Wide Reading Log Number 2 – Twilight Franchise

“The gloom of the forest didn’t relent, though, for there were six primordial cedars that shaded an entire acre with their vast sweep of branches. The trees held their protecting shadow right up to the walls of the house that rose among them….”

The Twilight franchise is written by Stephenie Meyer is a fantasy-themed series based about a young woman, Isabella Swan (Bella), and her life living in Forks, Washington, and who falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. Mainly from Bella’s point of view. In the end, Bella is turned into a vampire after getting pregnant by Edward on their honeymoon. The Cullen Family also end up going and changing the Volturi’s perspectives on half breed vampires.

One of the main gothic element we see in the series is the supernatural beings, such as vampires and werewolves. The presence of the supernatural is a very common element in most gothic fiction novel. The main character’s love interest (Edward Cullen) is actually a vampire as well as his whole family, and in the last book Bella herself is turned into a vampire by her half-blood baby. “And you’re worried, not because you’re headed to meet a houseful of vampires, but because you think those vampires won’t approve of you, correct?” (Edward Cullen – Twilight). “Laurent, these are Victoria and James.” He gestured to the vampires beside him.” (Edward Cullen Twilight) Victoria and James the first protagonists of the story, Victoria continues to be the protagonists for the first three books.

There are also werewolves in the novels as well, and it happens to be one of Bella’s friends is a werewolf, but we don’t really hear much about them until the second book “ He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves.” (Jacob Black Twilight). 

The prescience of the supernatural in gothic fiction is a common used because, it’s the fear of the unknown, we don’t know what these creatures are doing, we don’t know where they come, could they possible hurt us? They are a key element in gothic fiction because, we know so little about them that we are scared of them, and that’s one of the key elements that make the twilight franchise, and other gothic fiction book so exciting.  

A big part about gothic fiction novels is the setting and how the author describes a scene. In the book Bella describes the down as : “…..a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential….. It was from this town and its gloomy….” (Twilight). This is describing a very commonly used set, there is more clouds than sky in the sky, it’s dark and miserable. This is a commonly used type of setting that authors use because, it gives the book that darkness yo make the seem scary and like every corner you turn something bad might happen, like the presence of the supernatural the gloomy and dark setting makes the book so good, because the gloomy setting makes us have a fear of the unknown. 

Another element of setting is how isolated the town is from the rest of the world, and how some parts of nature seem to represent that isolation: “The forest spread out around us in a boundless labyrinth of ancient trees” (Twilight). This is a key element of gothic fiction because, it makes the reader feel like if something bad does happen no body will be able to anything because the protagonist is too far away and it creates this fear of panic within the reader.  

I think the author’s intention was mainly just to make entertainment for the readers the series is very drama filled, and has a lot of romance, and at the same time has that dynamic of gothic fiction was well orchestrated, by the presence of gothic fiction, the gloomy and dark settings, and the isolation of the town, all key elements of gothic fiction which just make the book that much more mysterious and enjoyable.

The series was really good, I liked all the drama in the book, the fantasy in the book. It was very well written by leaving many pictures in my mind. What I also liked about the book is that Meyer twist on her books she mixed gothic fiction, fantasy and romance together to make a thrilling and enjoyable series. I also liked it showed the relationship of family, because in the books the Cullen’s sacrificed everything for Bella and Edward because they are family, and that’s what I loved about the book.

One Comment

  1. Hi Ayla,

    – You need to provide more analysis of the text and how it can be considered “gothic fiction”. At the moment, you really have just recounted aspects of the plot and characters.
    – Develop your response more. What does the presence of supernatural characters do for you as the reader? You can think about the role of supernatural characters in gothic fiction and see if you you have the reaction you are “supposed to” and why/why not.

    Mrs P

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