I admit, even though the Twilight series was written for young adults, I was hooked after the first book. While it isn’t the bestest novel series ever, I have always had a fascination with vampires and other supernatural creatures and this was the latest fix for my addiction. As I completed the books, I came to a sad realization. Bella ended up with the wrong man. Much like I have taken the controversial line on who Mr. Potter ended up with, I am Team Jacob all the way. There are loads of reasons why, but here are a few of my top ones.
The way Edward treats Bella versus the way Jacob treats her is night and day different, excuse the pun. Throughout the series Edward protects Bella, not just when there are crazy vamps after her. He protects her from everything. It’s annoying. True, sometimes she needs it, like when the van comes hurtling towards her, but other times he should have just told her what was going on. If she is going to run with the big boys then she needs to have the spine to do it. On some level, he treats her like an overprotective father figure by watching over her when she sleeps, trying to control who she hangs out with, and not letting her use her car to go and see Jacob. He even insists on buying her an armored vehicle when she doesn’t want one. Really Edward, back off.
Jacob treats Bella like a person with a brain, though she doesn’t always act like she has one. He expects her to be strong and handle things not be a shrinking violet. They laugh and have a good time together. Being with Jacob feels natural to Bella. Know why? Because they are two pieces of the same puzzle. When does she ever laugh or even smile when she is with Edward? Bella seems to be completed by Jacob. She talks about Jacob being her sunshine and she is always smiling around him. Another plus, she doesn’t have to give up her soul or leave her family to be with Jacob. They can settle down, have babies, go to college, and grow old together. Wake up Bella! No man is worth giving up your soul, your dreams, or your family for.
Edward is boring. Take away his magical vampire strength and speed and you have a shimmery dude that is afraid of sex and likes to mope around feeling sorry for himself. Not my idea of a super hunky undead guy. I really liked Armand in the Interview with a Vampire series, but I digress.
Jacob represents light, warmth, sensuality, and humanity. He is funny, sometimes reckless, and sensitive to Bella’s needs. Edward is cold and I don’t just mean his skin temperature. The boy never smiles. Can you imagine spending eternity with someone like that?
Love it! In the interests of full disclosure, I’ve read all the books but really did not like them. That said, I completely agree with your assessment with ONE exception – Bella may have ended up with the wrong guy, but Jacob dodged a bullet. As much as I appreciate how Jacob brought out the brighter side of Bella, she’s still a peevish Debbie Downer. For that reason alone, I think Bella and Edward deserve each other.
The silly manner in which Jacob’s storyline was tied up is a different discussion altogether. For his sake, I hope the saturnine natures of Edward and Bella skip a generation.
I agree completely. If you watch the movies, Edward and Bella never smile. If they are so blissfully happy, why are they so frowny? Don’t even get me started on Jacob’s story ending. A vampire child? Really? Seems like she took Claudia from the Anne Rice series and tried to do something different with it. Kudos to you though, I had to look up what saturnine meant! 🙂
Thanks for the kudos! It’s a great word, isn’t it? And it perfectly suits their perpetually miserable condition, in my humble opinion.
I’m glad to see someone else on Team Jacob. I actually switched teams AFTER finishing the books, which seems kind of pointless, I know. I’m another vampire-fiction groupie who came to the Twilight books as an adult.
My first vampire fandom was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was enduring my own highschool-as-hell while Buffy was staking her way through hers in the late 90’s. So I was pre-conditioned to support the vampire/human relationship and fell quickly into the Team Edward camp.
Since reading the Twilight books the first time, however, I’ve re-watched Buffy. As an adult, I now have a completely different perspective on the Buffy/Angel relationship that seemed so romantic when I was a teen. And I saw the parallels between Angel and Edward. The guilt, the brooding, the over-protectiveness, the tendency to make decisions for his girlfriend without considering her opinion.
So I jumped off the Buffy/Angel ship and turned in my Team Edward badge.
I LOVED Buffy as well but never cared for Angel that much. Spike was much more interesting to me, though neither of them was great for her. Maybe seeing the relationship through older eyes is why I don’t like Edward. After all, when you are a teenager, things like that seem romantic, like you said. In reality, a boyfriend like that would be boring and annoying after awhile.