Charlie's Response

[midnight_fix]

I agree. I don't think he is forced to keep the secret the way Sam had made it an order. But it wouldn't serve him well to tell anyone. So although they choose to keep it, i don't think he HAS to keep it.

I see what your saying...I do wonder if there were supposed to be consequences if they tell someone on the outside or if they felt consequences were unnecessary considering no one could disobey the Alpha. What would happen if a wolf still in Sam's pack walked right up to a gas station clerk and phased in front of them. Would they be banished? killed? get there birthday taken away? Curious.......

[trhmllr]

I know in New Moon Jacob knew he shouldn't tell... and the fact Sam had forbidden him to tell Bella, so he had to give her clues to make her guess it. In Breaking Dawn I think he knew Charlie wouldn't be a treat to their secret. He was already close to Billy, Bella knew and was keeping it, and Charlie was getting closer to Sue (who has 2 werewolf children!) so he was surrounded by it. I personally think it him being able to tell has to do with him not being under Sam's power and the alpha of his own pact. He is able to show Charlie now.
Jacob knew that the Cullen's and Nessie were going to have to leave. He knew if he got Charlie to understand, not ask questions, then they wouldn't have to leave. He HAD to make them stay!!!
Charlie's reaction... I didn't expect him to flip out or anything. I expected a little more, but I thought his reaction was very Charlie of him. He is laid back...He is like Bella. She didn't flip. He knows his daughter is safe, no longer "sick", and she is in Forks with him. He can see her and that is all he wants. He wants her there and safe. So I figure he thought "What will me freaking out or throwing a fit do?" It won't help the situation any, so just go with the flow and don't find out to much, because then he would flip out!!
That is how I feel at least!

[Le-Petit-Mort]

I don't think Charlie's response was real or believable enough. I felt like Stephenie tailored it just to fit with the plot. Seriously. If someone told you that he was a werewolf and just magically morphs in front of you and then he hints to you that your daughter's a vampire, you don't just shrug it off. It doesn't matter how much you want her to be happy.

[glstewart]

tricia wrote:

But i think that once he broke away from Sam and had his own pack that the orders he was under no longer applied. he could have told Charlie if he wanted to.. but i don't think Charlie would have believed it unless he actually saw it.

I think Jacob was still responsible for the secret even after he broke off and formed his own pack, because I don't think that the order was set by Sam or the elders, but more likely his ancestors..the first ones that phased...maybe...i don't know.. Even if it was a new order- Jake is still a quiliete..his responsibilty is still the same- to kill any vampires that are a threat to humans, so I believe he still has responsibilities to the tribe and the orders and rules over all the wolves.

I agree. I don't think he is forced to keep the secret the way Sam had made it an order. But it wouldn't serve him well to tell anyone. So although they choose to keep it, i don't think he HAS to keep it.

I don't thinks it's so much that Sam's orders "no longer applied" once Jacob formed his own pack, but that because Jacob is the "true" Alpha, his orders supersede Sam's. Like how he allowed Edward to change Bella without breaking the treaty. If Sam didn't agree, that would've been too bad, but Jake's decision is the bottom line. Jacob and Sam keep the secret (and the law) because it's the right thing to do, not because they're forced to.

[MRK]

I may be repeating some thoughts..but here goes...

Bella had an amazing tolerance of unexplainable goings on...why not Charlie? I agree with one of the first posts...parents are blind when it comes to their children. He only wanted Bella to be near, whatever that may mean. There is a part in the stories where Edward tells Bella that Charlie is a lot happier swallowing her lies than he lets on. So I was not shocked or disappointed that he, in the end, did swallow the lies, wanted to know as little as possible and accepted it begrudgingly.

I was very happy to have Charlie in her life

[xPinkx]

I can understand Charlie's response because I think in a similar way. Any supernatural stuff freaks me out (I'm obviously not talking about fictional stuff here ) and I avoid reading anything that tries to give proof of ghosts or evil spirts or anything like that. It distrupts the security of believing the the world is the way it seems to me. (<I'm sure there is a better way to word that.)
I also try to avoid horrible personal stories on the news like vicious murders and such like because I know they will upset me; I can do nothing to help or change the situation so I'm really just trying to protect myself. I know these things happen, but I don't want to know details; my wild imagination is quite enough and I am not good at repressing unpleasant things unlike Bella! My mum is different, she likes to be in the know and she is curious; I have curiousity obviously but when I know it will hurt me I squash it.(I've learnt this from experience ) Of course Charlie must be insanely curious (not strong enough a word) but his reaction is a defense mechanism to protect himself and he is letting Bella take the lead in how much she wants to tell him as he senses this will protect her. All he wants is for his daughter to be happy and he knows she is happy with Edward. He knows his questions could jeopardise the fragile balance that seems to exist on a knife's edge in Breaking Dawn. There's a sense of one wrong move and Game Over. He also knows Bella will be leaving soon (the no aging thing would be even harder to explain) so he doesn't want to jeopardise his short time with her either. He must be so confused but he has Sue there to ease him in slowly to the supernatural world.

The only thing I'm confused about is when he tried to fit all those months into one for Renesmee. So did he just accept this as another supernatural thing? I'm a little confused as to what he did accept in the end. I didn't understand about what the 'public story' thing was and what they told Charlie about Renesmee in the end. I re read that part but I was still confused. Can anyone help? I'm feeling a little stupid because no one else seems confused about that...

[MRK]

xPinkx wrote: The only thing I'm confused about is when he tried to fit all those months into one for Renesmee. So did he just accept this as another supernatural thing? I'm a little confused as to what he did accept in the end. I didn't understand about what the 'public story' thing was and what they told Charlie about Renesmee in the end. I re read that part but I was still confused. Can anyone help? I'm feeling a little stupid because no one else seems confused about that...

I think he believed the whole adoption story at first...but then he saw the baby looked just like he and Bella did. He couldn't deny the fact that it was Bella's baby anymore...but then Jacob jumped in and told him it was one of the "need to know" things...meaning:
How she got here and grew so fast is supernatural and not something you want to hear so just pretend shes normal.

Thats how i took it anyway!

[nightrunner]

I think the way charlie repsonse was very predictable. It was never going to be a big thing because bella is very similar to charlie in other ways so why not her resonses to the slightly wierd (or very wierd things as the case may be).Bella knew there was something different about edward but when she found out what she didnt care because she loved him. The same applies for charlie he knows that there is something wrong but he loves bella so much he is almost blind to what is really going on. However he had the right to freak out a little over Renesmee because i think seeing what appeared to be a few month old baby which looked an awful lot like your daughter and son in law would be hard to take in....

alexa xx

[skylarblue]

I was shocked by Charlie's response. I guess after seeing someone phase into a warewolf right in front of your eyes, would be enough to scare the wits out of me. So after seeing Jacob, I don't think the news of Bella & the Cullens being vampires was all that shocking.

I would have liked to have seen screaming, fainting, or some other type of reaction from Charlie.

[togetha4eva]

ya. charlies response was really wierd. i just thought because he cared so much about bella that he would have freaked out and actually act like he cared. that whole part was just anticlimatc and it was pointless to have all that build up for nothing!