Lessons from Bella: A Guide to Living Well
Author: Admin
With so many people stopping by, its a good thing Bella keeps the house so clean.
We previously discussed how themes of gaining maturity resonate throughout the Twilight saga — and in the hearts and minds of its readers.
Stephenie Meyer is — among other things — the world’s most engaging writer of notes in the forwards and afterwards of her books. They are as delightful (she stiffed her brother-slash-web designer?) as they are unpredictable (“Muse, Muse, Muse, Muse, Muse”).
Among her most surprising notes is when she thanks her husband and children for their willingness to frequently eat out. Apparently, with her writing deadlines, she didn’t have much time left for cooking dinners.
Eating well is, indeed, an important part of living well — something that Bella Swan, the heroine of the Twilight Saga (and her father, Charlie) knows well. How many fans have tried to figure out her recipe for broiled steak & baked potatoes? Spaghetti? Beef stroganoff? Chicken enchiladas? (I have! delicious!!)(and they were good as leftovers, too). The details of Bella’s cooking each night for her and Charlie are so well documented, and obviously based on actual recipes, that one could well imagine a future Twilight companion (cook)book of Bella’s Household Recipes for Young Cooks.
So, Bella lives in a world very, very much like ours when it comes to the prosaic matters of life. These themes are important enough for Meyer that she illuminates them in some detail. They also serve to show that Bella is quite mature for her age, even as she struggles to gain the peace, satisfaction, love and joy that only true maturity will bring — a very important theme of her character’s progression throughout the saga.
So, here are a few “Lessons from Bella:”
1. Bella on How to Cook: Eating well is an important part of enjoying life (just ask Charlie). Bella is comfortable in the kitchen, and knows how to shop for, and cook, a number of delicious and nourishing meals — enough to live off of healthily, without tiresome repetition.
Note for those living outside modern U.S. culture: This is an utterly remarkable skill for a young person living in the U.S. today, and is no doubt a key reason this part of Bella’s talents is left entirely out of the film(s?). In the U.S., it appears that one day we may all join Meyer in eating out every night, with cooking relegated to the same status as sewing — once a necessary skill, now an almost quaint hobby, only for those with a great deal of free time. Or Martha Stewart.
Note for those living within modern U.S. culture: Most young people in most other cultures (yes, particularly girls) know at least as much as Bella does about cooking, and can cook numerous meals competently, if not particularly well, by the time they reach adulthood.
Really.
For an example, see “Bend It Like Beckham,” (SPOILER:) where an Indian mother says confidently of her daughter as she leaves home, “I taught her to cook aloo gobi. The rest is up to God.”
So remember to remove the lid of your spaghetti sauce before you put it in the microwave, and be sure to stir the pasta while it cooks. Have any other authors — not actually writing about cooking — described the process of cooking in such detail? And so compellingly?
Ernest Hemingway…?
2. Bella Swan on Time Management: Prioritize carefully, finishing deadlined tasks (such as homework) as soon as possible, and afterwards, taking time out occasionally to think, to ponder, to rest, and even to simply relax.
Carefully and correctly prioritizing can be a difficult skill to develop, even though it offers such direct rewards. While it may be an important “habit of highly effective people,” it still takes a certain level of maturity to master. Yet, despite her young age, Bella (almost) always puts first things first.
Although students living outside the U.S. may view Bella as a somewhat casual student, most readers within the U.S. would regard her as notably studious. She regularly puts her homework first and rarely, if ever, misses an assignment (other than when unavoidably traveling internationally). For most high school students in the U.S., that is fairly surprising. Mike is an example of what may be the norm here (What? The report is due tomorrow??!!).
Although Bella avoids television and seldom uses the Internet (as a TV producer and web designer, I confess my concern), Bella’s hardworking nature doesn’t prevent her from relaxing and recharging as needed, often with a well-written and enlightening book. Again, at least in the U.S., this is fairly unique — or it was before the Twilight series was published.
3. Bella on How to Clean: Bella knows she is not as neat as she should be, but she is as clean as she needs to be. She cleans the house, does the laundry, and washes the dishes without complaint. Her bedroom… well, like many of us, not so much.
She generally takes care of cleaning jobs promptly, before they result in a bigger mess. For example, we often read of Bella washing her own dishes as soon as she finishes eating (any parent’s dream come true).
Further, she realizes that cleaning is often a sign you care for the others in your household — for example, cleaning while Charlie is at a funeral, even though her friend, Alice, is visiting.
The importance of cleaning may be underscored by the reader’s realization that perhaps if she had cleaned her room beyond what was simply necessary, she might have found the tokens of Edward’s lasting affection that he had left for her there during New Moon — when she needed them most.
So, did Stephenie Meyer mean for the Twilight saga to be taken as a guide to the need for good housekeeping skills? Hardly.
Yet, that doesn’t mean these points aren’t still contained within the texts themselves. And while these prosaic tasks ground Bella’s story within the real world we all live in — where meals must be cooked, where homes could use more cleaning, and where time is always, always limited — Meyer makes these anecdotal details compelling to her readers.
And perhaps, even a little inspiring.
Which reminds me, I really need to pick up in here. Next time, we’ll look at some more substantive themes in the Twilight saga. Feel free to comment below — if your homework is done.
