Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Twilight, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Lust
Self-Restraint and Morality
Good, Evil, and Perspective
Family
Summary
Analysis
Bella wakes up confused. She’s clearly in a hotel, and at first she can barely remember speeding along in the black car. Then she remembers that the car pulled into Phoenix after only a day of driving, and Jasper got them a hotel near the airport. Bella figures she fell asleep right after they left the car. Now, it’s three in the morning. Alice knocks, lets herself in, and suggests Bella sleep longer. She shares that there’s food in the front room for her and says they’ll have to stay inside. She hasn’t heard from Edward.
Throughout the novel, Bella has shown herself to be capable of handling all sorts of difficult, scary, or emotional events, from almost dying under a van to dating a vampire. Here, her humanity starts to show through, as it’s clear she’s struggling to process everything that’s happened.
Themes
Bella joins Alice and Jasper in the hotel suite’s living room. She picks at her food and watches Alice and Jasper stare blankly at the TV. They seem too still. Bella asks what’s wrong, and Alice’s answer—nothing—seems too honest. Bella ascertains that Alice expected Carlisle or Edward to call before now, and Bella feels suddenly panicky. Jasper reminds Bella that she’s safe here and asks why she’s frightened. Bella reminds them that James is lethal—what if Carlisle, Edward, or someone else got hurt just to protect her? Jasper assures her that nothing is going to hurt the Cullens. The family will be fine; they’re just afraid for Bella.
Bella might be exhausted and overwhelmed, but she can still recognize that there’s something Alice and Jasper aren’t telling her. And especially since Bella believes she’s missing critical information, it’s harder for her to trust that everyone is going to be fine. Her selfless nature means that she’s far more concerned about any of her loved ones than she is about her own safety.
Themes
Bella asks why they even care, and Alice says Bella has no idea how much Edward has changed since she came into his life. Bella starts to feel calmer, but she knows she can’t trust her feelings with Jasper around. The day passes slowly; Bella paces while Jasper and Alice stare at the TV. In the afternoon, Bella goes back to sleep. Alice follows her, and soon, Bella starts to feel panicky. She asks Alice what’s going on. Calmly, Alice says that Carlisle was going to lead James north and then ambush him, while Esme and Rosalie were going to lead Victoria west and then watch Charlie. If nobody has called, it means James is close enough to overhear them. She promises that she’ll always tell Bella the truth.
Alice confirms what the novel has implied all along: Bella and Edward’s relationship is a once-in-a-lifetime romance, and it’s given both Edward and Bella the safe place to be who they want to be. And for this reason, Alice suggests, it’s totally worth it to protect Bella from any and all threats. Bella might not think of herself as particularly important, and in part because of that she doesn’t fully grasp that staying alive and accepting the Cullens’ help is one of the most effective ways she can help Edward be happy.
Themes
Bella deliberates and then asks how a person becomes a vampire. Alice is surprised and says that Edward doesn’t want Bella to know—but it’s clear she doesn’t agree about that. With a sigh, Alice agrees to share, with the disclaimer that she doesn’t remember her own transformation and has never done it, so she can only share the theory. She says that vampires are predators, so they have all sorts of weapons: strength, speed, and extra senses. But they have one weapon additional weapon: their venom. The venom doesn’t kill, it just causes pain. And if left to spread, it will turn a person into a vampire, assuming their heart keeps beating. The transformation is supposedly excruciating.
Edward thinks of himself as being a “bad guy” and a “monster” because he’s a vampire. So it follows that he’d oppose Bella ever becoming a vampire. Per Edward’s logic, it would transform Bella from her current status as a humanizing force who has helped him to find his goodness and turn her instead into a being just like him. For Edward, Bella remaining human is vital, for both her and him. The introduction of the concept of the venom also sets up what will be the climactic events of the novel.
Themes
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Bella asks why Edward said changing someone is hard, and Alice explains that vampires are like sharks. Once they smell blood, it’s hard to stop—so biting someone and not continuing to feed would be hard. Alice says she has no idea why she doesn’t remember her transformation; most vampires remember the pain of transforming better than anything else. She doesn’t remember being human at all.
With her shark analogy, Alice insists that vampires all struggle with self-control to some degree, no matter their food source. This goes back to Edward refusing to let Bella watch him hunt; he too said that it’s hard to control himself when he’s hunting and feeding.
Themes
Bella and Alice lapse into silence and then, suddenly, Alice leaps up and says something changed. Jasper appears in the doorway and guides Alice back to the bed. Alice says she can see a long, mirrored room with wood floors. James is there, and there’s a gold stripe across the mirrors. She can’t see everything, though; someone has to make another decision first. James will be in the room today or tomorrow, but he’s waiting for something. Right now, James is in the dark somewhere else, watching a VCR. But the mirror room is “where he waits.” Bella asks what this means, and Alice says James has just made new decisions. In any case, James is going to escape the Cullens in Washington.
It's important that though Alice can see this mirrored room now, she recognizes that she can’t see everything about it because someone else has to make a decision. This highlights how important the idea of choice and free will are within Twilight’s world: It’s impossible to tell for sure what the future holds because it’s changing all the time based on what choices people make. Generally speaking, seeing this change means that the Cullens are going to have to rework their plans if they’re going to come out on top. But this revelation about how Alice’s ability to see the future works also connects to the novel’s themes about a person’s character depending not on who (or what) they are but instead on what they do.
Themes
The phone rings, and Alice picks up; it’s Carlisle. She tells him about her vision, and Carlisle says James just got on a plane. Then she holds the phone out to Bella. It’s Edward. Relieved, Bella tells Edward she was worried, and Edward scolds her for worrying about him. He explains that James got on a plane, presumably to head back to Forks. Esme is currently watching Charlie—Victoria has been at the house, but only when Charlie is at work. Edward assures Bella that Charlie is safe. Bella says she misses him, and Edward says that she took half of his heart with her. He promises to come soon.
Bella and Edward’s conversation illustrates how selfless they both are. Bella, as she’s been since James emerged as a threat, is concerned for Edward and the Cullens’ safety. To Edward, this is ridiculous and borders on offensive—because he can only think about protecting her. But even as Edward scolds Bella—something that could read as mean or controlling—he invokes how all-encompassing his love for her is. The novel constantly tiptoes down the line of Edward’s behavior being controlling, and that controlling aspect being acceptable because it is motivated by overwhelming love.
Themes
When Bella turns around to give Alice the phone, she sees that Alice is sketching the room from her vision. Bella recognizes the room as a ballet studio, maybe the one where she used to take lessons. Alice asks if Bella would have a reason to go there (she wouldn’t) and Jasper asks where it is. It’s around the corner from Bella’s mom’s house, here in Phoenix. Alice assures Bella that the phone is safe, so Bella asks if she can call Mom. She knows her mother is returning home soon, and Bella doesn’t want her coming back to her house with James and Victoria on the loose.
Alice’s vision of the ballet studio suggests that James has figured out that Bella is in Phoenix. It’s also somewhat ironic that James is headed for a ballet studio in his hunt for Bella—given how uncoordinated she is, it’s the last place one would expect to find Bella. It once again highlights just how out of her element Bella is amongst these powerful vampires.
Themes
Jasper thinks this would be fine, so Bella calls and gets the answering machine, which she expected. She asks Mom to call her at this number when she gets home, and to not go anywhere until they speak. For the rest of the day, Bella picks at the food, watches the news, and watches Alice sketch. Eventually, Bella falls asleep.
Like Edward, Bella’s primary concern is for her loved ones’ safety. It’s difficult for her to do anything else when she’s not sure if anyone else is going to be safe.
Themes
