Beep Beep, Rose Rage

100 days of character posters (15/100)

Avoiding a Character Like Bella Swan

Bella Swan, from the Twilight Saga, has been called a lot of things--but I don't think "calm" is typically one of them. For that reason, I think it's worth cracking into what it is about Bella Swan as a character that you'd want to avoid.

I want to take a moment first to say that despite its many problems and flaws, I enjoyed reading the Twilight series when it came out. It was my first foray into post-1980s Young Adult fiction, and while I feel there is certainly some legitimate criticism of the story, most of the hate still hurled at it is bad faith criticism rooted in misogyny, particularly directed toward young women.

One of the most legitimate criticisms of the Twilight Saga is that, as protagonists go, Bella Swan lacks depth. This has nothing to do with her demeanor, but is rather because so much of her character was never fleshed out. The argument is sometimes made that this was by design, to better allow the reader to slip into her shoes, but I've never bought that. I think she was just a poorly developed character, and here's why...

Try to think of three positive words to sum Bella up as a person, and you'll probably struggle. Outside of being with Edward/becoming a vampire (and later protecting her child), she has very little ambition or purpose. She has no hopes and dreams, no short-term personal goals, no life goals, no internal conflict, no story goal, and no motivation/stakes (outside of Edward and later Renesmee.) She has no skills, no hobbies, no passions or interests (outside of reading classic literature), no obvious likes or dislikes, no discernible style, and no noticible voice. She has no really good non-supernatural friendships--either in Forks or left behind in Phoenix (where she grew up), and she's awful to her supernatural friends, human acquaintances, and her parents. Perhaps worst of all, her flaws are never addressed and explored in a way that makes them seem intentional. There are no consequences for her flaws from which she can learn and grow throughout the story.

So, ultimately, if you're trying to avoid creating a character like Bella Swan, those are the things you need to avoid. And you can write a character who's calm/relaxed without any of those things being an issue. :)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Visit my FAQ

See my Master List of Top Posts

But then Renee marries Phil, and not only does she not need Bella as much, but Bella has become a hindrance to her happiness. (I mean, good for Renee for not just abandoning her, but it’s still messed up that Bella feels that way.)

So Bella moves to Forks and looks for ways to make herself useful to Charlie, and Charlie is like, “Sure, okay, if you want to do that it’ll be great” because it’s normal for kids to have chores, right? He doesn’t have any real idea how to be a father so he kind of follows her lead and grounds her when he thinks it’s merited and is generally floundering, but he’s happy she’s there and that’s enough for Bella.

But then she starts dating Edward, and there’s nothing she can do to make herself useful to him. He doesn’t need her to do anything, there’s no way she can help him with anything, she can’t even make him food to eat. As far as she’s concerned, she’s completely useless to him. She shows her love by being useful. People love her because she’s useful, but with him she’s useless. At that point she doesn’t really have the capacity to understand that he finds her incredible and invaluable because of who she is; she doesn’t recognize that she has value outside of her utility, because she’s been taking care of people ever since she was old enough to do it.

She loves him desperately. She wants to believe that he loves her, but she can’t really bring herself to believe it. She isn’t really surprised when he leaves. And it destroys her because not only is he gone, and Alice is gone, and there’s a huge hole in her chest, and she can’t breathe - but in the end she just wasn’t enough.

Just because you find Bella’s introvert tendencies and social anxiety unappealing and boring, doesn’t mean she’s the ‘not like other girls’ type. She’s quite a lot like other people just fine. She just doesn’t appeal to you and the people you surround yourself with. It’s not hard to admit that.

1. Writing a story about a girl who wants something. Plot driven by a woman’s (non-vilified) desire. Truly dreadful execution but still a good idea, sort of a literary incarnation of the “he a little confused but he got the spirit” meme.

2. The fact that when Bella becomes a vampire she can still breathe but “there’s no relief tied to the action” which I remember verbatim because it fucking slapped. The idea of human physical sensations being partially defined by our mortality and the sensations still exist after you become undead but your experience of them is fundamentally different because you no longer need any of it? Extremely cool. The closest Meyer came to taking an interesting stance on vampires being dead.

3. Werewolves are immortal but they can literally stop whenever they want. That shit’s hilarious. Curse of immortality who.

I had a dream about Bella finally coming clean to Charlie so I decided to write it down. This was the resolution I needed. Hope you like it.

I stood motionless as a statue on the porch of Charlie’s house as I battled with my nerves. Some small corner of my extraordinarily capable mind was aware that my perfect stillness was dangerous and it scanned the sounds and scents around me for nearby humans. I was glad Charlie had no close neighbors so I could take this moment to freak out one last time about what I was about to do. Blowing out a breath, I finally collected myself enough to resume my human charade—blinking at regular intervals, shifting my weight, fidgeting—and reached out to gently knock at the door.

