Reading Twilight So You Don't Have To: Chapter Six
In the back of my copy of Twilight, I found some discussion questions. Because this book is so deep. ::rolls eyes:: Unfortunately, none of them question the relationship or characters' decisions. So many missed opportunities.
But anyway, one thing that made me go huh? was that it said, "Stephanie Meyer has noted that each of the novels in the Twilight Saga pays homage to other literary classics. For Twilight, she has said Pride and Prejudice was the key inspiration."
Pride and Prejudice? Seriously? How is Bella remotely like Elizabeth Bennet? If anything, they're both "pride." And Bella is attracted to Edward immediately. Not so Elizabeth to Darcy. (Hence the "prejudice.") I'm not sure what Meyer is thinking in comparing the two.
Chapter Five
And on to Chapter Six: Scary Stories.
In school on Friday, Edward isn't there (which Bella knew he wouldn't be; he'd told her he was going hunting for blood camping with his brother. But when she sees his usual cafeteria table Edward-less, "I couldn't stop the gloom that engulfed me as I realized I didn't know how long I woul dhave to wait before I saw him again."
::retch::
Okay, I know that's fairly typical of new and especially young love. That OMG what do I do inbetween times I see him???? feeling. But engulfed in gloom? Even thought she knew he'd be driving her to soon? I mean, it's not like she truly doesn't know if she'll see him again. I don't know, it's just too melodramatic for the situation. And can you say "another red flag"? I know you can!
Oh, poor Bella! She overhears one of her "friends" (if by "friends" you mean people who are nice to her but she can't be bothered with most of the time), Lauren, being snarky about her. "I really didn't know her well at all, certainly not well enough for her to dislike me--or so I'd thought." I think we're supposed to feel like Lauren is a bee-yotch for being so mean for no reason, but seriously? Bella has been nothing but cold to the people who have warmly embraced her into their fold from Day One as the New Kid in the Close-Knit Small Town. Does she really think she's not given any of these people reason enough to dislike her? She's certainly given ME reason to dislike her, and I'm privy to her thoughts! (Which, actually, makes her MORE unlikeable, if you ask me.)
DUN DUN DUN!! Bella asks "Charlie" (her dad--she's too good to call him "Dad") about the place Edward is going camping, and he says it's a bad place for camping. "Too many bears. Most people go there during hunting season." Oooh, doesn't that make you all suspicious, now? Why would Edward go HUNTING when it isn't HUNTING SEASON...?
Now as Bella meets up with her gang of people she forces herself to spend time with when Edward isn't available to pine after friends, she notices Lauren and some other girl giving her dirty looks. Poor Bella, everyone's been so cold to her when she's tried so hard to make friends.
Oh, wait...
Now a few paragraphs of her leading on Mike. Seriously, could she BE any more unlikable???? Ah, but she actually describes something in Washington (the beach at La Push) as "breathtaking." Well, it only took six chapters for her to find something non-Cullen-related to like about Washington.
When a group of kids want to go see the tide pools, she's torn. She's fascinated by them (one of the only things she's ever liked about her visits with "Charlie" before she moved here), but... she often falls into them.
Okay, the clumsy thing is BEYOND old. It could be a bit endearing as a flaw, but honestly, it's just way too overdone. And then it reminds her of Edward's warning not to fall into the ocean, and I've got the creeps again. (You poor fragile snowflake, you'll DIE without his manly manliness to protect you from your poor widdle cwumsy sewf.)
They get back from the tidal pools (where miracle-of-miracles, Bella doesn't fall in), to find that some newcomers have joined them on the beach. A group of teenagers from a nearby reservation. Naturally, one of the boys seems interested in her. Because what boy could help but be interested in her?
Aha! It's Jacob! I've been waiting for him to show up. Here's hoping I like him better than Bella and Edward.
As the kids kind of wander away from the campfire, Jacob comes to sit by Bella and she notices he's attractive. OMG, he's not a Cullen and he's attractive!!
However, [her] positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the first words out of his mouth.
"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"
It was like the first day of school all over again.
DAMMIT! Just when people were FINALLY starting to get snarky and cold toward her, here comes another guy greeting her warmly just like that truly HORRIBLE first day of school! Poor, poor, poor Bella! She just can't catch a break!
