Twilight Lexicon Discussion Forums

Esme echo wrote:Well, Jacob didn't break Bella's hand. She did that all by herself.

I was glad Bella wasn't kissing him back, and even more happy when she tried to get him off her. He was forcing his kiss on her, though, so technically it was his fault.

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)

well. bella WAS going to carlisle, and that's who she'd have seen at the hospital anyway. and it was pretty clear bella broke her own hand. and it was also pretty clear jacob didn't try to hurt her. and i think charlie probably realized how badly bella treated him in the end of new moon.

as for why he didn't make her do something for four months, i think that's sort of understandable. i mean, he's a bachelor, a single parent, not even really a parent, and teenage girls are totally unfamiliar to him. plus it sort of warps your sense of things when it's someone real close to you. like my parents are both in psychology, and quite respected in our community, but we have just as many communication issues as any other family.

^I agree, but Bella was pretty much catatonic! Do you think SMeyer just skipped the three months to exaggerate the affect of Edward's leaving and the result of that was a later response from Charlie?

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.

^Oh, and I also suppose he, like many others, didn't grasp the extent of Edward and Bella's love.

I think what I said in my last post could still apply, though.

i think it was a lack of experience. charlie's a cop. not the most sensitive of occupations. he would have no need for experience in the grieving process over a relationship, save when he dealt with renee leaving.

bella's grieving was VERY VERY UNHEALTHY but how could charlie know that? what experience does he have with teenage girls??

i think that a woman would have called a shrink at the first mention of the word catatonic. because it's sort of a bond we all share - the feeling of being dumped by a guy. guys, not so much.

what's funny about Charlie is my dads name is charlie as well.... but they hardly have anything in common. My dad has mostly the same humor and he's pretty protective over me going to places alone that are far away (like Bella going to town and stuff.) But, my dad can talk to me very easily unlike charlie swan. And, if I liked a guy, he shows me a lot more respect than Bellas dad did because he trusts my judgements. Anyway, I think most of Charlie Swans actions are like any other fathers, but at times he can be a little too up tight and protective.

out of curiousity, when did charlie NOT show respect for bella's relationship with edward?

I thought he was always respectful of it, even when he should have been more concerned. Despite Bella's always throwing his care out the window, he let her see Edward for a while even when she was grounded and had already seen him at school, and would disobey him by seeing Edward later that night. (Charlie didn't know this, of course, but it was nice of him to give Bella a full 24 hours with Edward). >.>

Sometimes he was a little miffed by it all, and probably thrown off by the intensity of their relationship, but Charlie was always respectful of them. He didn't treat them like lovestruck kids, but took them seriously.

I like me some Charlie.

I think that some people might believe Charlie was being disrespectful when he accused Bella of being pregnant. He was being a lot better than he should have, though. The intensity of Bella and Edward's relationship must have been very different from the outside.
They feel it was justified because they see it through Bella's head, but a parent watching two teenagers developing an almost unhealthy attachment to each other within less than a week of their initial declaration of relationshipiness (I'm getting sleepy)...

Okay, yeah. I've lost where I was going with this.

Amivera wrote: I think that some people might believe Charlie was being disrespectful when he accused Bella of being pregnant.

That made me laugh. Because it reminds me of my Dad. He always jumps to the most ridiculous conclusions. My skin will look really good one day and he'll ask if I'm pregnant.

That's just what Dads do.