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Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Twilight, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Lust
Self-Restraint and Morality
Good, Evil, and Perspective
Family
Summary
Analysis
In Bella’s dream, she chases Edward—who glows—through the darkness, but she can’t catch him. After this, she dreams about him almost every night. The following month is tense and embarrassing: Tyler follows Bella everywhere, and Mike and Eric’s fight for Bella’s attention becomes more obvious. No one believes Bella that Edward is the hero, and nobody noticed that he was standing so far away before he saved her. Bella realizes that she’s pitiful: nobody notices Edward as much as she does. Edward and Bella continue to sit next to each other in biology, and he studiously ignores her. The one time Bella tries to talk to him, he only nods. She continues to dream of him, which makes her miserable and depressed.
Bella’s dream of Edward reflects how curious and almost obsessed she’s becoming with him. To her, he’s a mystery to solve: how does someone go from shockingly mean, to polite, to a savior, to this? But she also realizes that nobody spends as much time thinking about Edward as she does. Calling her interest in Edward “pitiful” shows that Bella doesn’t think she should be so interested in someone, for any reason. She finds her almost overwhelming interest in him to be a sign of personal weakness.
Themes
In February, Jessica calls Bella to ask her permission to invite Mike to the girls’ choice dance in a few weeks. Bella urges Jessica to ask him and insists she’s not going. But the next day at school, Jessica seems quiet—and in biology, Mike tells Bella he turned Jessica down in the hopes that Bella would ask him. Bella chastises Mike and insists she’s not going to the dance—she’s going to Seattle that Saturday. Mumbling, Mike agrees to accept Jessica’s invitation. When Bella turns back to face front, she notices Edward staring at her with what looks like curiosity and frustration. Embarrassed, Bella looks down. It’s pathetic that she cares so much that he’s looking at her.
Bella has made it pretty clear that she doesn’t like Mike. So it’s no big deal for her to tell Jessica to ask him and, hopefully, draw his attentions away from Bella. But Mike shows that he has no interest in allowing the girls to manipulate his affections like this—he likes Bella, and he’s going to try his best to convince her that she should reciprocate his feelings. Again, Bella suggests that she shouldn’t care about Edward so much when she describes herself as “pathetic.”
Themes
Bella ignores Edward all through biology, but when the bell rings, he says her name. He apologizes and says he knows he’s being rude, but it’s better if they’re not friends. Suddenly enraged, Bella says Edward should’ve figured that out earlier, since now he clearly regrets not letting her die. Edward is flabbergasted but grows immediately angry and tells Bella that she doesn’t understand anything. Bella attempts to sweep out of the room dramatically, but she drops her books. Edward picks them up for her.
Part of what makes Bella so angry is that Edward’s insistence that they shouldn’t be friends is so cryptic—why shouldn’t they be friends? It only heightens the mystery. One thing that does seem clear at this point is that Edward certainly does not regret saving her from the van. Twilight continues to intensify the mystery around Edward.
Themes
After gym, Bella heads for her truck. Eric is leaning against it. He awkwardly asks her to the dance, but Bella tells him she’ll be in Seattle. As Eric shuffles away, Bella hears a chuckle. Edward is walking past and is trying to look like he’s not listening. Angry, Bella gets in her truck and pulls out quickly—but Edward is faster and backs out in front of her. He stops so that his siblings can climb in. Cars pile up behind Bella. Tyler gets out of his car, taps on Bella’s window, and asks her to ask him to the spring dance. Bella tells him that she’ll be in Seattle. Tyler says that’s fine—there’s still prom. Bella looks forward, shocked, and can tell that Edward is laughing.
Bella and Edward are engaging in a sort of battle of wills: who can make the biggest point while still supposedly ignoring the other? This develops them both as stubborn people. Tyler, too, shows how stubborn he is—and how unwilling he is to listen to what Bella is saying (that she’s not interested in dating him). Insisting he’s going to take her to prom reads as a gross overstep.
Themes
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To distract herself, Bella decides to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. The phone rings as she’s cooking. It’s Jessica, elated that Mike accepted her invitation to the dance. Bella suggests innocently that Angela should ask Eric, and that a standoffish girl named Lauren should ask Tyler. Once Jessica hangs up, Bella tries to figure out what Edward means by saying that they’re better off not being friends. He’s obviously not interested, even though he’s “perfect” and “beautiful.” Bella vows to leave him alone and then escape Forks by attending college in Hawaii. Later, over dinner, Bella convinces Charlie to let her go to Seattle next Saturday by herself—and assures him she’s not going to the dance.
To Bella, the dance presents a perfect opportunity to strengthen her relationship with Jessica (by insisting Mike go with her) and get rid of her other suitors. In this way, she can manipulate her peers so she feels more comfortable in Forks. Then, as she thinks about Edward, it becomes clear that Bella is starting to fall for him—describing him as “perfect” and “beautiful” shows that she’s drawn in by his physical attributes. The mystery he presents just makes him all the more attractive.
Themes
The next morning, Bella parks far away from Edward’s Volvo. She drops her keys in a puddle, and Edward appears to pick them up. His eyes are the color of honey. Bella asks why he held up traffic yesterday, and Edward snickers that Tyler deserved a chance. Bella angrily accuses him of trying to “irritate [her] to death.” Edward calls her absurd, but he catches up to her and asks if she’d like a ride to Seattle. Stunned, Bella refuses. She reminds Edward that he doesn’t want to be friends, but Edward clarifies—they just shouldn’t be friends. He insists he’s tired of staying away from her and formally invites her to go to Seattle. Then, before he turns to leave, he warns her to stay away from him.
Edward seems to be being purposefully confusing and cagey—a good indicator that he has something to hide. Implying that he wants to be friends with Bella, but that they shouldn’t be friends also suggests that Edward has been trying and failing to stay away from her—he clearly wants to be around her, even if he also thinks that’s not the best course of action. And though Bella finds him obnoxious, she can’t help but notice how handsome he is (as when she comments again on the color of his eyes).
Themes
