Stephenie Meyer’s Influences on Bella Swan
51 was with her and lived with her; and not being lonely, because she was
not unhappy being on her own. Charlie was too dedicated to his job as a police chief in Forks.
Besides being a quiet person, Charlie was actually caring and dedicated to his job. He cared about Bella. It may be a form of
redemption not spending enough time with her during her childhood. Evidence of Charlie being caring to Bella can be found on page 55
when Bella arrived at Forks High School. It was a terrible day with frozen rain from the night before in a form of black ice that covered
the road, but Bella got to school safely. She realized that Charlie had got up early to put snow chains on the truck. Bella was surprised by
Charlie’s unspoken concern. Having dinner with Charlie was always in silence. This issue is
brought up again on page 356 when Bella was about to tell Charlie that she had a plan to spend the afternoon with Edward at the Cullens’.
Then, on the next page, readers can see the concern that Charlie had for Bella thinking that Bella would date Emmet.
Oh, well, thats — he struggled — better, I guess. I dont like the look of that big one. Im sure hes a nice
boy and all, but he looks too… mature for you. Is this Edwin your boyfriend?
Its Edward, Dad.
357 It is clearly seen that Charlie wanted to make sure that Bella got
the best she could and to make sure that he gave the best for Bella. Soon after, he allowed Bella to leave with Edward. Charlie cared about
52 Bella; this maybe Bella had not noticed, but Charlie wanted to be a
good father for Bella, or even the best, maybe. On page 240, Charlie planned to cancel his fishing trip just to make
sure that he would be there if Bella needed him. He knew that he left Bella alone too much, but here Bella said that she was just like him;
she did not mind to be alone. This is a proof that Bella had a lot in common with her father, Charlie. Bella was independent, like her
father. This is also a proof that Charlie cared about Bella and wanted to spend more time with her. The same thing can be seen on page 149.
I watched TV with Charlie after dinner, for something to do. There wasnt anything on I wanted to watch,
but he knew I didnt like baseball, so he turned it to some mindless sitcom that neither of us enjoyed. He
seemed happy, though, to be doing something together. And it felt good, despite my depression, to
make him happy.
149 Here, Charlie seemed happy to spend time together and do
something together with Bella. In the paragraph, Charlie also tried to be caring; realizing that Bella did not like sport, he turned to other
channel although he did not like the show, and apparently Bella did not like it either. Charlie probably did not notice that, but it did not matter.
They did spend time together, and Bella also felt good to make Charlie happy.
On page 382-383, Bella insisted not to leave Charlie alone at home, because she knew that a vampire hunter, James, would track her
scent to the house. She knew that James would kill Charlie. Knowing
53 that Charlie’s life is at stake, Bella insisted to go home arguing against
Edward’s idea to take her away to save her. Although Charlie was not around her when she needed him, especially during her childhood,
Bella appreciated all the things Charlie had done to make it up during her stay at Forks.
In the novel, Bella did not mention that she loved Charlie, but her action that she did to come back for him in order to make sure that
Charlie was safe reflects it. Bella loves Charlie, at least to pay all the things that Charlie did for Bella in Forks.