Amivera wrote:Esme echo wrote:Well, Jacob didn't break Bella's hand. She did that all by herself.
Oh, right. Haha, Charlie topic:
I wonder why it took him three months to finally snap at Bella and force her to do something. (New Moon)
I think a good part of this is the fact Charlie is used to Bella being able to take care of herself. You also have to realize that she was nearly catatonic for the first week, in which did severely worry Charlie. However, once she began functioning slightly he decided to back off and give her time. With a daughter who is normally so independent, I suspect he wanted--and thought--Bella to be strong enough to handle this on her own, and beyond that, I think I think it could also be the fear that if he interferes he could only make things worse.
However, I don't think he was unhelpful in those three months as it seems. I highly doubt Charlie didn't try to involve himself, but I also doubt he knew what to do to handle a grieving teenage girl.
Also, three months isn't nearly as long as people seem to think it is. You have to remember, five days a week Bella would be at school, so Charlie wouldn't get to fully experience how badly Bella was. He could have convinced himself she was still talking to her friends at school.
On a final point, I think maybe Charlie could have thought he didn't have the
right to interfere because look how long it took him to truly get over Bella's mother. It was stated in the first book he
still had the wedding pictures up from he and Renee's wedding. One can only imagine how long he grieved when his wife took his child and left him, and I think having been there could have preventing him from stepping in. Bella states that she has a lot of Charlie in her, and I think seeing your child mirror yourself could really make you uncertain about how to step forward and help her because it's obvious Charlie didn't really know how to handle himself in such a situation.