stairs and through a window." Then he adds, "You have to admit, it could happen."
Yes. Let's not miss a single opportunity for Edward to ride Bella about how clumsy she is, even when she's in the hospital.
More exposition about what happened in the last chapter, because exposition of the climactic battle scene is always more interesting than actually getting to see it for ourselves. Oh, wait... We find out the extent of Bella's wounds: broken leg, broken ribs, bruises everywhere, lost a lot of blood.
Oh, here's a rather unintentionally ironic bit. Bella is bothered by the IV in her hand because she's afraid of needles. Edward's response:
"Afraid of a needle," he muttered to himself under his breath [Department of Redundancy Department much?], shaking his head. "Oh, a sadistic vampire, intent on torturing her to death, sure, no problem, she runs off to meet him. An IV, on the other hand..."
He's talking about Tracker James, of course, but I think it fits him better. She only ran off to meet James the once. Edward she runs off to meet with all the time.
Then we have yet more exposition about the story Edward spun for Bella's mom: he'd come to Phoenix with Carlisle and Alice ("'Of course there was parental supervision,' he inserted virtuously...", because as long as the sadistic vampire intent on torturing her is with chaperones, it's all good in Meyers-verse Dating Morality) to talk Bella into going back to Forks. She agreed to meet him at their hotel, but tripped and fell down the flight of stairs. Alice even "manufactured evidence" of said fall. So it's all good!
Oh, Lord. Then we get to see them experiment with the heart monitor--see how it beeps faster when Edward touches her. And when he actually kisses her--it stops altogether!!!! ::barf::
Mom shows, up and Bella calls out to her, her "voice full of love and relief." And yet again we have a complete failure to understand POV. If you are seeing someone you love and not long ago thought had been kidnapped by a homicidal maniac, would you hear the love and relief in your voice, or would you actually feel love and relief? I don't want this described to me like a scene in a movie. I want to feel what Bella's feeling.
So we finally meet Renee. Mother/daughter chatting (read: more exposition) ensues. Renee's husband got signed to a baseball team somewhere in the South, and she assumes Bella will return to live with them, since she only left so that Renee could travel with Phil, and now he won't be on the road as much. (Not sure how that works, but...) Bella, of course, informs her "I live in Forks."
Naturally, Renee not being a complete moron, figures out she wants to stay because of Edward. She tells Bella she got a chance to talk to Eward while Bella was unconscious, and confides that she "think[s] that boy is in love with you." When she asks Bella how she feels about him, her response is odd:
"I'm pretty crazy about him." There--that sounded like something a teenager with her first boyfriend might say.
Um. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Bella is a teenager with her first boyfriend, right? What exactly is she pretending at here? That hers and Edward's love is so speshul that it transcends what any other teenager with her first boyfriend could possibly feel? Please, Bella, can you just get over yourself even a little?
Then Renee goes on about how young she is, and geez, she's 17! It's not like she's getting engaged to the guy! Why is everyone treating this like something SOOOOO serious? I mean, not that it isn't serious to them, but vampire stuff aside, how is their relationship any different than any other teenage love? So Bella soothes her, saying it's "just a crush," and Renee is happy to believe the lie.
Okay. As a parent, this is exactly why I don't think the kind of parenting that says "You're not allowed to have a serious boyfriend, and let's never discuss this again" even remotely works. Point one: Bella is of course going to lie about this. What kid wouldn't lie about how serious their relationship is if that meant they got to continue it? And it also means that Renee gets shut out of any meaningful discussion.
Now, maybe I'm in no position to judge, because my kids are only 12 and just reaching the very edge of interest dating, but when I imagine my kids at 17 falling in love, I imagine myself kinda squeeing along with them, and TALKING about it. Rules and boundaries, yes, but she just completely set herself up for being shut out of participating in this part of her daughter's life. Not that my kids will necessarily be open with me, but if I'm open to them, I hope that there's at least a chance of it. I just don't get the kind of parenting where discussion is shut down by the parent.
