Growing up and the meaning of “Twilight”
Author: Admin
Bella Swan is mature for her age… Are you?
So, in our previous post on the meaning of the Twilight saga, we discussed that people like stories (books, movies, folktales, whatever) that have a true theme they can relate to, and perhaps, will even help them in their lives.
There are many themes — some major, some minor — found throughout the Twilight saga.
The overarching theme throughout the series could be described as “growing up.” What I mean by that is, throughout the series, the reader has an inside look as Bella (and Jacob) mature from clumsy teen to powerful, successful woman (and man).
Through Bella’s first person perspective (more on that later), Stephenie Meyer discusses a wide range of thoughts on growing into maturity. This may be a key reason for Twilight’s popularity among young people, who face similar decisions for their own lives, with the series serving as something of a guide to adulthood. Meanwhile adults may use the series as a guide to compare and contrast with their own lives and the decisions they have made — and are making.
Meyer makes it very clear that “adulthood” (in age alone) is not the same thing as “maturity,” most notably in the contrasts between Bella and her kind-but-scatterbrained mother, Renee, and also with her peers, including the petty-and-scheming Lauren and Jessica. We eventually see similar contrasts between Jacob and members of the wolf pack, when Jacob takes on the narration.
In Twilight — as in most literature, and perhaps in life — true maturity includes the ability to learn and grow amid changing circumstances, the willingness to act responsibly, and a measure of wisdom — to understand the principles of living well, to see what is going on currently, and to know how to apply those true principles in the current circumstances.
Meyer’s concerns on gaining maturity range from the profound — for example, how to choose a life partner — to the prosaic — how to organize one’s time, how to cook, and how to clean.
We’ll look at specific themes in our next “Meaning of Twilight” post coming soon.
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