a feminist male college graduate reads “Twilight”: Chapter Fourteen-Mind Over Matter

This chapter find us landed squarely in the terrain of Vampire Ethics. We learn that Carlisle, the paternal leader of the Cullen family unit, turned Edward into a vampire in 1918 when Edward was dying of the Spanish influenza. But Carlisle doesn’t turn just anyone, he “would never do that to someone who had another choice” (288). He only turns people who are about to die. Carlisle subverts his innate vampire urges to do so–rather than, you know, killing them. And instead of living as typical vampires, they feed on animals and try to retain some aspects of their humanity. Vampirism for them is a way to sustain their existences, rather than a full life-style change. It’s an interesting problem. Does Carlisle have the right to bring someone back from the brink of death? Edward’s story gives us no insight into whether Carlisle actually askes the people he changes if they want to becomes vampires (and given Edward’s general flippancy toward asking permission, it doesn’t seem likely). And it’s extremely painful for the party being turned. So, given that vampirism brings with it a distinctly and potentially insuperable set of inhuman urges and impulses, is Carlisle justified in extended an individual’s life in such a way? Certain an argument can be  made based on the disposition of the Cullen family; all of them seem more or less able to subvert those vampire urges and live mostly like humans. But what if they weren’t able to? Is it only possible to live that way with Carlisle’s guiding influence? It’s a question of permission and intent, and right now I don’t have enough info to figure this out.

Oh, and one more minor thing. We find out that Edward has been sneaking into Bella’s room everynight to watch her sleep.

So that about wraps up this chap…

Wait.

Edward sneaks in and watches Bella sleep? What?! And when Bella asks him about it, he actually says, “‘What else is there to do at night?’” (293). Okay, I know that Bella has an admitted “hopeless addiction to him” (292), but this seriously messed up. Since Edward cannot read Bella’s thoughts, she has a certain amount of personal privacy, but the fact that she talks in her sleep obviates that. Because when her subconscious goes frolicking through the DreamFields, she vocalizes it, which Edward hears. So now we understand that Bella actually has no privacy–there is nowhere where she is not being observed by Edward, and now Edward can even hear these dispatches from her id.

And worse, there’s now a narrative reason that Edward has to stay so close to Bella all the time–a way to rationalize his intrusion. He’s grown accustomed to her scent, but if he’s away for any significant amount of time, he’ll “have to start over again” (302). It’s actually less dangerous for Bella to allow this intrusion because if Edward goes away, he will thirst for her more strongly. But, as we looked at in the last chapter, perpetual proximity still puts Bella in danger because she seems to have trouble controlling herself phyiscally around Edward. Basically, she wants to jump his bones. Which of course is complicated by the fact that, if Edward were to have sex with Bella, he could literally kill her. He says that he can, “‘never, never afford to lose any kind of control when I’m with you”‘( 310). So, just to work out this Gordian knot of conflicting urges: Edward needs to be close to Bella so he doesn’t want to nom her, but Edward being close makes Bella want to jump him, which could result in Edward crumpling her skull like a Dixie cup. So, whether Bella is near Edward or not, he could potentially kill her.

Ain’t love grand?

Ben’s End of Chapter Awards

Best Implementation of Stereotypical Gender Expectations: “‘I may not be a human, but I am a man”‘( 311).

Best Use of Infantilizing Language: “Then he leaned forward and reached out with his long arms to pick me up, gripping the tops of my arms like I was a toddler. He sat me on the bed beside him” (297, emphasis mine).

Best Line to Put on a Vampire Hallmark Card: “If I could dream at all, it would be about you. And I’m not ashamed of it” (294).