Twilight Group

Question:

alicia30
alicia30

In the Twilight series, why is it that Stephenie Meyer's vampires sparkle in the sun instead of being burned by it?

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Posted by alicia30 on Thursday February 5, 2009 at 12:02 PM and tagged with characters, sparkling, twilight, vampires.

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  1. jgomezada
    jgomezada Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor

    Meyer never gives an exact explanation for this variance from the traditional vampire other than the fact that she got the idea for the story from a dream. She dreamt of the meadow scene where two people were having an intense conversation about their doomed relationship. One was your average American girl (Bella), and the other was a boy who was "fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire" (Edward).

    Meyers did not research traditional vampires when she began writing her book. Hers come from her imagination. As a matter of fact, there are very few similarities between her vampires and those like Nosferatu or vampire bats. Other than the fact that they are immortal, pale, and drink blood, her vampires are very different from "normal" vampires.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/twilightseries/group
    http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

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    Posted by jgomezada on Thursday February 5, 2009 at 8:21 PM

  2. joannxvi
    joannxvi

    It's not like there is an actual basis for the said characters. It's called fiction... a pigment of her imagination... and since its a love story, she wont want her readers to envision Edward as an ugly monster.  She was so creative that people wanted to become Edward, a vampire.

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    Posted by joannxvi on Sunday February 8, 2009 at 12:14 PM

  3. lacrossemom
    lacrossemom Teacher
    Elementary / Primary

    Check out Twlight (paperback edition), pg. 185.  Edward and Bella discuss the various vampire myths.

    In one of the books, it's written that vampires don't have fangs ... they have sharp teeth covered in venom. Stephenie just took some creative license when it came to her vampires!

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    Posted by lacrossemom on Tuesday March 10, 2009 at 4:30 PM

  4. taebear99
    taebear99 Student
    High School - 11th Grade

    A good explanation would be that Stephenie Meyer is trying to lead the readers away from previous stereotypes of vampires. Around the time that we find this out in the book, we also find a number of other "myths" or "truths", according to Edward. Sticking to the preconceived notion that vampires are burned by sunlight would be too predictable and wouldn't really add anything to the storyline.

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    Posted by taebear99 on Sunday March 29, 2009 at 2:25 PM