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What did you think of Jasper's response to Bella being a new born? Were you surprised how hard it was for him to accept how easy things were for Bella?

I wasn't really surprised at how hard things were for Jasper. I mean, he's been around a long time, and he's seen countless newborns. He's just taken it as a given that they have to be wild and bloodthirsty. Bella's self control makes him look again at what he's believed for decades. And vampires are set in their ways anyway, so any change is... not really difficult for them, but more... rare, I guess. That's not quite right either, but it's closer. Plus, it's also making him question whether he should be expecting more of himself. It's making him think that maybe if he asked more of himself, he'd get more. That's got to be hard stuff to deal with, especially since it says that he's only the weakest link in the family because he believes he is.

I wonder if Jasper seeing Bella like this will help him at all. I think part of the reason it may be so hard for him to control himself around others is that he expects it from himself to automatically thirst so much. Seeing Bella probably freaks him out because it's going against everything he thought he knew.

I think Jazz's response was normal, and to be expected. I mean, he's had all this experience dealing with wild and hungry, and somewhat out of control newborns, so he could be considered an expert at this sort of thing, and to find someone who defies all that you've known, I would react that way, too. I hope that Bella's experience as being a newborn will help Jasper in some way. If he could struggle less at resisting temptation, even not as good as Bella can, but even if just a little bit it would be beneficial to the whole family.

Behind Edward and Alice, Jasper is my favorite character. As such, it broke my heart a little to see him hurting. I think Jasper was counting on Bella's difficulty with the change to kind of excuse his difficulty with maintaining the lifestyle. However, Bella came into the change armed with knowledge, choice, and a family to keep her from taking a human life. Jasper did not have that advantage. Faced with decades of killing humans, I equates Jasper's difficulties with that of an alcoholic. Although he has stopped "drinking", it continues to be difficult for him.
angie

I can understand his reaction, but at the same time, I hope he doesn't dwell on the fact that he's still the weakest link. This may be changing everything he knows about newborns, but then again, not really. Bella is a unique situation. The fact that she chose to be a vampire and was able to prepare herself could be the only reasons why she was able to fight the bloodlust so easily. This type of reaction may be impossible for a typical newborn. Jasper looking to work harder, thinking it should now be easier (and should have been all along) since it was for Bella, might very well be an unrealistic expectation.

It hurt me to see Jasper hurting while he contemplated these new phenomenon that counteract what he had seen first hand on multiple occasions.It simply blows everything he knew with deep rooted memories,out of the water.Jasper is one of my favorites(as are all of the Cullens,it'd hurt me too much to choose) and seeing his reaction tore me apart.

Hmm, all I could think was, "Poor Jasper." That's a lot to process.

Maybe by seeing Bella's phenomenal reaction to the change, Jasper will be able to resist the temptation that humans create for him. But I also think by seeing that Bella skipped over the newborn phase by making a choice to become a vampire, and by seeing that Edward was able to resist the temptation of Bella's blood at the beginning by making the choice not to hurt her, Jasper will be able to make the choice to resist humans as a way to stay with Alice and make her happy.

I loved seeing Jasper in Breaking Dawn. He starts out in protection mode, then, as he realizes what an amazing vampire Bella has become, he begins to want to be near her physically, and the tables are turned, he is baskiing in her vibe.