This post will be mostly about the plot and characters. It will provide a general overview of the story and lay the foundation to discuss the topics and issues that are prevalent in the series.
Twilight is the first book in the four part series authored by Stephanie Meyers. At 544 pages it is no short read, but it is a rather easy read. The main character Bella is a 17 year old girl from Phoenix, Arizona who lived a rather isolated and independent life. Bella is self admittedly clumsy and continually describes herself as never really fitting in. Her parents were divorced and she lived with her mom who seems to be chasing a fantasy of an exciting large city life by marrying a minor league baseball player. Her father lived in the city she was born in, Forks, Washington. Forks is a small rainy town where everyone seems to know everyone else. Bella makes the decision to go live with her Dad in Forks so her mother can continue to travel around the US with her husband and not worry about her.
Her independent lifestyle continues as her father is clueless in raising a teenage daughter and he himself is pretty set in his ways and his job as the town sheriff. It is in school that she meets Edward. Through a series of events, Edward saving her life a couple of times, she realizes that there is something different about him. She eventually discovers he is a vampire, but no ordinary vampire.
Edward belonged to a “family” of vampires that had decided to abstain from their bodily desires and feed only on animal blood as opposed to human blood. The book is quite clear that the desire is still there and for some in Edwards family the desire is still quite strong, but they resist their urges to live a life beyond the circumstances they have been put in.
The book revolves around the relationship that Bella and Edward build as boyfriend and girlfriend and as human and vampire. It chronicles their ups and downs, trails and triumphs.
In the upcoming post I’ll focus first on Bella. What we can learn from her character and what it says about our society today. The following post we will look at Edward, the third post will look at their relationship and the final post will be a wrap up and thoughts on the book.
Looking forward to this!
Thanks Steven for investigating the “Twilight” series and giving us parents your take on the series. My 12 yr. old daughter and her friends have all been engrossed in this series since the beginning of the school year!
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