Tuesday, April 13, 2010

NEW MOON: Epilogue-Treaty

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Jacob is an ass, nothing is new...why is there even an epilogue?

NOTES/THOUGHTS/REACTIONS:
Basically all the epilogue is for is to trick people into thinking that stuff is actually going to happen in Eclipse. I have it on good authority that Eclipse is actually quite boring (even some fans have told me this). But it's here, so I'll do my commentary.
We start off with Bella babbling. She talks about how unfair this all is. Charlie is still mean to Edward, she has to deal with school and now it looks like she won't get into an Ivy League after all (having had a state school education I can tell you that there's nothing wrong with it, I'm a little tired of Ivy League wannabes making state schools out to be poor education). Even more unfair is Jacob won't talk to her. Well gee Bella, you led him on into thinking that maybe you to could have some sort of relationship, but then it turns out that the guy who broke your heart is in trouble and you ditch him like a hot potato to go after said guy and even worse welcome said guy back into your arms no questions asked. And you wonder why he's not happy with you? I know I've said it a lot during this book but WHAT. A. SELFISH. BITCH. Want proof? Here:
So, though I didn't mention Jacob much, sometimes my frustration and anxiety boiled over.
"It's just plain rude!" I vented one Saturday afternoon when Edward picked me up from work. Being angry about things was easier then feeling guilty. "Downright insulting!"
From New Moon, Epilogue

Yes, downright insulting that a person doesn't cater to your every whim like everyone else, how dare he. I would also like to point out a double standard here:
I guessed that he had some reciprocal prejudice against the werewolves, though he wasn't as vocal as Jacob had been about the "bloodsuckers."
From New Moon, Epilogue

See, it's not all right for Jacob to have prejudice about the Cullens but notice she doesn't put up as much as a fuss about Edward's prejudice only because he isn't vocal about it. Yes, because not being vocal about one's prejudice makes it perfectly okay to have it. UGH.
There's more crap where Bella tries to compare this to Romeo and Juliet (again NOT THE SAME) and they get home and it turns out Jacob has left Bella's bike at her home and now Charlie knows she was driving it. Bella feels horribly betrayed and I can kind of admit this was assworthy behavior on Jacob's part but considering it's Bella I can't muster up much sympathy for her. There's vivid description as the two of them go to the woods to meet Jacob.
Edward impolitely tells Bella Jacob's thoughts as she yells at him and there's crap about Edward thanking Jacob for taking care of Bella (wow...that's not at all being pompous). Then there's sappy moment with Bella and Edward right in front of Jacob (way to throw it in his face guys) and Jacob reminds Edward that if Bella is bitten that breaks their treaty and they are free to go after the Cullens. So at this point I'm kind of going...why is this epilogue called treaty? If you call a chapter a treaty that usually implies that there is going to be peace made between the characters. There is no peace being made here. A better title would have been, Confrontation...or Threat or something...just not treaty. Once more Meyer fails at titling her chapters.
There is epic foreshadow as it's said that Victoria is still out there so we still get her as the big bad for next book...yay? Then Jacob says goodbye and Bella is all hurt that he doesn't want to be friends anymore (oh and in between this we get Charlie in the forest yelling for Bella...I don't know why this is in there except for another way to make Charlie look like a jerk) and then Jacob leaves. But Bella assures herself they'll be friends again and everything's okay cause she has Edward. God awful book FINALLY ENDS.
So, now I'm halfway through this series and I still loathe it just as much as I did in Twilight. I will say Meyer has kind of maybe sort of improved. I mean she tried to add some sort of interest and has sort of cooled it with the theosaurus words and I give that Jacob is actually a relatively decent character. But that doesn't stop this from being a bad book unfortunately. I've decided after reading this that the main reasons I just can't like this series are Bella and Edward. Bella is a horrible main character. It's not that she's selfish, bitchy, and whiny (although it does annoy me to no end). There are plenty of characters out there with these qualities that I actually like. The problem I have is, SHE DOESN"T CHANGE. She remains this way throughout the series. The way to make characters like this is to a) make them have some redeeming qualities (Bella has none), b) give some sort of reason for why they are the way they are (for instance Cordelia Chase from Buffy, I have a firm belief that she was the way she was at first due to upbringing and a internal need to be liked by everyone. Then in meeting Buffy and getting to know the Scoobies she started to realize that maybe being liked by everyone wasn't so important and grew into herself further as she moved to LA and was on her own for the first time. This doesn't happen with Bella AT ALL), and finally c) HAVE THEM CHANGE (I think we can all agree that Bella doesn't change at all).
Edward is pretty much the same thing, just for guys. Then there's also the rampant sexism (don't you just love how in this epilogue Edward and Jacob talk about taking care of Bella like she can't take care of herself on her own or is some sort of pet? Seriously, it was like he was thanking Jacob for taking care of his cat while he was away or something), the anti-feminism, and all the illogical things going on that could have been made plausible had Meyer taken time to do more then a mere google search.
So in short...minimal improvement but it's not enough. Now we're moving on to Eclipse...so that means two more books to go! Yay!

WORD LIST: none for this part
POSSIBLE EDITS: "bloodsuckers."-The proper ending to this sentence would be "bloodsuckers".
Wrong title for a chapter (again)
Has anyone figured out the point of the flower on the cover for this? I don't get it. There's no significant mentioning to a flower nor do I see how it relates to the story. If someone could clear it up for me, that would be great.
GENERAL ANNOYANCES: Bella

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