Charlie turned off the baseball game he was watching and stood from the couch. I could hear every spring in the couch releasing its tension and every thump of sock-clad feet as he walked towards the door.

  “Hey Bells!” he greeted me with beatific smile as he opened the door and opened his arms for a hug.

“Hi Dad.” I buried my face in his chest and bathed in the warmth emanating from his body. He kissed the top of my head and, even though I couldn’t see his face, I could sense him scanning the black Mercedes behind me for his new favorite person in the world. I grinned and wondered if I should be upset, but I couldn’t begrudge my daughter for usurping my place at the top of his affections.

“Did you bring…”

“Not this time Dad. It’s just me.”

“Well come on in then! Why didn’t you use the key?” He backed into the house and I followed him in, closing the door behind me.

“I was a little nervous,” I admitted. “There’s something important I need to tell you.” I could see his expression shifting towards panic so I added quickly, “Nothing’s wrong Dad. Calm down.”

He looked at me for a moment and then silently walked to the couch. Patting the seat next to him. I took it and gazed into his eyes, my brow puckered with stress.

“What is it Bella?”

“There’s something you deserve to know: something I need you to understand so I can apologize properly for hurting you.” His expression was confused. “Do you remember two years ago when I went to Phoenix and hurt my leg?”

His eyes tightened and he shrank back from me slightly. “I remember.”

“I said some horrible things to you before I left Dad. Things that weren’t true. I loved living with you in Forks, and I wanted to stay, desperately. What I said to you was an awful, hurtful lie and I am so very sorry for the pain I caused you.”

  He took a moment to process that before speaking. “I already forgave you Bells. What’s this all about?”

“I said those things because I had to leave town immediately and I didn’t want you to wonder where I’d gone. I was in danger and it would have been dangerous for you by proxy if I’d stayed. Dangerous for the whole town really. I never would have been so hurtful if there had been any other way.”

His face had shifted into ‘Chief Swan’ mode as I spoke. “Bella you should have told me if you were in trouble! What happened? Was someone threatening you?”

“Yes, but there was nothing you could have done…”

“Bella I’m the Chief of Police! I could have called in resources from across the state to keep you safe. I…”

“It wouldn’t have helped.” I stared into his confused eyes willing him to understand.

  “Why?”

  It was time. “Dad, name something in your room. Anything.”

He stared at me with a baffled expression. “Uh… my wallet.”

  “Ok, I’m going to go get it.” Suddenly I thought of Harry Clearwater and what happened to him when he had a sudden brush with the supernatural. My father was the same age. I had to prepare him. “This is going to be strange, Dad, and a little scary but I’m the same person I always was.”

I got up off the couch and loped to the stairs in two strides. I walked up the stairs, placing my feet carefully on each step so as not to push through the fragile wood. Upon reaching my Dad’s room I took a small sniff of air and caught the scent of his wallet–worn leather spiced with the scent of his blood–emanating from the top drawer of his dresser. I grabbed it and went back to the head of the stairs. I jumped from the top of the stairs to the ground floor in one precisely calculated leap, bending my knees to absorb the impact and landing with a barely audible thump. Then casually walked back to stand in front of Charlie who was still staring at the seat I had vacated. Barely a second had passed. 

He jumped and his heart rate picked up as he turned from the empty seat beside him to look at the wallet I held directly in front of him. He just sat there staring as I listened anxiously to his heart. Slowly he reached for the wallet and set it on the coffee table before looking up into my eyes.

 “Don’t freak out Dad, but I’m going to grab one more thing.” I darted to the kitchen moving at full speed this time and stopped in front of the silverware drawer. I opened it and plucked out a butter knife before streaking back to the front room and sitting beside Charlie. He was still looking straight ahead so I gently touched his face and turned it back to me, leaving my cool palm against his cheek while I waited for the wildness to fade from his startled gaze. When I was sure he was not going to have a cardiac event, I lifted the butter knife between us to catch his attention. 

The knife was part of a set that was passed down to Charlie from his parents. It was made of solid stainless steel and had the chunky utilitarian design common in the 1950s. As he watched I took the knife by its thick, bulbous handle and slowly bent it up into an L shape. To me the metal had the consistency of freshly made taffy: just firm enough to hold its shape. It yielded easily to the slightest pressure I applied, the metal warming my cool hands pleasantly as it resisted my implacable strength. 

