Self-Restraint and Morality Theme Analysis

When 17-year-old Bella first meets Edward Cullen in her biology class, she’s shocked—he seems to instantly detest her for no apparent reason. Later, as the two get to know each other and fall in love, Bella learns why. Edward isn’t a normal 17-year-old—he’s actually a 107-year-old vampire, and Bella’s blood smells better to him than that of any other person. This means that whenever Edward is around Bella, he must exercise all his self-control to not kill her. Fortunately for Bella, Edward has had decades to work on his self-restraint. He and his vampire family are what he calls “vegetarians,” meaning that they feed on the blood of wild animals rather than humans. Particularly in the case of Edward and his family, Twilight ties the ability to restrain oneself and go against human (or vampire) nature to morality. People and vampires, the novel suggests, can take the moral high ground by denying themselves the things they want the most, especially when they do so in the interest of helping or protecting others.

Twilight directly ties self-control to morality. Dr. Carlisle Cullen is one of the novel’s most overt examples of this dynamic. Carlisle became a vampire in the mid-17th century and, as the son of an Anglican pastor, believed that beings like vampires were the epitome of evil. Though Edward and Carlisle never say so outright, they imply that part of the reason they see vampires as evil is because they prey on humans. However, Carlisle eventually realizes that he doesn’t have to prey on humans—he discovers that he can feed on animals, and after centuries of study and practice, he becomes an accomplished doctor. Through suppressing what he suggests is his true nature as a vampire (to drink human blood), Carlisle becomes a figure who’s considered unequivocally good. Further, though Edward describes himself at various points as “dangerous” and a “bad guy,” he nevertheless engages in the same kind of self-control that Carlisle does. In order to be with Bella, Edward must control his overwhelming desire to drink Bella’s blood—and he’s successful. It’s Edward’s self-control that therefore enables his relationship with Bella to flourish, and which allows Bella to see Edward as someone who’s wholly good. Indeed, Bella describes Edward at several points as an angel, thereby linking his self-control to an almost divine level of goodness and morality.

The novel further suggests that what makes a person even more moral is being willing and able not just to restrain oneself, but to do so in service of others. Bella shows how selfless she is in the novel’s first pages. It’s no secret that Bella hates Forks and has no desire to live there—and yet, Bella chooses to go there, where she believes she’s going to be miserable, so that her Mom can be happy and travel with her new husband. And later, as the “tracker” vampire James hunts Bella, Bella again shows how much she’s willing to harness her self-control if it means keeping the people she loves safe. It’s extremely difficult for her to meet James in the ballet studio knowing she’s going to die, but Bella motivates herself by reminding herself that with her sacrifice, Mom, Charlie, Edward, and the rest of the Cullens will be able to live. Other characters throughout the novel also emerge as extremely moral figures because of the way they give back to others. For instance, Carlisle’s vocation as a doctor allows him to not just make up for being a creature he once considered evil; it also allows him to use his special vampire senses and gifts to essentially atone for all the damage that vampires as a species have done to humanity.

Finally, the novel suggests that being unwilling or unable to restrain oneself is a sign of selfishness and lesser morality. While certainly less exciting and dangerous than any of the vampires in the novel, the mortal boys at Forks High School nevertheless become nuisances to Bella because they can’t help but express their desire to date her. Within her first few weeks in Forks, Bella finds herself fighting off advances from Mike, Eric, and Tyler—all of whom pester Bella incessantly, fight openly for her attention, and even spread rumors about taking her to the prom without getting her consent. While the novel doesn’t condemn the boys for having crushes on Bella, it nevertheless casts them as less moral because they’re unwilling or unable to restrain themselves when it becomes clear that Bella isn’t interested. Far more sinister, though, is James, a nomadic vampire and a “tracker.” The novel implies that as a vampire who feeds on humans (and one who can’t accept that the Cullens declare Bella off-limits as a food source), James is wholly monstrous. His willingness not just to kill Bella, but to also cause the Cullens as much emotional pain and suffering as possible marks him as selfish, evil, and the exact opposite of the Cullens.

Despite illustrating inarguable morality in the Cullens and monstrousness in James through how they restrain themselves or give back to others, Twilight nevertheless suggests that for many people, morality isn’t so clear-cut. Characters try to restrain themselves—and fail—at various points throughout the novel, as when Bella can’t control her sexual urges around Edward, but the novel makes it clear that this doesn’t make Bella a bad person. Rather, it makes her human. And what’s more important than anything else, the novel suggests, is whether a person commits themselves to trying to exercise self-control, help others, and be a better person.