How we cite our quotes: (chapter.paragraph)
Quote #1
So if I didn't figure out some way to make things right with Jacob, then I was a bad person? (2.281)
Bella struggles with what makes her a good or bad person – making things right by her or by Jacob. What's more important: what you think of yourself or what others think of you?
Quote #2
With a sense of astonishment, I realized that Jacob looked dangerous to them. How odd. (3.147)
It seems that when we love someone, he or she appears "good" to us while they may look "bad" or "evil" to others. Who is right? Or does the truth lie in the middle?
Quote #3
[Bella to Jacob:] "You have no idea how truly good [the Cullens] are – to the core." (4.185)
With "to the core" Bella seems to imply that the Cullens are different from all other vampires in that they're "naturally" good. Is that true?
Quote #4
[Rosalie to Bella:] "I did murder five humans," she told me in a complacent tone. "If you can really call them human." (7.78)
Rosalie implies that, by committing evil, you lose your humanity. So do evil humans give up their right to be treated as humans?
Quote #5
[Billy Black:] "The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her." (11.101)
The beauty of the vampire woman causes some of the villagers to worship her. They obviously believe her to be good. Is "goodness" in our culture associated with beauty?
Quote #6
[Billy Black:] "Only… if a cold one was near, would the wolves return." (11.120)
The legend seems to imply that the presence of evil in the world creates the presence of good, in order to fight evil. So are good and evil just two sides of the same coin?
Quote #7
[Edward to Bella:] "Thou shalt not kill is commonly accepted in major belief systems. And I've killed a lot of people." "Only the bad ones." (20.233)
Does it make you a good person to kill bad people?
Quote #8
[Edward to Victoria:] "You provided us with a common enemy. You allied us." (24.178)
The Cullen vampires and the werewolves united to fight an even greater evil than they consider each other to be. So apparently, the boundaries between good and evil are not set in stone, but shift with situation in Eclipse. So what might be an adequate definition for good and evil in Eclipse?
Quote #9
[Bella to Edward:] "More that, you don't want to hurt me… so much that I don't think that you ever could." (20.159)
Throughout the story, Bella gives Edward a lot of credit for being "good." Do you think he's as in control of his "good side" as Bella thinks?
Quote #10
[Carlisle to Jane:] "[Bree] was never taught." (25.215)
Carlisle believes that Bree is not to blame for her crimes because she didn't know any better. She was never taught to be good. The question of whether humans have to be taught to be good or whether they are good by nature presents a centuries-old philosophical debate. Where do you fall and why?