Love

Love. The idea portrayed in numerous movies, novels, television shows and songs. The world we live in has been shaped around that one simple word: love. Either the love we have, the love we do not possess, or the love we’ve lost. No doubt in the second installment of the Twilight series, New Moon portrays love at it’s worst and best. Edward and Bella’s undying love for each other is tested when Edward is forced to make the decision as to what is better for Bella: him staying with her and loving her unconditionally while endangering her wellbeing or Edward’s leaving and causing Bella and himself to suffer through the heartache. In the end, Edward’s departure shatters the heart of a lovesick Bella and crazed teenage girl readers everywhere.

As weeks pass, Bella seems to fall deeper and deeper into a depression. Throughout the course of the novel, Bella even takes extreme measures, while putting herself at risk in the process, to hear Edward’s voice for just a few seconds. But, Bella learns that love is similar to a butterfly, when you let it go and it does not return than it was not true love, but if you let it go and it returns to you then it was meant to happen. In this way, Bella and Edward’s love is proven to be lasting. The time the two spent separated was agonizing and heart wrenching, but in the end the two are reunited, despite the odds against them, proving that their love for each other is real.

Tick, tick, tick

Tick, tick, tick. Even though time does seem to stand still at some moments, the seconds on the clock continue to tick away. Forgetting and moving on is difficult, as Bella experiences after Edward leaves her in the beginning of New Moon. Her life seems to stand still for months after Edward abandons her leaving her with what feels like an irreparable hole in her chest. As Bella tries to hang on to the past and the time she spent with Edward, the present passes her by and the future draws nearer.

A theme for Stephanie Meyer’s New Moon would be that: time does not stop. Time continues to pass us by and keeps moving. As readers and observers, we can see that in order to move on, Bella must pick herself up and face the new day ahead of her instead of focusing on the past. She does so by befriending Jacob Black and even though Bella stills feels pain of loss, with the help of Jacob her shattered heart is slowly but surely pieced back together a little bit at a time.

The love Bella and Edward share with each other can be closely linked with excruciating pain. Since the two love and care for each other so much, the time Edward and Bella spend apart are agonizing. Mentally, Bella suffers with nightmares and hallucinations and physically she endangers herself by being reckless just to hear Edward’s voice for a few moments.

The heartache and longing Bella experiences throughout New Moon are something almost all teenagers can relate to and makes Bella’s character more real and relatable. A broken heart cannot be repaired easily, as the readers witness through Bella’s time away from Edward as she tries to mend the pieces of herself broken by the loss of her love. New Moon portrays an intense sense of suffering that readers relate to: heartbreak.

Choices

New Moon is all about choices. Edward decides to leave Bella, despite the love they share for each other. Bella chooses to act recklessly and break the promise she made to Edward to keep herself safe. Each choice the character makes is followed by a consequence. After leaving Bella, Edward must live with the heartache and longing for his one true love. By putting herself in danger, Bella must endure the physical injuries her irresponsible actions brought upon her. New Moon also portrays how circumstances can sometimes dictate a persons life. We do not always get to choose.

An example in the Twiight series is Edward Cullen…he did not choose to live his life as a vampire, this choice was made for him and he was merely left to handle the consequences of that life. Both Edward and Jacob were not able to choose the fate of their supernatural abilities, but the two have the choice to either act on their animalistic natures or exhibit a large sense of self control and act on their human instincts behalf.

Good VS Evil

New Moon also portrays the timeless fight of Good versus Evil. On the surface, New Moon depicts werewolves as good because their job is to protect humans from the vampires who threaten to suck their blood or turn the humans into an undead creatures of the night. On the other hand, the vampires are seen as the evil beings that feed off of humans and are naturally made to kill human beings. Although, in reality, it is not safe for humans to come in contact with either of these supernatural beings, but the ultimate decision comes down to personal preference.

Despite his nature, Edward is a warm-hearted, caring , selfless individual who feeds off of animals instead of humans. While Jacob, with his big heart, understanding nature and selflessness is also a good person. The overall idea for this aspect of the story is that although a group may have a specific stereotype (i.e. vampires are the undead, scary bloodsuckers), not all individuals live up to the degrading descriptions of their kind (i.e. Edward chooses to go against the stereotype of vampires and still continue to lead a good life.)