Misti from TwilightFanSource.com has contributed 3 character breakdowns for our OBS New Moon book club this month. The first one up is Bella (look for Jacob and Edward coming soon.)

Name: Isabella “Bella” Marie Swan
Birthday: September 13, 1987
Parents: Charlie Swan, Renee Dryer
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown

When we first see Bella in New Moon she is enjoying her relationship with Edward Cullen, dreading her 18th birthday (as it will make her technically older then Edward), and still trying to convince Edward to change her into a vampire. Her breakup with Edward changes her in a way I don’t think she was expecting. First off, she was sure she would be with Edward forever – she never thought it would end, so when he leaves her:  “It was like someone had died-like I had died. Because it had been more than just losing the truest of true loves, as if that were not enough to kill anyone.” NM pg 398

It was her love for Charlie that keeps her “living”, she tries to act normal for him, goes through the motions to keep him from worrying to much, that’s who Bella is, she will always try to do the best thing for her family, even if in some ways, it puts her in pain. It is that love for Charlie that “wakes” her up from her numb, zombie like state, and when she wakes up, she finds her new addiction, Edwards “voice”.

It is this new addiction that leads her back to Jacob Black. Jacob starts off as her “enabler”, an unknowing enabler, but he is helping her to “hear” Edward. It doesn’t take long for her to remember “I’d forgotten how much I really liked Jacob Black” NM pg 131 Bella soon becomes just as addicted to Jacob as she is to hearing Edward’s voice. So when Jacob “leaves” her, she is almost back to the numb, zombie feeling, something that she never thought Jacob would produce, he is her sun, he keeps that numb feeling at bay. So, when Bella finds out what Jacob actually is, she doesn’t freak, she is just happy to have her friend back and at the same time terrified that once again, she is a vampire’s obsession (but not the Vampire she wants). Bella is once again worried, but not just for herself but for Charlie, Jacob and the whole wolf pack, again that is who Bella Swan is, more concerned for everyone else then herself, she just doesn’t want to keep causing pain to those around her. However, at the same time Bella has become almost obsessed with “hearing” Edward, to the point of death.

After her attempt at cliff diving, Alice Cullen returns and all of sudden we see Bella, once again putting her life at risk for those she loves. That is what we keeping seeing from our Bella; we saw it in Twilight, when she willingly went to go see James, knowing she would die, but doing so to save what she thought was her mother. This time, she is racing off to the Volturi, risking that she might die to save Edward “The idea of Edward ceasing to exist, even if I were dead, was impossibly painful” NM pg 20 Even though at this point she still believes Edward doesn’t love her anymore. After Bella is reunited with Edward, we see her self presservation, she admits that the worst thing in life would be loosing Edward again. She knows now that her life rests in the fact that Edward will always be there. This doesn’t solve her problems with Jacob knowing that if she gets what she wants, it could very well cause a war, nor does it help with Charlie who is upset with her and hating Edward, but she knows that at the end of the day she could face it all with Edward “That was true. Edward was here, with his arms around me. I could face anything as long as that was true.” NM pg 563

Misti Schindele is the writer for both MistiSchindele.com and TwilightFanSource.com

Thanks for your contribution Misti!

What do you think of the character breakdown? Is there anything you would add about Bella?