Around the globe, millions of teenagers have latched onto the bestselling Twilight series by author Stephenie Meyer, falling in love with its characters, its rainy setting of Forks, Washington and its romantic essence. The narrator of the Twilight saga, Bella Swan, is an object of worship and even envy for teen girls everywhere. On social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, it’s not uncommon to find graphics proudly paraded on profiles that say things like ‘Hi, my name is Bella Swan (I wish!)’ or ‘I’m transferring to Forks High’.
Through her blockbuster novels, Stephenie Meyer has unwittingly created a new role model for girls everywhere, but is Bella Swan a good one? Let’s take a look.
What Makes Bella Tick: The Good
If you’re not familiar with the storyline of Twilight, it’s relatively easy to recap. Isabella ’Bella’ Swan leaves her newly remarried, slightly flakey mother in Phoenix, Arizona and relocates to her father’s home in Forks, Washington. There, she starts school and falls in love with the enigmatic, beautiful Edward Cullen, a century old vampire living among mortals.
Bella’s reasons for leaving Phoenix are self-sacrificing. Since her stepfather moves for work so much, her mother is left behind to care for her daughter and is miserable being parted from him. Bella’s move to Forks will insure that her mother can accompany her husband wherever he goes and be happy. Thus, Bella sacrifices her own happiness for someone else’s, which is an admirable action and teaches that the ‘typical’ selfish behavior of a teenager doesn’t have to be the norm.
Once in Forks with her father, a small town police chief, she takes the reins in the household, the very picture of the responsible daughter who does her homework and does the dishes.
Speaking of homework, Bella is also a star student, ahead of the curve in all her classes--at least, in all things other than in trigonometry and physical education--and more power to the girls who strive to achieve the same star student status so that they can be like Bella. She reads extensively and the titles she selects are often classics that many girls have never heard of outside of English class, like the works of Jane Austen, and would never pursue reading on their own. Through Bella Swan, Stephenie Meyer gives teenage girls a push in the right direction: namely, towards the classic literature section of their local bookstore.
In addition to being a very bright and very responsible young lady, Bella has a good heart and loves the people around her unconditionally. She does whatever she can to help the people she cares about, like matchmaking for her new friends in school. She’s polite and generally good natured, without a hateful or spiteful bone in her body.
These are all commendable traits, but Bella is far from perfect. In the article Bella Swan: The Other Side of the Coin we’ll examine the negative.
If you enjoyed this article, you may want to read the article Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.
Lydia Ballard - A writer who got her start in the perilous world of fan fiction, Lydia Ballard is an aspiring comic book writer and self proclaimed lover ...
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