Major themes in the Twilight Saga include love, choice, and the battle between good and evil. Bella and Edward share a forbidden love complicated by the fact that Edward is a vampire. His heroic actions, including saving Bella's life on multiple occasions, make him the perfect boyfriend, and his beauty makes him a romantic ideal. He's also what would be considered a "good" vampire, because he and his coven drink animal blood instead of feeding on humans. Edward is pitted against James, the villain of the novel, who openly hunts humans, including Bella. James kidnaps and very nearly kills Bella, but Edward arrives at the last minute to save the day again. In the end, Bella must choose between being human or joining Edward in eternal life.
EXPERT ANSWERS DSWAIN001 eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR The themes that you could pull from the book for your paper are endless. This series has so many layers to this story that you could write a wonderful paper on the fist book alone. There's always the old standby of Good v. Evil. You have the Cullens v. the Volturi, Jacob v. Edward, James v. Edward. Who decides what makes someone good and someone else bad? Are there different levels of evil? Then there...
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SLCHANMO1885 eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR I think the most important theme of the Twilight series (especially in the early books) is the ethical choice that the Cullens make. They choose to deny their own nature in order to be moral people. There is also a lot of talk about the soul, and the question of whether vampires have souls (Edward doesn't think so, Carlisle believes they do).
In response to Jlcannad, I agree that the last book is very different from the first three. Part of me was happy that it everyone gets to live happily ever after and be fulfilled, but another part of me doesn't quite believe that everything would get wrapped up so nicely like that. I think there are a lot of conflicting ideas regarding the last book out there, but if Meyer had killed off Bella, think of how many angry fans there would be!
JLCANNAD eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR I agree that the Mormon concept of "agency" or choice is foremost in the first three books. Does Edward choose temptation or protecting Bella. Does Bella choose her vampire or her werewolf? Is it better to have true love or children? An education or immortal life? Freedom or love? There's always choice in the books, which is why the last book is just so odd. Jacob's choice is ripped from him when he imprints on Bella's child. Bella's need to choose is ripped away when she gets the vampire and a child. Her father... well, that thread just weirdly vanishes. I truly don't think the last book has anything to do with the first three.
BMADNICK eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR Based on my reading of the books thus far, interviews of Meyers, and reviews of her series, the most important theme of her books deals with the choices we make in life. In one interview, Meyers says, "It doesn't matter where you're stuck in life or what you think you have to do; you can always choose something else. There's always a different path." This is seen in Edward's willingness to resist the temptation to bite Bella's neck, even though his desire to do so is great. Her characters choose to abstain from wrongdoing and show great self-restraint. It is the moral strength of her characters that draw many people to the books.
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In the novel "<em>The Old Man and the Sea" </em>by<em> Ernest Hemingway</em>, there are many images.
Line 9: Image of number 40The repetitive use of the number forty throughout the novel. After 40 days ( which is exactly the duration it took Christ to live again) Manolin's parents decided that <em>"the old man was now and definitely salao, which is the worst form of unlucky"</em> The complete paragraph emphasizes Santiago's being unlucky. For example, "<em>It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty."</em>
Line 10: image of old age and eyesAt first, the author shows his main character as defeated and old. He refers to his scars as <em>"old as erosions in a fishless desert". </em>But, there are also images of Santiago's eyes, that in contrast to his old body are shown as " <em>...they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated".</em>
Line 30: the sea tha main character of the book, Santiago, represents the sea as a woman, "always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favors, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them"<em>. </em> He feels that he complements himself with the sea ( man and woman intertiwined)
Line 37:a turtleSantiago compares himself to a turtle ( he has worked at a turtle ship before) He says "<em>most people are heartless about turtles because a turtle's heart will beat for hours after he has been cut up and butchered... I have such a heart too and my hands and feet are like theirs"</em>