I paused to let Charlie take in the crooked handle before curling my palm around the bent end and slowly balling my fist. The metal protested by heating so hot it would probably burn me if I were still human. I opened my fist and the metal had formed into a misshapen lump that matched the shape of my palm and fingers. I waited until the subtle shimmery heat distortion ceased before handing the knife out to Charlie. His eyes were bulging in shock as he took the ruined knife from me and gazed at it in amazement.

  “I’m not human anymore Dad, but I’m still your daughter and I still love you very much.” His eyes flicked to mine, taking in the muddled brown color the contacts made my irises, then to my skin which was paler than it used to be… and colder. I could see the understanding dawning in his expression.

  “The person hunting you wasn’t human either.” His voice was commendably steady, the product of conducting countless investigations under stressful circumstances no doubt.

  “No, he wasn’t. Edward and the rest took care of me,” he didn’t need to know how close I came to dying… or that it was my own fault, “but I couldn’t let you get involved.”

  He nodded slowly and his heart calmed. He reached out for me and I leaned into his shoulder, relief at his acceptance of my unnaturalness flooding through me. “What are you now Bells?”

I hesitated for a moment. “It’s best If I don’t tell you. Not because I don’t want to, but because the knowledge would be dangerous for you.” I leaned back and looked into his eyes. “Please know I would tell you if I could.” My eyes pleading.

iI don’t mind at all!

That’s a very good question I’ve wondered about as well, and I have quite a few thoughts on the matter.

First of, would Emmet turn?

I think he would, in part because he would follow Rosalie everywhere, and in part because I don’t think he has enough introspection to realize that he’d be deeply unhappy. I think Carlisle, Alice, or even Jasper might try to give him an intervention here, but I doubt they’d get through to him.

So, Emmet chooses to become human for Rosalie, they probably get married again because this is Rosalie and Emmet we’re talking about, and then Emmet quickly discovers that this sucks. He has lost his strength, he’d lose in a fight against a dog, nevermind a bear, and he is so very vulnerable that shaving himself in the morning can make him bleed all over the place. And I hate to say this, but while Rosalie would still be beautiful, her beauty would no longer be divine. And I think that would actually be a pretty big problem for him.

See, while Rosalie and Emmet are easily one of the better couples in Twilight, that just speaks of how terrible the other couples are because these two are not a perfect match. Rosalie is a highly intelligent, ambitious, and complicated woman, and a deeply feminist character. She doesn’t wait around in a tower for her knight in shining armor to come, she walks into the woods and kills a bear with her bare hands then drags her husband home. She gets a new father and a new husband yet she never gives up her name, she specializes in every field that catches her fancy, and she defies gender roles when it pleases to become a car mechanic. This woman is indomitable, and the kind that I think is very intimidating to men. Any man wishes to be with Rosalie has to first accept the fact that his wife will always be a greater badass than him. Very few men can do that, and sadly I don’t think Emmet is one of them.

Emmet is very big on reaffirming his manly man status, to the point where it looks like blustering. He wrestles bears, wrestles Jasper, he has a massive jeep, he is deeply dismayed James thought Jasper made a bigger threat than he did, in Midnight Sun when he’s told to guard Bella he starts acting like a Hollywood Secret Service type of guy - just, this guy’s entire everything is centered around being big, strong, and manly. And that would make him perfect for Rose if she were the Regina George type of cheerleader she was supposed to be, but unfortunately she turned out to be so much more than that. Emmet did not. They’re mismatched.

I’m not just saying this based on vibes. Emmet not only fails to stand up for Rose when their family treats her like garbage, but he’s... well, if not there right there with them, then it seems he’s quietly agreeing on the side. The way he sees it, Rose is a bit of a bitch, but hey, she’s his Rose, she can be as bitchy as she likes and he’ll still have her. In other words, I don’t doubt that he loves her more than anything in the world, but I don’t think he understands her. And that may work for them in the short term, but into eternity? Or as humans?

(I have a whole lot of thoughts on Rose’s end of this as well, but while it would be tangentially relevant to this post, it is past long enough. I’ll happy get into it, though)

There’s also the fact that vampire brain chemistry means things never change for them. So Emmet as a vampire will always be awed by Rosalie’s very existence and adulate her every breath, but if they were humans her beauty would be mortal, and he would get used to it quite quickly. And once Rosalie is just another hot blonde, and Emmet just another man who loves her, but doesn’t worship her as the center of his universe- well, that’s half the magic gone, isn’t it, within weeks.

Okay so I don’t listen to a lot of Taylor swift so I’m not the best person to ask BUT I’ve held this position since fifth grade.

Breathe by Taylor Swift from the fearless album has ALWAYS reminded me of New Moon from Edward’s perspective (like when he leaves)