Bella as narrator
Is Bella a reliable narrator for the story? If not, then how should we as the reader read what Bella tells us throughout the saga?
Meyers:
"Bella's is a lack of self-knowledge; If Bella had understood herself better, she could have saved everyone a lot of heartbreak. Sometimes that happens when you try to do the right thing."
Bella:
"The questions were stupid, because I knew the answer: I'd been lying to myself."
-- If Bella has been lying to herself, then she has also been lying to us the reader. Given this knowledge, how do you think we should read what Bella says?
-- If she is lying (and she says that she was) how do we know what is real?
-- When did Bella begin lying to herself? Is that something that we can see in the text? Or a question that only Meyers can answer on Bella's behalf?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Elita on
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but loved enough to imagine a future with Jacob,
She did not imagine the common future with Jacob.
She finally understood the Jacob's point. She did not start imagine it from herself, she never thought about Jacob in that way.
And notice, after seeing common children, she switched off that vision!
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Permalink Reply by Dantezgirl on -
1: With a hearty serving of salt JJ. As a author I suspect Meyers KNOWS Bella more than we the reader do. Well, I hope she does. Any who, I think it's Meyers JOB as Bella's voice to well, voice, what she thinks, says does.
2: We know it's real because Meyers pointedly SHOWS us readers it is. As a third/second perspective us readers are able to internalize Bella's thoughts and actions. We see the bigger picture, whereas Bella can't or may not want to. EG: As a gambling addict you cant SEE what, how, when your actions affect others. As a victim of Violence, you can't SEE that your relationship is violent. It possibly takes an outside perspective to SEE the lies, which is us readers.
3: Don't you just love this Q JJ? brings up old memories :0 Bella lied to herself from the moment she uttered a word. Her reasoning for moving to Forks was to "Spend Time With Charlie" they barely connected. Sirius-ly though? New Moon, possibly, probably, Twilight. Oh we can definitely see it in the text.
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Permalink Reply by JJ on -
1) Salt is probably a good thing to use when reading any book. And I agree that it makes sense that Meyers would know Bella better. Do you think that Meyers did a good job of voicing Bella and what she thinks and does?
2) I do agree that hind sight is an amazing thing and Bella is given an opportunity to look at her actions with eyes wide open. There are countless number of times in our own lives where we get insight that helps us to gain understanding about ourselves.
3) Wow... lying to herself from the very beginning. That is a scary thought.
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Actually, her reasoning for moving to Forks was to give a space for her mother and mother's new husband. Bella said it in very beginning. And she was a bit bothered. about spending time with Charlie. I do not see how she was lying, then.
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Permalink Reply by Dantezgirl on
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I was joking Elita, but, thinking about it. What would you say if I said . . "It made Bella awkward?" I have a sneaky suspicion her and Renee weren't connecting as much as they used too after the new boyfriend/fiance arrived.. Kind O like Charlie and Bella. Bella grew up shifting between the pair. Charlie had his pursuits, Renee likewise hers. But at least Renee had "Girl" pursuits which Bella could "Tag Along" too, maybe even enjoy. Bella seems like a very private, quiet, low maintenance kind of personality. Not to mention a kind person at heart. But ultimately a loner. She's Charlie in female form. So I think she did what Bella does best. She left to comfort a lonely Charlie, and yeah, probably to get away from all the Google eyes the pair were throwing at each other LOL.In other words? She did it for everyone but herself. So I think mayhap a partial lie?
JJ! I think Meyers did a bang up job! How many times have we argued over WHO, WHAT, HOW and the WHY'S of Bella's actions. So many different perspectives on the exact same sentence. It goes back to what Meyer said "Bella's is a lack of self-knowledge; If Bella had understood herself better, she could have saved everyone a lot of heartbreak. Sometimes that happens when you try to do the right thing." Meyers showed us readers that. So well in fact, we can't even agree upon the context of a sentence we've read and re-read about a million times LOL. Even with all the "Inside" story, we still can't agree on "Who" Bella is. Or whether she lied to us and herself.
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Permalink Reply by Cupcake on -
Self-deceit is actually very common. It's telling yourself to do something you know deep down you can't or won't want to do. It's telling yourself you're someone you're not. It's telling yourself you don't want something when you do. These sorts of things. When Bella does that, it's pretty obvious to the reader, really. And it's not like she's lying to herself about what's happening, just about how she feels and what she wants to do. We don't have a skewed view of what's real, only how she feels she should handle things sometimes. We see that when she changes her mind.
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Permalink Reply by Danette (DMK) on -
Cupcake...
How are you?
Beautifully said... "self-deceit".... is the inner works of the subconscious mind. It is a complex mesh of ego, insecurities and internal damages that often drives us to make wrong decisions. Or...the intellectual mind/thought processes wrestle/rationalize with the emotional heart/soul. The inner voice/private speech...I believe, is our soul speaking inside us...guiding us with the right path/decisions. I believe when we go against our abstract inner-soul/conscious...is when conflict arises....the right answer is always there...we just need to "listen". When we listen to the heart/soul, we often face our biggest insecurities/fears in that process....and that can be scary/overwhelming. Sometimes...when we are "blind"....truth is only seen when we consciously face that fear.
I feel this is what happened to Bella....she faced her fear of giving up her potential, ''alternative" human existence with or without Jacob...for an eternity within Edward in an ''unknown" supernatural realm. She knew she wanted it all along....she just had to 'face' all that she had to give up submitting into Edward's vampire world....instead of her intellectual mind trying to rationalize against it. Bella faced her love/commitment with Edward in mind/soul/body...instead of just saying the words.... she believed in them!!!!!
I felt the kiss with Jacob was a metaphor for her letting go of her human life....and accepting her new life with Edward. The 'choice' was never about convincing herself between who she loves(it was always Edward)....it was a "choice" about which life she wanted to live....being "human" or being a "vampire".
Hope that made sense....:)
Love...
Danette
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Permalink Reply by JJ on
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". The 'choice' was never about convincing herself between who she loves(it was always Edward)....it was a "choice" about which life she wanted to live....being "human" or being a "vampire"."
I do agree that Jacob represents her "human option". Do you really think there was much of a "debate" internal or otherwise? She seemed to be just as certain that she wanted to be a vampire as her love for Edward.
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Permalink Reply by Toni Ann Whitmore on -
No, I don't necessarily think there was any debate per se internal. She knew she wanted to be with Edward forever, not getting any older than Edward. She knew being human meant feeling out of step whereas in vampire world she felt more herself ..... Hmm....
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Permalink Reply by JJ on
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I don't think there was much of a debate either. So if it wasn't to "weight out" her human life, why do you think Bella internal struggle was in regards to Jacob. She clearly had one otherwise she would not have been "deceitful" to herself. There was something about her relationship with Jacob that Bella was blocking from her mind or not allowing herself to think about. What was that?
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