(an original review written by Darku darkkurama@yahoo.com.hk; plagiarism not tolerated)

I have to be honest at the very beginning of this essay, and admit it is the movie which drew my initial attention. My curiosity was not raised until I got to know the movie was based on the novel under the same title. Surprised by its “bestseller” gimmick, I could not help turning the pages and was glad for my observations. What impressed me in the novel is something deep under the text. Thanks to such an element, which may be part of the author’s subtle design, the novel is distanced from those merely entertaining.

The heroine’s move from Phoenix city to Forks is always mentioned in the first line of the introductory passages on both the related webpages and the back cover of the Chinese translation. Bella is quick to notice the strangeness of Forks landscape, strangeness in her sense, that “it was too green – an alien planet” (8). Her description foreshadows the later chapters of the story. The city is an alien one because of the vampires’ “mass” existence. The prevailing color reminds us of the forest, where the Cullens have settled and made their hunt. It is a place Bella describes later, more than once, with words like “maze” (140) and “labyrinth” (258). These words have implications that she is stepping into the world of the unknown, she will go too deep and unable to escape.

These implications of the forest are made clearer and clearer as the story goes. As Bella’s search for reliable information on vampires, driven by her suspicion of Edward, has been in vain, she leaves the house for some fresh air and unintentionally wanders into the forest. It is when she goes deeper inside that she has a better understanding for her true feelings: it would be much less poignant for her to let herself be involved in Edward’s mystery, than detach herself from him. Such an understanding has led her to situations and incidents unexpected and incredible. She decides to keep the dangerous relationship with him and makes her further approach to his family, which subsequently brings her the fatal danger of being attacked by another vampire. It is in the forest that all these have started, which reinforces the idea of the forest as a symbol for the unknown and mysterious.

In the novel there is nothing more obvious than the dangerous nature of Bella’s relationship with Edward, and the development of the relationship can be seen in another angle. Bella is similar to Doctor Faustus, the main character of one of the major dramas written by Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593). Faustus’s covet for the power from forbidden knowledge has driven him to turn to Lucifer, who proposes the exchange of his soul for such knowledge, and the choice Faustus has made is to accept such a bargain. The word “motive” can apply to Faustus rather than Bella, but they share the same aspiration for forbidden knowledge. Being enchanted by Edward himself and his mystery, she tries to figure out her “theory” (179) from the observations, and strives for chances to satisfy her curiosity during his presence, regardless of the threat from his possible loss of control and his deadly fangs. We can see her quest for the knowledge in her conversation with Edward, which goes through several chapters, and her visit to Edward’s family. It is such knowledge and intimacy which leads to her experience around the jaws of death: she knows too much, which strengthens her mouthwatering smell, the smell in vampires’ sense. Although she makes her decision of turning into a vampire only at the end of the novel, she has already made a similar choice, the choice to ignore her human soul, much earlier, at the time of realizing the danger and the alternative. Her choice has more or less the same outcome as Faustus’s.

Despite the appalling bloodshed Bella has suffered herself, it is interesting to look into her dream of that deadly experience. She “floated under the dark water” (452) uncontrollably before she can return to consciousness: “the water was so deep, it was pressing on me, and I couldn’t breathe” (453). Water here is given a suffocating attribute which is associated with physical death. Such an attribute is made strongest in the passage above, and we can find another similar attribute repeated in different chapters. She describes her feelings “like [she] was treading water, instead of drowning in it” (29), when she gradually gets used to her new life. The description is related to her previous aversion of the new place Forks and unhappy experience of not fitting in the peers’ circle before. Being unable to adapt to the new environment, if it was the case, would be so suffocating for her that she would become spiritually lost and lifeless, “drowned”. In fact, it is already emphasized at the very beginning of the novel, in the description of Bella’s first impression of the place, a city of rain and gloom so overwhelming where her mother “escaped” (3) and she “exiled herself” (4). Recalling the story outline that with vampires frequenting the city is full of fatal threats, we may find the point more convincing that water, in its original form or in the form of rain, is associated with the state of lifelessness, and further consider the above description as another instance of foreshadowing.

All the observations above cover only some of the possible literary arguments that the novel can arouse, and may in turn lead to further discussions, counterarguments, new insights, etc. A novel solely for entertainment will not receive wide appreciation, while a popular novel must have something interesting that drives the readers to explore for more, and some space for their further interpretation as well as the author’s own ideas. This is why there are already so many reviews dedicated to the novel Twilight. This is also why I have spent time reading it for more than twice and organizing my points with such seriousness, carefulness and, above all, eagerness.