Turns out she sort of knows his family, and she's relieved that he isn't being horribly friendly just to, you know, be friendly. It's because he knows her, so that makes his friendliness okay. It is a nice breath of fresh air from her open hostility to everyone to see her actually enjoying a conversation with someone, though. What isn't so fresh, however, is the way Jacob is smitten with her just like every other freakin' male in this book. Ugh. What kind of pheromones does this girl secrete anyway????
More mystery. Bee-yotch Lauren brings up Edward to goad Bella, but one of the Native American newcomers says the Cullens don't come here in a way that implies they aren't allowed.
OMG, now Bella is going to flirt with (the younger and obviously smitten with her) Jacob for the sole purpose of finding out more about Edward. GAH!!!!! This is how the MEAN GIRL behaves, not the HEROINE!
The mystery deepens. Jacob tells her the Cullens aren't allowed on the reservation. Then he asks her "Do you like scary stories?"
FINALLY WE'VE HIT PLOT. Somewhat. Jacob explains the legends of the origins of his tribe, how they're said to be descended from wolves and that there are stories about the "cold ones" who are natural enemies of wolves. "[W]ell, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."
Oddly, Bella does not seem surprised at all to have Jacob claim his ancestors are werewolves. I mean, I know he's talking legend and mythology, but still, she doesn't even bat an eye, except to flirt more to get him to keep telling the story.
So a "pack" of "cold ones" that "didn't hunt the way others of their kind did" made a treaty with Jacob's grandfather. If they stayed off the tribal lands, they wouldn't be exposed to the "pale faces." (Oh no he didn't! He did NOT just say "pale faces"!!! Yeah, he winked in a smart-alecky way, but still.) Jacob goes on to say it's always dangerous to be around the "cold ones," even when they're "civilized" and don't hunt humans, because "they might get too hungry to resist." Bella asks if the Cullens are like the "cold ones," and Jacob says they are the same cold ones. And finally we get the word "vampires."
Bella continues to flirt with Jacob, even though she feels guilty for using him (her exact words.) But gosh, he sure is useful to get away from that loathsome Mike who's always being so nice to her!
And that's pretty much the end of the chapter. So far, Jacob seems decent enough, other than his horrible taste in girls. And the story he told Bella was sort of interesting. The last two or three pages might well be the first things I've read in this book so far that remotely held my attention. Bella is still hateful, but at least there's a story finally beginning.
Chapter Seven
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
But anyway, one thing that made me go huh? was that it said, "Stephanie Meyer has noted that each of the novels in the Twilight Saga pays homage to other literary classics. For Twilight, she has said Pride and Prejudice was the key inspiration."
Pride and Prejudice? Seriously? How is Bella remotely like Elizabeth Bennet? If anything, they're both "pride." And Bella is attracted to Edward immediately. Not so Elizabeth to Darcy. (Hence the "prejudice.") I'm not sure what Meyer is thinking in comparing the two.
Chapter Five
And on to Chapter Six: Scary Stories.
In school on Friday, Edward isn't there (which Bella knew he wouldn't be; he'd told her he was going hunting for blood camping with his brother. But when she sees his usual cafeteria table Edward-less, "I couldn't stop the gloom that engulfed me as I realized I didn't know how long I woul dhave to wait before I saw him again."
::retch::
Okay, I know that's fairly typical of new and especially young love. That OMG what do I do inbetween times I see him???? feeling. But engulfed in gloom? Even thought she knew he'd be driving her to soon? I mean, it's not like she truly doesn't know if she'll see him again. I don't know, it's just too melodramatic for the situation. And can you say "another red flag"? I know you can!
Oh, poor Bella! She overhears one of her "friends" (if by "friends" you mean people who are nice to her but she can't be bothered with most of the time), Lauren, being snarky about her. "I really didn't know her well at all, certainly not well enough for her to dislike me--or so I'd thought." I think we're supposed to feel like Lauren is a bee-yotch for being so mean for no reason, but seriously? Bella has been nothing but cold to the people who have warmly embraced her into their fold from Day One as the New Kid in the Close-Knit Small Town. Does she really think she's not given any of these people reason enough to dislike her? She's certainly given ME reason to dislike her, and I'm privy to her thoughts! (Which, actually, makes her MORE unlikeable, if you ask me.)
DUN DUN DUN!! Bella asks "Charlie" (her dad--she's too good to call him "Dad") about the place Edward is going camping, and he says it's a bad place for camping. "Too many bears. Most people go there during hunting season." Oooh, doesn't that make you all suspicious, now? Why would Edward go HUNTING when it isn't HUNTING SEASON...?
