Twilight Lexicon Discussion Forums

Dovrebanen wrote:And I also think she wanted to know that Edward wanted her forever. That he would make the choice to keep her with him.[/color]

I think this was the driving reason for Bella. She was worried that his reservations in changing her was about maybe not wanting her forever, not just the issue of her soul aka becoming a monster. I think she feared if she allowed him an inch, (ie: okay, I'll go to college, graduate and then change me) that he would never change her. She wanted that assurance that he wanted her forever. Edward said he wanted her to have some human moments/milestones. Where do you draw the line for human milestones? I think that had Bella nervous and what helped spur her to a more immediate change. When you are in love, hopelessly in love and you want to spend the "rest of your life" (or the rest of eternity) with someone, you want the "rest of your life" to start as soon as possible (slightly taken/loosely quoted from When Harry Met Sally).

I agree with Dovrebanen, and would like to elaborate a little further....To stay with Edward and grow older as he remained unchanging wouldn't exactly have the most healthy effect on her, either. Humans, by nature, are ever-changing. Physically as well as emotionally.

I would also like to point out that after experiencing physical love with Edward, Bella was willing to put off her transformation for a few years...on pg 102 of Breaking Dawn Bella attempts to sway Edward into physical expression of their love again by offering to wait a few years, to go to Dartmouth and wait until she's 19 to transform. She even goes as far as to state, "Still...eighteen, nineteen. It's really not such a big difference. It's not like I'm going to get crow's feet in the next year."

I think that demonstrates that it's not necessarily eternal life she's after, just having all of Edward.

Dxplora07 wrote:I agree with Dovrebanen, and would like to elaborate a little further....To stay with Edward and grow older as he remained unchanging wouldn't exactly have the most healthy effect on her, either. Humans, by nature, are ever-changing. Physically as well as emotionally.

I would also like to point out that after experiencing physical love with Edward, Bella was willing to put off her transformation for a few years...on pg 102 of Breaking Dawn Bella attempts to sway Edward into physical expression of their love again by offering to wait a few years, to go to Dartmouth and wait until she's 19 to transform. She even goes as far as to state, "Still...eighteen, nineteen. It's really not such a big difference. It's not like I'm going to get crow's feet in the next year."

I think that demonstrates that it's not necessarily eternal life she's after, just having all of Edward.

Only Edward? No I want to live forever as a lovely being...hummm. If you all say so, I guess I'll have to take it at face value then.

As Bella herself said to Edward (in NM? Eclipse? anyone?): "There's no point to forever without you." I think that wraps it up quite nicely. Of course she wouldn't choose to be immortal if Edward wasn't, just like he would give up immortality if Bella were to die.

Which brings me to another reason why I believe she wanted to be changed. She was a danger magnet and she felt she was taking a chance with the lives of everyone she was close to (humans and non-humans alike), as long as she remained human. She felt she wasn't pulling her own weight, since she had to depend on the Cullens and the Wolves to protect her, and she felt guilty as heck. Especially since she felt responsible for the whole situation in the first place.

So no, I don't believe vanity was her motivation for wanting to become a vampire. She's weird that way.

Angelvamp wrote:As Bella herself said to Edward (in NM? Eclipse? anyone?): "There's no point to forever without you." I think that wraps it up quite nicely. Of course she wouldn't choose to be immortal if Edward wasn't, just like he would give up immortality if Bella were to die.

Which brings me to another reason why I believe she wanted to be changed. She was a danger magnet and she felt she was taking a chance with the lives of everyone she was close to (humans and non-humans alike), as long as she remained human. She felt she wasn't pulling her own weight, since she had to depend on the Cullens and the Wolves to protect her, and she felt guilty as heck. Especially since she felt responsible for the whole situation in the first place.

So no, I don't believe vanity was her motivation for wanting to become a vampire. She's weird that way.

great quote! I think you summed it up nicely. I agree, Bella constantly felt like she wasn't "pulling her own weight" that's can easily be shown during Eclipse, when she trying to form a plan that would enable her to help fight the newborns. Great examples, Angelvamp!

I think there is also the added danger that comes along with waiting longer and longer. Look how many issues they've had with Bella's mortality in just a year or two of knowing each other. The longer she spends as a mortal, the more possibilities there are for accidents to happen and possibly end her life, cut short what small amount of time she already had with Edward. Sure, she freaks out about being 18 or 19 when he's only 17, but I think it's more about the thought that she's adding more and more years and he's not changing at all. It's not just the number, it's that there's that year and all the years implied after it. All the limited time available, slowly ticking away. I think she felt that, since it was impossible for Edward to regain his mortality to grow old with her, the best option was for her to be immortal and just continue in life with him, forever.

Asheleyo wrote:I think there is also the added danger that comes along with waiting longer and longer. Look how many issues they've had with Bella's mortality in just a year or two of knowing each other. The longer she spends as a mortal, the more possibilities there are for accidents to happen and possibly end her life, cut short what small amount of time she already had with Edward. Sure, she freaks out about being 18 or 19 when he's only 17, but I think it's more about the thought that she's adding more and more years and he's not changing at all. It's not just the number, it's that there's that year and all the years implied after it. All the limited time available, slowly ticking away. I think she felt that, since it was impossible for Edward to regain his mortality to grow old with her, the best option was for her to be immortal and just continue in life with him, forever.

You got it. I think they waited longer than they should have to change Bella. Clearly one of the fates had it in for her and the other two bearly arrived to save her...

Tossign out another thought...

After Bella's change, She gained a lot of things but part of her came through too...Her clumsy hair brain thinking came through. How much trouble do you think she will get into and how will edward deal with it?

I think the emotional and psychological dangers of changing Bella too soon very much outweigh the risks of keeping her mortal until everything was sorted out - including her degree of committment - not to Edward but to immortality itself.

It actually greatly disturbs me that she's willing to stay human another year just so she can continue to have sex with Edward.

holdingoutforjacob wrote:I think the emotional and psychological dangers of changing Bella too soon very much outweigh the risks of keeping her mortal until everything was sorted out - including her degree of committment - not to Edward but to immortality itself.

It actually greatly disturbs me that she's willing to stay human another year just so she can continue to have sex with Edward.

There's tons of distrubing things about this relationship...but it's a fantacy so I guess suspention of disbeliefs is in order...Hurts my head sometimes when discussing things here on the Lex...