Twilight: a literary atrocityBy

James Garner

Why?

● Poor Writing

● Weak Plot Structure

● Distortion of Classical Literary Vampire

Poor Writing

● Multiple spelling and grammatical errors● "I slipped unwillingly out of the toasty truck cab and walked down a little stone

path line with dark hedges. I took a deep breath before opening the door. Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer then I'd hoped."

● "The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born."

● "We'd rolled the windows down--the Suburban was a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it--and I tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible.”

● “She brought several sheets to the counter to show roe.”

● “Mike appatently had the same notion”

● “It's always sunny, and the umidity really isn't that bad.”

● “"They had to keep you sedated for a while, honey — you've got a lot of injuries.”” (Dash should be a comma)

● All from Twilight

Poor Writing

● Inconsistencies● “And then his cold, marble lips pressed very softly against mine.”(T)

● “I snuggled into his stone chest.”(NM)

● “...when Charlie was up I made him pancakes.”(BD)

– A few sentences later we see:● “He scowled into his cereal bowl...”

Redundancy

● The amount of times Edward is called “beautiful” or some similar adjective.

● (All taken from Twilight)

● “I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening.”

● “I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful that I could only stare at him like an idiot.”

● “Interesting… and brilliant… and mysterious… and perfect… and beautiful…and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand.”

● “It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real.”

● “He was smiling, relaxed - and, as usual, perfect and beautiful to an excruciating degree.”

● “Hesitantly, always afraid, even now, that he would disappear like a mirage, too beautiful to be real… hesitantly, I reached out one finger and stroked the back of his shimmering hand, where it lay within my reach.”

Redundancy● “...his voice was harsher than usual. Harsh for him, still more beautiful than any

human voice.” (Notice also, the reuse of the word“harsh”)

● “His mouth twitched up into that crooked smile so beautiful my heart nearly stopped.”

● “The beautiful one, the godlike one…”

● “There was agony in his beautiful voice again.”

● “His voice was beautiful, like a lullaby.”

● "Usually." He smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultrawhite teeth.” (Note: “ultrawhite” is not a word)

● “I didn't want to feel what I knew I would feel when I looked at his too-perfect face.”

● “Again, the fabric clung to his perfectly muscled chest.”

● “His white shirt was sleeveless, and he wore it unbuttoned, so that the smooth white skin of his throat flowed uninterrupted over the marble contours of his chest, his perfect musculature no longer merely hinted at behind concealing clothes.”

Weak Plot Structure

● Breaking Dawn, final book in series has no climax● Entire book is focused

on the Rising Action● Climax is never

reached, is instead thrown away

Character Development

● Protagonist, Bella, never changes.● From the beginning is very shallow

– No real direction in life, is moving away from home for no identifiable purpose

● Most of the series revolves around how beautiful Edward is

● Edward is given a chance to develop, yet nothing comes of it– Edward believes being a vampire has damned his soul, a

potential point for character development

Distortion of Classical Literary Vampire“Dracula vs. Edward”

A comparison

● Dracula's Strengths● Strength of 20 men

● Potentially immortal

● Can shape shift into the form of a wolf or a bat

● Can appear as elemental dust or mist

● Has hypnotic power over victims

● Edward's Strengths● Unknown strength limitations

● Potentially immortal

● Does not require sleep

● Can play piano very well

● Can read minds

– Unexplained in books

A comparison

● Dracula's Weaknesses

● May not enter a household unless invited in

● Can only sleep on soil of native land

● Loses powers during daylight hours

● Repelled by garlic or holy symbols

● Edward's Weaknesses

● ~* Sparkles *~ in sunlight

● Subject to fits of teenage angst

Distortion

● Stephanie Meyer has distorted the classic vampire into an almost indestructible force● Vampires in the Twilight series have almost no

weaknesses, creating a simple, shallow, and almost all-powerful character

● No room for character to grow

Why the hype?

● The main reason that so many people are attracted to the book is the character named Edward

● Edward is, according to most girls, the personification of the “perfect” guy

● Edward listens

● Edward is polite

● Edward is protective

● Edward sparkles

● Most importantly: Edward is HOT!

~* Edward *~

The Downside

● Edward is “perfect”● In reality, no one is.● Good luck, girls.

● Fun fact: Robert Pattinson has been asked by a pre-teen fan to bite her.● What about the impression these movies and books

are having on children?

Sources

● The Twilight Series, by Stephanie Meyer● http://theoatmeal.com/story/twilight● http://www.robertandkristen.org/gallery/

index.php● http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/traits.html● http://www.people.com/people/article/

0,,20239273,00.html