Now as Bella meets up with her gang of people she forces herself to spend time with when Edward isn't available to pine after friends, she notices Lauren and some other girl giving her dirty looks. Poor Bella, everyone's been so cold to her when she's tried so hard to make friends.
Oh, wait...
Now a few paragraphs of her leading on Mike. Seriously, could she BE any more unlikable???? Ah, but she actually describes something in Washington (the beach at La Push) as "breathtaking." Well, it only took six chapters for her to find something non-Cullen-related to like about Washington.
When a group of kids want to go see the tide pools, she's torn. She's fascinated by them (one of the only things she's ever liked about her visits with "Charlie" before she moved here), but... she often falls into them.
Okay, the clumsy thing is BEYOND old. It could be a bit endearing as a flaw, but honestly, it's just way too overdone. And then it reminds her of Edward's warning not to fall into the ocean, and I've got the creeps again. (You poor fragile snowflake, you'll DIE without his manly manliness to protect you from your poor widdle cwumsy sewf.)
They get back from the tidal pools (where miracle-of-miracles, Bella doesn't fall in), to find that some newcomers have joined them on the beach. A group of teenagers from a nearby reservation. Naturally, one of the boys seems interested in her. Because what boy could help but be interested in her?
Aha! It's Jacob! I've been waiting for him to show up. Here's hoping I like him better than Bella and Edward.
As the kids kind of wander away from the campfire, Jacob comes to sit by Bella and she notices he's attractive. OMG, he's not a Cullen and he's attractive!!
However, [her] positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the first words out of his mouth.
"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"
It was like the first day of school all over again.
DAMMIT! Just when people were FINALLY starting to get snarky and cold toward her, here comes another guy greeting her warmly just like that truly HORRIBLE first day of school! Poor, poor, poor Bella! She just can't catch a break!
Turns out she sort of knows his family, and she's relieved that he isn't being horribly friendly just to, you know, be friendly. It's because he knows her, so that makes his friendliness okay. It is a nice breath of fresh air from her open hostility to everyone to see her actually enjoying a conversation with someone, though. What isn't so fresh, however, is the way Jacob is smitten with her just like every other freakin' male in this book. Ugh. What kind of pheromones does this girl secrete anyway????
More mystery. Bee-yotch Lauren brings up Edward to goad Bella, but one of the Native American newcomers says the Cullens don't come here in a way that implies they aren't allowed.
OMG, now Bella is going to flirt with (the younger and obviously smitten with her) Jacob for the sole purpose of finding out more about Edward. GAH!!!!! This is how the MEAN GIRL behaves, not the HEROINE!
The mystery deepens. Jacob tells her the Cullens aren't allowed on the reservation. Then he asks her "Do you like scary stories?"
FINALLY WE'VE HIT PLOT. Somewhat. Jacob explains the legends of the origins of his tribe, how they're said to be descended from wolves and that there are stories about the "cold ones" who are natural enemies of wolves. "[W]ell, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."
Oddly, Bella does not seem surprised at all to have Jacob claim his ancestors are werewolves. I mean, I know he's talking legend and mythology, but still, she doesn't even bat an eye, except to flirt more to get him to keep telling the story.
So a "pack" of "cold ones" that "didn't hunt the way others of their kind did" made a treaty with Jacob's grandfather. If they stayed off the tribal lands, they wouldn't be exposed to the "pale faces." (Oh no he didn't! He did NOT just say "pale faces"!!! Yeah, he winked in a smart-alecky way, but still.) Jacob goes on to say it's always dangerous to be around the "cold ones," even when they're "civilized" and don't hunt humans, because "they might get too hungry to resist." Bella asks if the Cullens are like the "cold ones," and Jacob says they are the same cold ones. And finally we get the word "vampires."
Bella continues to flirt with Jacob, even though she feels guilty for using him (her exact words.) But gosh, he sure is useful to get away from that loathsome Mike who's always being so nice to her!
And that's pretty much the end of the chapter. So far, Jacob seems decent enough, other than his horrible taste in girls. And the story he told Bella was sort of interesting. The last two or three pages might well be the first things I've read in this book so far that remotely held my attention. Bella is still hateful, but at least there's a story finally beginning.
Chapter Seven
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