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Popular Culture Review
personalities, although Bella’s obsessive personality crosses over to that of
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Particularly, displayed in the first two
novels of the series, Twilight and New Moon, Bella becomes so consumed by
her love for Edward that she loses what little sense of self she possessed prior to
meeting him, and ultimately, by the end of the series, she loses her own human
life. More specifically, and more characteristic to BPD, she dismisses friends,
minimizes contact with family, and forgets about her own academic and career
goals. In addition, during their interim breakup, she engages in high-risk-taking
behavior, searches out and becomes preoccupied with Jacob Black, a
“replacement” male, experiences auditory hallucinations, and even, arguably,
attempts suicide. However, this irrational obsession, and inability to let go of the
toxic relationship due to mental instability—despite the danger for Bella, a
human who closely and dangerously intermingles in a vampire’s world—are
what keep the couple together and ultimately allow the plot development of the
intriguing Twilight series to unfold.
One factor that could disrupt Bella’s use of logic—or the ability to remove
herself from the dangerous relationship—is her twisted view of love for Edward.
For BPDs, this feeling, called “dysfunctional regulation of emotion,” is so strong
and sometimes so overbearing that often all rational thought is completely
discredited (NIMH par. 1). Along with dysfunctional regulation of emotion,
other characteristics of BPD, according to the National Institute of Mental
Health, is that BPD affects mostly young women and is identified by pervasive
instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior (par.
1). This instability often disrupts family, friendships, school or work life, long
term planning, and the individual’s overall sense of self-identity (par. 1).
For a person suffering from BPD, an overall sense of identity is at great risk
when a person does not have an established self-identity to start. Unfortunately,
for Bella, this is the case: the audience learns early on in the novel that Bella has
always been a bit of an outcast; she never seemed to fit in anywhere. For
instance, while living in Phoenix, having only a few insignificant friends, the
pallid, dark-haired Bella was unathletic and physically awkward compared to
the tan, blond, “cheerleader” types who are popular and who Bella considers
beautiful (Meyer, Twilight 9). Bella also often feels completely out of touch with
people, including her own mother: “Sometimes I wondered if I was seeing the
same things through my eyes that the rest of the world was seeing through
theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.” (10). So identity, from the
beginning, is an area in which Bella is lacking; she feels lonely, awkward, and
shy and doesn’t seem to socially fit in with the rest of her peers or anyone else,
for that matter (9).
When Bella arrives in the small town of Forks, her ability to develop a
social life suddenly shifts as, much to her surprise; she is suddenly bombarded
with attention. The local teens are infatuated with the new girl, and both boys
and girls alike seek to become her friend, and in the case of many of the boys,
she quickly becomes a romantic interest. So although she still doesn’t feel that