the final chapter.

spoiler alert - if you have not finished the Twilight series, but intend to, you probably shouldn't read this post. 

oh boy.  just finished the final chapter in the Twilight saga.  and I have so much to say that mostly I just want to say to myself.  there is so much to explore as I read the nation-wide craze that is Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn.  though I've been a faithful fan and reader of the entire series, I found more than I expected to this time around.  I'm no expert and I haven't read them through more than once. I would love to research more. but let me see if I can conjure up what it is that had me thinking literary value and doing more than turning pages.

the idea of physical drive. from the very first sitting of reading Twilight, an attentive reader couldn't help but see similarities between the temptations and consequential dangers of 'touch' with Bella and Edward, and normal teenagers trying to walk the same tight rope. Eclipse, which seemed to be the most explicit of them all, wasn't exactly hard-core romance. and I almost got the idea Stephenie Meyer was backing off a lot on graphic details in Breaking Dawn--dancing carefully around the honeymoon.  she did everything, including the honeymoon, in an extremely traditional but compelling manner.  while reading past books, I wondered if Stephenie Meyer was doing so intentionally, but any contest is done away with by reading her introductory quote by Orson Scott Card to Book 3 of Breaking Dawn: "Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated.  Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment."  (a statement I happen to agree with).

eternal life.  it is interesting that Stephenie Meyer doesn't make as much as a deal about it as say, Tuck Everlasting.  she seems to take the view that you can live forever and not be bored--but be eternally happy.  not a new idea.  

I loved the unfolding of the Cullen family.  family, not coven.  so many ideas that integrate nicely into views of a devoted family today.  in Garrett's speech, he says that because the Cullens are able to "deny their very natures, they have found something worth even more...intense family binding" which he says has a vital character--a life of sacrifice.  this was one idea that just made me jump. so sweet that individuals living good lives, denying themselves of gratification--pure selflessness.  lives of sacrifice form ties that bind into the love of a true family.

I have worried, as I read the series, about the young girls whom I saw become even more obsessed than I was with it.  I, however, didn't start the series until my senior year of high school--well passed 17.  I had already done my fair share of teenage fantasizing, letting my imagination run wild with the idea of how I would fall truly-madly-deeply, in love. what worried me was not that these girls would depend on this book rather than their imagination, but that they would rely on who Bella was as the golden key into the heart of the world's most perfect man--Edward.  what bothered me was that Bella seemed weak and vulnerable.  there is nothing wrong with being clumsy or even average. but it was hard to tell if she ever really believed in anything or took a stand, or did anything someone could call an achievement.  I love how unique Bella is.  but I watched my young friends and could only hope that they were not misled to believe that all you have to do to win the love of a worthy male is breathe or bleed or have low self-esteem or be mysterious.  I know that this series is definitely a fantasy, but it is also very very real to most of its readers.  as Breaking Dawn unfolds, though, I was pleasantly surprised with what a strong character Bella becomes.  a hero not because of her vulnerability or weakness, but a more classical one, praised and worthy because of her strength, and selfless sacrifice to put the safety of those she loves ahead of her own life. her role as a mother, loving wife, and strong, self-offering woman--as well as her ability to believe in herself, with power beyond what she believed herself possible--were what made her a hero. 

and lo and behold.  it seems Stephenie Meyer is, after all,  team Edward.