Charlie's Response

[be my escape]

Discuss how Charlie responded to the news about Jaocb and knowing Bella is different. Did he respond how you thought he would?

[lydiane]

No. For one thing, Charlie's reactions surprised me. His reactions seemed to be almost ... abnormal. I expected him to pass out (that was the very least he could do!) or yell (like the way he did to Bella in New Moon - how about, "You were planning to change into a freaking vampire and you didn't even bother to discuss with me??" or something like that).

So okay Jacob had prepared him but durrh - come on. Some people freak easily over PIMPLES, but this?

Just like Jasper, I just don't. get. it.

[chrissaay]

yeah i don't really get it either. i suppose i see how he only wants to know as little as possible.. but come on. a little more reaction could have come out of it.

[Lizzie]

Actually, Charlie's response was one of the things that annoyed me most about the book.
His reaction is so unnatural - every parent in the world would freak out when discovering that their daughter changed into a mythical creature that happens to crave their blood!!
At least I would have expected him to be devastated for several days, weeks, months or years.
But he's just like "Ah well, Ignorance is bliss..." and ends up visiting his vampire daughter with her vampire husband and his hyperintellectual half-vampire granddaughter (that he didn't even know about) the same day he finds out. All happy family...

Uhm....not really?!?!?

[nickcrab]

Didn't bother me at all. Quite happy with it, to be honest. But then, I am a sucker for a happy ending. I don't think that he has any idea that she is a vampire. He knows that she is something... mythical for sure, but he really doesn't want to know any more than that. I imagine that most parents who love their children are willing to overlook a great deal if they know that it will keep their child close and happy. Those are the two things that matter most; that your child is happy and that you can see them when you want to.

[Golden Eyed Glory]

I think Charlie always knew there was something...weird going on. Like his little piece with Bella in Eclipse: talking about how Billy was acting strange and Charlie says he feels like he's going to lose Bella. I feel like he had no idea how crazy it was, but that it was something he wouldn't understand something much bigger than himself. And maybe he said he didn't want to know things because unlike Bella he didn't want to really have a big part in this "other world" he liked where he was. Who knows, maybe Sue was filling him in behind the scenes. Personally I was fine with Charlie's reaction. He loves Bella so much, of course he's upset, but he just wants his daughter. Anyway he can have her.

[JCatter]

I found that Bella lost all the traits I loved about her once she turned vamp. As someone who is close to their mom, I loved her devotion to her crazy mom and her generous choice to live with her dad (who she clearly cared a lot about). I think I was just looking for MORE from her -- her dealing with her losses and coping as opposed to just getting everything in the end (everything INCLUDING the bizarre respect of her parents).

I mean I got married and moved out of state and my parents call me but naturally they can't just up and see me, but if I were in the same town you can bet that just because I got married didn't mean they weren't my parents anymore. Glad to see I'm not the only one, that is so ( and I use the term loosely) unrealistic! Even for Twilight!

[pixiealice]

I was disappointed in Charlie's response. Too easy. Come on. Charlie was a hot head. He's a cop. It's in his nature to question things. Even before Jacob got involved, I was ticked off. If my parents didn't move heaven and earth to get to me on my deathbed...I can't imagine anything else with Charlie. He would have forced his way to Bella. Too neatly wrapped up.

[Palena]

If Edward hadn't said something about Charlie in Eclipse (I think it was Eclipse) about how Charlie knows that there's more going on but chooses to ignore it (which explains why Bella's lying seems to work on him though it works on no one else), I would've thought his reaction to the whole Jacob thing was completely unexpected. But, as Golden Eyed Glory said, I think he always knew that there was something going on that was kinda weird and mostly out of his control, so he just stayed out of it. And when Jacob phased and started explaining things to him, he just decided that he really didn't want to know, so he could just continue and know that his daughter was all right without knowing all the gory details.

[mlola619]

I think Charlie always knew there was something...weird going on. Like his little piece with Bella in Eclipse: talking about how Billy was acting strange and Charlie says he feels like he's going to lose Bella. I feel like he had no idea how crazy it was, but that it was something he wouldn't understand something much bigger than himself. And maybe he said he didn't want to know things because unlike Bella he didn't want to really have a big part in this "other world" he liked where he was. Who knows, maybe Sue was filling him in behind the scenes. Personally I was fine with Charlie's reaction. He loves Bella so much, of course he's upset, but he just wants his daughter. Anyway he can have her.

Agreed. To be honest at first i was like "Okay Charlie, you're a complete moron if you're not freaking out about this" but then again- it's true, he just wants his daughter any way he can have her. I also came to understand his willingness to let the details slide by- he could sense there would be danger in his knowledge of Bella's REAL identity, so he didn't push the subject- he just wanted to keep his daughter even if it meant he had to be and STAY oblivious to her condition.