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Review: Twilight (The Book)
Written by Stephenie Meyer
Atom, 2005
Twilight has certainly created a stir. The book was dethroned from its #1 position on the best-sellers’ list only by the release of J. K. Rowling’s latest offering, The Tales of Beadle the Bard. And the movie, released in the US in late November, grossed over $69 million in its opening weekend. But is it worth the hype? I’m not convinced.
Twilight is a teen romance told from the point of view of Bella, the main female character. Bella, a high school girl who has spent most of her life living in sunny Phoenix, Arizona with her mother, moves to dreary Forks, Washington State to live with her father. In Forks, Bella meets Edward, the youngest member of a “family” of “vegetarian” vampires (i.e., they don’t drink human blood). Enter the predictable “chick flick” plot: they meet, fall in love, overcome the “issues” facing them (namely, that Edward thirsts for Bella’s blood and Bella ends up being hunted by a “bad” vampire), and ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after.
Admittedly Twilight was an easy read but I didn’t find it to be a good read. For starters, the plot was too predictable and lacked creativity, the characters were superficial and underdeveloped, and the book lacked the mystery, intrigue, and suspense that one would expect from a vampire romance. The story, however, does improve in the second half of the book (chapter 13 onwards) which, by Meyer’s own admission, was written before the first half. The first half was then written and re-written until the pieces matched up. Meyer’s unorthodox method means that one needs to endure the slowness of the first half in order to reach the more engaging second half. Despite these disappointments, both the language and the story itself are clean: there is no swearing, no horror (despite the presence of vampires), and no detailed violence. However, the language is quite sensual in some places and this may be unhelpful for some readers.
All of this does not mean that I didn’t find Twilight interesting – I did. Before I began to read Twilight I was told that Meyer is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (i.e., the Mormons). With this fact in the back of my mind, I set about reading Twilight to see how Meyer’s worldview comes through in the book. This task was neither unfruitful nor uninvited as Meyer herself states that her worldview influences what she writes.
Meyer’s worldview can be seen in a number of different themes and images used in Twilight. Firstly, Meyer quotes from Genesis 2:17 at the beginning of Twilight. This quote points to the tension between temptation and self-control within the book, primarily seen in Edward’s struggle to resist his thirst for Bella’s blood.
Secondly, the imagery of “peace” between predator and prey – the type of imagery found in Isaiah 11:6-9 – is seen throughout the book but is brought to the fore by the dialogue between Edward and Bella in chapter 13:
Edward: And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.
Bella: What a stupid lamb.
Edward: What a sick, masochistic lion.
Unlike the biblical image, however, where the predator and its prey dwell together in perfect peace under the reign of the Spirit-empowered descendant of Jesse, the use of the image in Twilight is fraught with temptation and tension. Although Edward and Bella love each other there is the ever-present danger that Edward will succumb to his desires and kill Bella. This element of danger is not present in the Bible’s use of similar imagery.
Thirdly, the idea of substitutionary atonement is introduced in the preface:
Bella: Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.
Some have said that this idea is central to the book. However, after the preface the idea doesn’t resurface until the end of the book. In the storyline as a whole, the idea of substitution is definitely secondary to the theme of temptation–self-control.
There are some other more minor ideas in Twilight that could also arise from Meyer’s worldview. For example, the vampires are described as having new life because they have been rescued from death by Carlisle, their “father”. Once they have this new life, the vampires become part of a new family with others who also share their new life. The idea of eternity and living forever is also introduced though, from brief previews, this appears to be more pronounced in the movie.
So, how should we approach Twilight as a Christian? Many Christians may not read Twilight either because of the presence of vampires in the storyline or because Meyer is a Mormon. For those who do read Twilight, however, we need to approach it just like any other novel: as a piece of (not very) creative fiction. Although the world of Twilight is more realistic than the world of Harry Potter, for example, it is still a fantastic world. As we read Twilight and other similar books we need to remember that these two worlds – the real and the fantasy – are distinct from each other and that we live in the real world. Even if vampires were not creatures of fantasy, the real world, including everything in it, has been created by and for Jesus and is presently sustained and ruled over by him (Col 1:16; Heb 1:3). There is nothing in all creation that is outside of Jesus’ rule and authority (1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:19b-22; Heb 2:5-9) nor is there anything that can separate those who are truly God’s from his love (Rom 8:38-39).
Although Twilight was a disappointing read in many ways, it was interesting to read it with the added task of trying to see where Meyer’s worldview influenced the storyline. I am looking forward to seeing how the movie differs from the book and also how Meyer’s worldview has influenced the other books in this series.
