So, for my first post in my new home, I’ve decided to comment on the recent controversy surrounding Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. (Warning: I tried very hard to keep the spoilers at a minimum, but there are some plot details mentioned that you may not want to know about if you haven’t read Breaking Dawn. I’ll try to give advance notice.)
All I seem to be hearing since its release is how horrible the novel is. Several arguments follow this statement: it is too cliché, the plot is utterly unbelievable, Meyer’s an awful writer — nothing like J.K. Rowling…you may now insert your favorite argument.
Because I’m writing this, I’m going to start with the last of the listed arguments: The direct hit at Meyer’s writing, often followed by a comparison to Harry Potter author Rowling. The media loves this comparison, and perhaps their constant attention to it is what has caused some sort of war between the two fandoms. I’m a member of both fandoms, but I like to humour myself into thinking I can objectively step back and examine the works without squealing like a fangirl.
I don’t even understand why we’re comparing them in the first place. The links that seem to be present are the fan dedication, the fantasy classification, some of the target audience, and the fervor of their fans. Links, to be sure, but these have nothing to do with the actual writing quality of the two authors. I admit, I believe, based on her complex plots, ease of character development, and other factors, I believe that Rowling is the more practiced writer. She has had 10 years and seven books to do so, but the writing styles are so different, I’m almost ashamed to fall into the comparison trap myself.
For Meyer never claimed that she is trying to be the next great American author. She only claims that she wants to be a storyteller–not even a writer. I believe she is. She managed to create a series that drew in readers and held them in place, at least until Breaking Dawn. And now, suddenly, because Breaking Dawn wasn’t what so & so expected, it’s bad? Please. Spare me the petulant pre-teen reaction.
I have long since abandoned the ‘if something’s that popular, it can’t be good argument’ that kept me away from (forgive the comparison) Harry Potter so long. Obviously, there is a reason why these series are so popular. I’m inclined to believe that it’s because they’re good, pure in some way. Good writing, good storytelling, interesting characters, relatable characters. The list could go on forever, really.
So we’re either too stupid to know our own minds and affect the popularity of something, or we actually have a reason for making something popular. I’m inclined to believe in cause & effect. Something made Meyer so popular, and it’s something good. No, she’s not the best writer who ever lived. She’s not my personal favorite (distinctions that go to Shakespeare, James, Twain, Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte). But she did do something right.
If that something is make someone happy for two hours, what’s wrong with that? If it’s to immerse someone in her storytelling web, what’s wrong with that? If it’s to make someone so invested in her characters, her story, that they get upset when it doesn’t go exactly the way they want it to? Well then. Meyer had to do something right. Good writing vs. good storytelling–you can decide. After reading The Host, think I believe she is at least on her way toward both.
Okay. Argument 2–the plot.
I’m inclined to believe that we, the readers, especially readers who also engage in the fandom (fanfiction, podcasts, regularly checking on/participating in websites) have been spoiled by such a thing. Especially because of fanfiction and the close connection of authors to their audience –the answering of questions, the frequent updating of websites that began in extremes and to gain notice with Rowling, the fans tend to think that the world belongs to them. In some ways, this is not a bad thing. It means that the author has done his/her job.
When girls imagine themselves as Eliza Bennett, the same thing occurs. When the reader can picture him/herself a part of the action, they are immersed in the world. And so they lay claim to some small part of the chracters. Some people write fanfiction, writing their own versions of the story or prequels and sequels to it. However, none of this gives the reader so direct a claim on the author’s world that they think that they know better than the author what should happen, what a character would do. The whole idea of that is just ridiculous. Still, it happens. And it happens to such an extent that sometimes readers forget they don’t exclusively own the world.
So the arguments “the plot was so unbelievable” or “that was one big cliché” often translates to “that wasn’t how I wanted the story to end.” “The characters didn’t do exactly what I wanted them to.” Please, if you’re in the above encampment, examine the cause of your feelings and accurately articulate them to make sure you’re not pulling the disappointed child argument.
BD SPOILERS BELOW:
The other reasons people give have (mostly) to do with Bella’s pregnancy and the appearance of Renesmee. There is also a crowd who wanted a fight between the Cullens and the Volturi, but I put them in the category explained above. There was a fight, it just wasn’t physical. What was Bella doing the chapters in which she sought out an escape for her child and flexed her shield if not fighting?
So that leaves us with pregnancy & children–what a cliché!
