Brusov State University

Book Analysis

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Stephenie Meyer

Course name: Reading and Vocabulary

Translation studies (English-Armenian), 2-nd year, 5-th group

Student: Anna Abgaryan

Yerevan 2023
Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” saga is a well known story among the teenagers of almost every
country. It became even more famous thanks to the success of the movies that were based on
the books. The captivating and beautiful love story of Bella and Edward has warmed many and
many hearts of the readers as it continues to do.

About the Plot: So we have to begin with the plot of the first book. In the first book of series
Stephenie Meyers tells us a story about the very unique girl named Bella Swan. Her parents got
divorced many years ago, and now she has to live with her father, in a small town called Forks (
which was notorious with its bad weather), because her mother is going to live with her new
boyfriend, and Bella doesn’t want to be burden for them. Long story short, Bella went to the
only high-school that was in Forks and fell in love with Edward- the mysterious looking boy
who turned out to be a vampire. One of the main focuses of the first book was to show the
readers the development of the feelings that the main heroes had for each other. Also in the
first book the main action was the hunt that the three antagonists- James, Victoria and Laurent
made for catching Bella. Of course, Edward and his family could help and save Bella. They
killed the main bad guy out of these three which was James. Also, it is crucial to notice, that the
Cullen’s (Edward’s and his families’ surname) were good vampires as they didn’t kill people, but
only hunted for wild animals.

In the second book (which is by far my most favourite out of all) the plot revolves around
mostly the relationship between Bella and Jacob (who turned out to be another mythical
creature- a werewolf). So the book starts with the birthday of Bella where she cut her finger
(she was celebrating her birthday with the Cullen’s) and that made one of the Cullen’s- Jasper
almost killed her. Edward and his family decided that it would be safer for Bella if they stayed
away from her. So they moved to Los Angeles. Bella, after this, fell into a deep depression. And
here comes my favourite part: she started to build a relationship (more of a strong friendship)
with Jacob! They became best friends. But then suddenly, Jacob became very distant and that
distressed Bella. Soon after she found out what was the reason behind that: Jacob realized that
he was a werewolf and for protecting his friend (and his love interest) he just avoided her. After
learning about her friend’s true nature, Bella was stricken with shocking news: her main love
interest-Edward, decided that she would be better with Jacob, and was then trying to kill
himself in Paris. She, obviously, rushed to Paris and made everything clear for Edward. She
told him that she didn’t have any special feeling for Jacob, and that she truly loves only him.
This made Edward change his mind. But the thing was that other vampires now knew about the
existence of Bella-a human that knows about vampires. They demanded for her either to be
turned into a vampire or to be killed. This is how the second part of the book ends.

The Analysis- The book “New Moon” covers some important topics such as exploration of loss,
loneliness, and mental health issues. A major theme in "New Moon" is the investigation of loss.
Bella had to face the emptiness and loneliness that followed after losing Edward, which caused
her great anguish. The book explores how different people deal with loss and the difficulties of
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moving on through Bella's journey. The story explores the concept of self-discovery as Bella
discovered her own strength and her identity outside of her relationship with Edward. The
protagonist, Bella Swan, provides the main viewpoint on mental health. Here we can see the
exploration of Bella's emotional challenges and how they affect her mental health. Bella went
through a severe depression and great sense of loss after her break up with Edward Cullen. She
separated herself from her friends and family during a moment of her grief, which made them
worry about her. Bella's mental state is portrayed as being sensitive throughout the story. She
acted recklessly and placed herself in risky circumstances in an attempt to deal with her
emotional suffering.

This is an important thing to note, because as we know Bella was a teenager, and acting
recklessly is a part of being a teenager. Stepenhie Meyer wanted to show us that teenagers tend
to do this kind of things so it is necessary that adults always check on them.

Also one of the significant things that Stephenie Meyer speaks about is loneliness. Meyer's
depiction of loneliness in "New Moon" captures the deep effect that it may have on a person's
emotional health. Readers who have felt isolation can relate to Bella's experiences. The book
emphasizes the value of having social life and the harm that extended isolation may do to one's
mental well-being.

It's important to remember that "New Moon"'s portrayal of loneliness is individual and
dependent on the particular plot. Although Bella's perspective in the book shows what the
loneliness is, real-life experiences of it might differ drastically from one another.

This book also speaks about love (surprisingly, of course!). Love has two main shapes in here:
the unconditional love that Bella had for Edward, and the love that she had for Jacob (more like
a friendship love). Stephenie Meyers introduced the reader the depth of the feelings that
someone can have and the sophisticated nature of it. Bella was in love with Edward, no one can
deny that, but after his departure she found herself to be lost: should she love and wait for him
or is he never going to be back again. Edward also had this sort of dilemma: he didn’t know
whether to stay with his loved one or completely disappear for her own sake. In this book
Jacob’s and Bella’s relationship is also greatly discussed. For a while they got confused, thinking
that the feelings they had for each other was love. Later both of them were buoyant to find out
in each other each other their greatest friends. This theme that was discussed in the book have
definitely helped some teenagers to understand their feelings more clearly.

One of the majors themes that the book discusses is the clash between supernatural and normal.
The theme of the supernatural versus the normal is prominent in "New Moon" and is a
recurring element throughout the entire "Twilight" series. In this book, the contrast between
the supernatural world of vampires and the ordinary human world is explored through Bella's
experiences and relationships.

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The supernatural aspect is represented by Edward and his vampire family. They have
extraordinary abilities, such as superhuman strength, speed, and immortality. Bella's deep love
for Edward draws her into this supernaturalism.

On the other hand, the normal is represented by Bella's desire for a normal life. She longs for a
simple existence, free from the risks and complexities of the supernatural world. Bella's
friendship with Jacob Black, who is human and part of the Quileute tribe, serves as a
connection to the normal world. Through her interactions with Jacob and her involvement in
the Quileute community, Bella seeks a sense of normalcy and stability.

But then she finds out that Jacob is a werewolf. That gives a shock to her, but the she gradually
realizes that the extraordinary world is reality now. She then just embraces her life as it is.

My overall opinion- It is extremely hard for someone as biased as me to give a rational and
objective opinion about the book. I have watched the movies of it when I was 12, and I just
absolutely loved it then, so this story really has a special place in my heart. But if it were the
first time for me to read this book, I definitely wouldn’t be as fond of it as I am now. And this is
why. The overall story is not something special: a girl that falls in love with a mythical creature.
We have seen this lot. Was there a hidden meaning in the book? Not sure. It was just a
romantic book with a hint of fantasy. Apart from the overused themes there is really nothing
significant that we can talk about in this book. But do I like, adore, and cherish it no matter
what? - Yes. Is it one my favourite stories?- Absolutely. This book is like a sweet journey to
the past for me; it really triggers my hormones of serotonin. I can’t imagine adults liking this
book, but I would definitely recommend it to the younger audience.