Wherefore (The New Moon walkthrough Pg. 13-17)

In high school it’s Edward, Alice, and Bella as a happy little threesome who are now the best of friends. Almost getting murdered by a mutual enemy will do that to people but we forget about Bella’s other ‘friends.’ People like Mike and Jessica, who used to have somewhat of an important role in Bella’s life given that they are the first people she met here, the first people she hung out with, etc. Now however they are relegated to supporting players and although I’m supposed to say ‘I hate to say it but I told you so’ I really don’t hate to say it. Being right isn’t something I prefer to be modest about it which is actually kind of sad since I am outwitting a book aimed at teenage girls. I said it before, a long time before, that Bella’s problem is that she thinks she’s too hip to be happy, and that she would dump her friends as soon as she could. And she has, she’s too happy to be around Alice and Edward completely forgotten about the rest of the population of the school.

We run into Mike though, he has dyed his hair blonde-ish and spiked it out (or is it up). Apparently, as Bella conjectures, to copy Edward. This is feasible given that Mike had a thing for Bella last book, but anyone that thinks spikey blonde hair is going to overcome the stink of “too nice guy” needs to reevaluate their priorities. It’s not the looks it’s the fact that he treats her badly that makes her want Edward.

Just because Bella has forgotten about the rest of the school doesn’t mean that Meyer has. The section describing the new year is short, but that’s actually an improvement. I criticized the previous book for not being a realistic portrayal of high school. Everyone was too friendly and the social caste system didn’t seem to exist. I went so far as to wonder if Meyer was home schooled given that she just didn’t get it. That problem still exists here, but first we need to set it up. The older Cullens have graduated leaving only Alice and Edward left in the school. How they determine who is what age is probably better left to fan fiction, but what is important here is that the privileged table of social betters is gone. Alice and Edward could probably hold it themselves but with the addition of Bella it means the dynamic is changed. It would be doubtful that three people could hold the position as they did before.

This means that other people have been upgraded and economy of storytelling means that we have to have already met them. Jessica, Mike, Lauren, and Eric now sit with them. Eric is an odd addition given that he should remain somewhere else. He’s the dragon tee-shirt wearing, chess club, guy that was briefly introduced and then dropped. Lauren, I think, is the girl who hated Bella for her relationship with Edward and for some reason she sits with them as well. Mike and Jessica make sense though. This is where Meyer repeats her problem from before. Although it’s hard to fault her for it since in order to populate the table she would have to introduce new people or just use them. They might be sitting at the same place but they aren’t sitting with each other, Bella comments that there is an invisible line. It’s only Alice, Edward, and her on one side and the rest of the people on the other. They don’t mix, which means that it’s just for show. The only reason to have Bella mention it is so she can brag about it. Even worse than that is that she blames everyone else for this discrepancy.

Her complaints make no sense, because when Alice and Edward are in school she won’t talk to the rest of them. And when they are missing they talk to her. She’s got the best of both worlds, but as I have said before, she just needs to complain.

The school scene is short, and it’s just set up anyway. It’s just that the minor scenes often tell us more about Bella than is intended.

With school out they go home to watch Romeo and Juliet prior to the party that Bella doesn’t to go to. For some reason the version of the movie is stressed as being important (the 1968 version with Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey). This is only done to show that Edward is old because its the version he hasn’t seen. It also means that he is cultured, something that thus far hasn’t really played any importance or relevance despite the fact that it is stressed that Bella is so smart. After some short making out they watch the movie.

Edward offers up a criticism of Romeo that is out of place if only because he is making it, “Well, first of all, he’s in love with Rosaline-don’t you think that makes him seem a little fickle? And then, a few minutes after their wedding, he kills Juliet’s cousin. That’s not very brilliant. Mistake after mistake. Could he have destroyed his own happiness any more thoroughly?“

Edward makes an interesting point about Romeo being fickle. Rosaline ditches Romeo prior to the play beginning but then he falls completely in love with Juliet. All that really means is not that Romeo is fickle but that Juliet was the rebound girl. Other than that he’s completely wrong, Romeo doesn’t make a series of mistakes. Sure Tybalt is gunned down (or skewered) but it’s in keeping with the partisanship of renaissance Verona. I believe the two of them were fighting and Tybalt “gets got” but if he hadn’t then it would have been Romeo in the dust. The play is more a series of unfortunate events than it is about love. Which is why “wherefore” ought to have been the title. Despite what most people think “wherefore” doesn’t mean “where” it means “why.” The famous line of Juliet’s, “wherefore are thou Romeo.” Is not about Juliet wondering where he is but why he is. Why was he named by a Montague.

Edward’s criticism is made and Bella gets defensive because before Edward she had a thing for Romeo…as much as any person can have a thing for a fictional character. It really shows that she’s not attracted to the right type of person. Edward-a controlling narcissist or Romeo the gangster. Which leads us to ask wherefore Bella, wherefore?