by Bailey Shoemaker Richards

Created on: September 12, 2009

The second movie in the famous Twilight series is due for release, and fans everywhere are gearing up for the excitement and the midnight viewings. Those readers who aren't fans of the series are buckling down for another long few months of Twilight hype and hysteria. Although the books are wildly popular, fans of real literature and good writing are constantly disappointed by the amount of attention given to the Twilight series.

New Moon is the second book in the series, and is supposed to represent the darkest period of time within Bella and Edward's turbulent relationship. However, there is a significant number of other dark things which occur in the book, although most of them are beneath the surface of the writing. The writing itself causes problems for readers, simply by being of low quality. It is, however, the messages sent by the depictions of relationships, men, women and love within the book that is really dark.

Twilight's Many Flaws

Although the books are sometimes pardoned for their many faults by the claim that they get people reading who didn't enjoy it before, or who were at a loss for things to read, this claim falls apart upon examination. When the quality of the Twilight books is examined critically, there are few if any benefits to picking these books up. For the readers who move on to bigger and better things, Twilight is a stepping off point, and there's nothing wrong with that. For readers who stick with Twilight and books of the same caliber, there is very little point in reading them at all.

The trouble for people who don't like Twilight starts when fans start insisting that Twilight is well written, or presents a great example of true love. It isn't well written, and it doesn't offer readers a good example of what a relationship should be, and that's a major concern for people who pay attention to what younger readers are getting into. The relationship between Bella and Edward is not loving and romantic, it is obsessive and abusive. New Moon in particular emphasizes these aspects.

Abuse in the book New Moon

When Edward decides that his relationship with Bella is putting her into too much danger, he does not merely break up with her and offer the explanation he has given to himself; instead, he dumps her and convinces his entire family to uproot their lives and move. This not only demonstrates an absurd amount of control within the relationship and over the lives of others -Bella is not even given a chance to demand an explanation -it

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>