Okay, now we're back to--you guessed it--exposition. Renee says she's been sleeping at the hospital because she "was too nervous... there's been some crime in the area." This is to set up where we learn that the dance studio was burned to the ground (to cover up what happened, I'm sure), but more than that, it shows where Bella gets her self-centeredness from. The reason she stays in the hospital at her child's bedside is because she's afraid to go home because of crime in the neighborhood. Because, you know, wanting to be at your battered daughter's bedside in the hospital isn't reason enough. Eventually, she leaves, telling her "Try to be more careful when you walk, honey. I don't wanna lose you." Does everyone in Bella's life have to hammer her about being clumsy? Granted, Renee believes she just fell down a flight of stairs, but still.
Then we get some foreshadowing of the second book, as Edward wonders why Bella wouldn't want to go with her mom to Florida, and Bella talks about how it would be too sunny for him, and he says he'd stay in Forks to keep her safe.
Bella completely panics at this. Makes him promise not to leave her, and he swears, even though he does exactly that in the next book.
Then they go through the same conversation again, only this time he capitulates, and she notes that he didn't promise, even though he "swore" two pages earlier.
Then things get interesting, in a twisted sort of way. Bella asks Edward why he stopped the venom from spreading. If he hadn't, then she'd be a vampire like him.
"I'll be the first to admit that I have no experience with relationships," I said. "But it just seems logical...a man and a woman have to be somewhat equal.. as in, one of them can't always be swooping in and saving the other one. They have to save each other equally."...
"You have saved me," he said quietly.
"I can't always be Lois Lane. I want to be Superman, too."
This passage is so odd to me, because Bella's words on face value are the complete antithesis of everything we've seen in this book thus far. Boys are supposed to swoop in and save fragile little snowflake girls, and tell them what to do, and boss them around, know what's best.
But Bella's focus is on physical power. Edward rightly notes that Lois Lane doesn't have to be Superman's physical equal to save him, too. And I'm gonna switch the metaphor here because I really really hate Lois Lane, but look at Spider-Man and Mary Jane. That's such a great example of a very egalitarian relationship between a "super" and a "regular." She doesn't have to have Peter's powers to be equal to him, because she has her own unique strengths and brings as much to the relationship as he does. And he recognizes this and cherishes it about her.
Edward, despite his lip service to "you save me too" is constantly putting Bella down, telling her how weak she is, how she'd die without him to save her. The lack of equality in their relationship has nothing to do with vamp power vs. human strength. It's about the unhealthy dynamic they both reinforce where she is needy and helpless and pathetic and he is strong and capable. It's like, Stephanie Meyer got the words right, but completely missed what they actually mean and what equality actually looks like.
So the argument goes on for two more pages. Edward doesn't want to vamp her because she still has her life to live, as opposed to him having been on his deathbed when Carlisle turned him. She points out she was on her deathbed, and he counters that she will recover.
"You're wrong," I insisted. "I'm going to die.... I may not die now...but I'm going to die sometime. Every minute of the day, I get closer. And I'm going to get old." (emphasis in text)
OHHHHH NOEEEEESSS!!1111!!! I'M GOING TO GET OLD AND WRINKLY AND UGLY!!!!11! DON'T CONSIGN ME TO SUCH A HORRIBLE FATE!!!!
Further discussion reveals that Alice had a vision that Bella would end up a vampire, but Edward doesn't accept it. He's really, really against the whole vamping thing because then she can't have babies, and what point is there to having a woman if she can't make babies for you????. So they're at an impasse. (Hence, the chapter title.) Although, I'm not sure how this is an impasse since Edward yet again has all the power. If I tell my kids they can't have a cookie, that's not an impasse. It's only an impasse if there's some kind of bargain going on, something both parties bring to the table. But I'm nitpicking the bad writing again.
Finally the chapter ends when he calls in the nurse and gives her pain medication, putting both Bella and the readers out of their agony.
Epilogue
Quick Links:
Why I'm doing this | Preface & 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16.2 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Epilogue |
Discussion Questions