An Analysis on the Vampire Image in the Western Culture—Edward in Twilight as an Example

徐路

【Abstract】Vampire， has become a well-known screen image all over world and loved by the young people and teenagers， and after Twilight released， let this cultural image of vampire go to the top. This image of vampire in literary works has long been favored by readers， not by chance； deriving the film Twilight series， define the vampire image with a new angle for the audience， so that the vampire has a more rich face， make the vampire present a more rich multi-faceted， it also opened up a new world for the film of vampire theme. A good image can promote the development of the plot， describe a story more vividly， help it gain more success. The author of the series Stephanie Meyer portrays a perfect figure， Edward. We can see that Meyer depicts a handsome vampire image who is always melancholy and moody， but readers see more is a brave and kind man who is willing to pay for love.

【Key words】Twilight series； Vampire； Edward

Edwards Reason and Contradiction

“I never seriously thought how I would die， if I can replace the people who I love to die， it seems to be a good choice，” （Meyer， 2009） Actress Bella's silence statement in the story draws off the development of the story of the ghost of the scene. Twilight as the first part of the Twilight Series， the film begins with the natural landscape of Portland in Oregon as the keynote. The cold， quiet environment is consistent with the living environment of the vampire， It is in such a scenario， seems to presage a mighty storm like love will come， even their lives have to pay the expense. And with the development of the story， when Bella came to the school， an accidental encounter， a collision between two eyes， the spark of love burst out， but it seems that there is no warmth in the fire， the actor's eyes with his pale skin， such as snow， keeping distance from strange people， this shows Edward as a vampire is different from a normal human being， they had an almost indifferent appearance and their eyes sharp as winter. In class， Edward and Bella sat together as if by fate， and at this time， Edward showed a kind of expression of desire， his eyes were staring at Bella， with a kind of creepy feeling， and from time to time to make swallowing movements， standing in Edward's point of view， we are not difficult to understand， in fact， this is the instinct of kinship， they have an almost fanatical obsession with people's blood， but 104 years of experience makes Edward can control the human blood demand capability very perfectly， but it is hard to figure out that why his desire to Bella is cannot to be caught off guard. In the time of about 40 seconds， Edward's psychology has been doing the desire and the rational struggle， but in the end， he chose to escape the desire， he leave far away from Bella， perhaps this is the arrangement of destiny， but in the details Edward's rationality is been reflected， he made a real choice between reason and instinct desire. The author' writes in this way， perhaps， is to attack the vulnerable side of human nature， after all， the vampire's demon shell will be stronger than the human nature of the side.

Edwards Sincere to Love

“When I am immortal， what should I live for.”（Meyer， 2010） The deep inside hope is that the answer to this question is love， but do not dare to determine. In the second novel New Moon， a very unpleasant thing happened at Bella's 18-year-old birthday party. She broke her finger when she opened the gift wrapping paper， at the moment of blood dripping， the “newborn” Jasper whose self-control is the worst of all them， can not be made on her， Edward protected Bella at a crucial moment. Although near misses， but let Edward feel powerless to protect Bella life； In order to ensure the safety of Bella， Edward leave away from her， and promise not to see Bella again， farewell with her. Bella was sad and desperate and began her lonely life， but she muddle along without any aim. She surprised to find occasionally， as long as she do some dangerous behavior， then warning of Edward will appear in her mind. In order to meet Edward， Bella chose to jump down from a cliff near La Push beach. Edward came to Italy with all thoughts are blasted and challenge the royal family vampire Volturi， attempted to suicide， but fortunately， Bella rushed to stop eventually. Edward as a vampire， interpret the meaning of his existence with action， that is love. The temperature of love can make cold blood feel warmth of sunshine， when they really recognized the feelings and emotion， they will be paranoid to the limit. In this way， Twilights author still imagine vampires as our human negative emotional expression in naturally or half unconsciously， no man is perfect， humans will do wicked things， perhaps the vampire is another kind of life like us human， they also have the passions， will also experience different lifetime. The relationship between Edward and Bella is like the story of the wolf and the sheep we hear when we were children， and how a pair of natural enemies fall in love with each other.

References：

[1]Bible[M].UK：Oxford University Press，2000.

[2]Stephanie，Meyer.Twilight[M].London：Atom Publishing Protocol，2009.

[3]Stephanie，Meyer.Twilight Saga：New Moon[M].London：Atom Publishing Protocol，2009.

[4]Stephanie，Meyer.Twilight Saga：Eclipse[M].London：Atom Publishing Protocol，2009.

[5]Stephanie，Meyer.Twilight Saga：Breaking Dawn[M].London：Atom Publishing Protocol，2009.