Really? Because I was under the impression that pregnancy happens to women every day. Unplanned pregnancy. As a matter of fact, I know someone who got married, went away on her honeymoon, and came back pregnant as a result of certain activities that occurred on said honeymoon. Not planned, but welcomed just the same. That’s one of the most real-life plot points in the books.
And just because Bella didn’t want to abort the baby (did we really think she would?) that makes the plot even more ridiculous? What about all those mothers who go on bed-rest to protect their baby? What about the mothers of multiples who can’t bear to abort any of them & put themselves at great risk to have their children. Honestly, if drinking blood and enduring broken ribs were what I had to do to keep my unborn child alive, I wouldn’t think twice. Before you criticize Meyer’s writing, don’t underestimate the love of a mother. Not all mothers share the same feelings, but it’s more common and more prevalent that people seem to think when they argue the unblievability of the plot.
And as for the cliché, is it really a cliché when it happens all the time in life? Just because Meyer is writing about vampires and werewolves doesn’t mean that her work can’t have an inherent humanity. After all, all the characters were human at one time.
Yes, I guessed certain plot points long before they actually occurred (the pregnancy complete with eventual Volturi involvement, Bella’s skipping over of the newborn stage, her protection of the baby, her mental powers as a vampire–the meaning of the book cover, Jacob’s imprinting, Alice’s disappearance & the cause of it…). I could just be like Alice. Or it could be that Meyer did such a good job of leaving clues, that readers were able to (consciously or subconsciously) pick up on them. Or perhaps it was that her characterization was so well-done that it left little doubt as to what choices her characters would make once they were presented with a certain situation.
Readers of fanfition (I have yet to read Twilight fanficiton, but this is something I noticed with HP and Twilight) tend to make the cliché argument more often. Yet, once again, if it’s a plot point they’ve seen before, doesn’t that rather indicate that Meyer’s characterization & foreshadowing led readers to certain inevitable choices?
I’m going to end with a comparison. In my Victorian Literature class, we talked about the emergence of the novel. Initially, audiences were used to reading the Bible, or books of manners & social rules. But when the novel made its appearance in Victorian England, it was scoffed at and its authors and readers ridiculed. Two particular novels spring to mind. The first is The Mysteries of Udolpho–if anyone has seen the recent film Becoming Jane, the author, Anne Radcliffe is featured in a conversation with the young Austin. Radcliffe’s novel is cited as popular fiction of the time, the perfect example of gothic fiction. At the time, it was also heavily ridiculed as a trash novel, completely devoid of substance. To be sure, it lacks the characterization that novels today have and that developed further with authors like Austin. The escapist plot is interesting & full of twists and turns that sometimes leave the reader wondering how they came about. Today, almost everyone has at least heard of Austin, but only a small handful have heard of Radcliffe, although it was she who paved the way for later writers, enduring ridicule so that they could experience acceptance.
Readers used to hide that they were reading the tales that they loved for spiriting them away. However, announcing publicly that they were reading such…trash would undoubtedly expose them to ridicule as well. Today, however, we recognize the influence Radcliffe had on the writers that followed. Even Austin, though she poked fun Udolpho in her novel Northanger Abbey, was influenced by the precedent set by the Gothic woman writer. The similarities can be seen in the public and critical reaction. Only time will tell if the Twilight books will have a lasting power more like Radcliffe or Austin. Still, Radcliffe’s writing is studied today…
I actually find Meyer’s work more like one of my favorite Victorian novels, Mary Barton, minus the social implications, of course. The love story, the plot, the adventure always smothered in the love of parent & child, man & wife….it strikes me as much the same. For that is the major (I hate to use the word) theme of the Twilight saga–love. Love and its power over the individual. Bella’s love for Edward, for her father, for her new family in the Cullens, for Jacob, for Renesmee: all different, but all consuming and unbelievably powerful. What we believe–or like to believe–love is supposed to be. Don’t we hear all the time that love is supposed to be blind? Bella provides a perfect example of that. She is blind to Edward’s danger, his temper, his overprotection for much of the story. Bella loves her daughter so much that she sacrifices he own safety to protect that of another.
This theme pervades Meyer’s work and makes the story what it is–entertaining, & a novel steeped in emotion able to evoke that emotion in the reader. This is the essence of the Twilight saga and what makes it worth reading. That includes Breaking Dawn.
As this has now taken on the feel of a rant rather than an argument, I will end and hope that you enjoy/ed Breaking Dawn.
Life's a Book 