Love
Throughout the novel, Bella grapples with different types of love. Though she is romantically in love with Edward, her feelings were not reciprocated. Bella loves Jacob, though only as a friend. Six months after Edward leaves her, Bella begins to wonder if she could be happy married to Jacob, though she knows she will never love him romantically. After Alice and Bella stop Edward from killing himself, Edward tells Bella that he loves her and will never leave her again. Bella’s feelings towards Edward have not changed, though they spent six months apart. Their love is strong enough to overcome the time, distance, and the Volturi. Jacob and Bella’s love, though strong, may not be enough to survive the return of Jacob’s enemies, the Cullens.
Eternity and Death
Meyers uses Edward’s view of death to explore the Christian view of eternity through nontraditional characters. Edward believes vampires do not have souls and are, therefore, eternally damned. Because of these more traditional views of death, he refuses to turn Bella into a vampire so he doesn’t condemn her to hell. When Edward leaves, Bella risks death several times to hear Edward’s voice and, later, to save Edward’s life. When Bella saves Edward, he is confused and believes he has died and gone to heaven, representing his hope that vampires are not automatically damned, and that the afterlife is not what he always thought it to be.
Broken Promises
Throughout the novel, Meyers explores the inevitable pain that follows broken promises. Edward promises that he will make it seem like he was never a part of her life, which he attempts to fulfill by taking all of Bella’s pictures of him and all the CDs he gave her. But, because he can’t erase her memories, Bella claims that he broke that promise as soon as he made it. This broken promise leaves Bella in so much pain that she endeavors to break the promise she made to him: not to do anything reckless or stupid. As Bella rides a motorcycle, walks in the forest alone, and goes cliff diving, she puts herself in physical danger, sometimes actually hurting herself, and deepens the emotional wounds Edward left behind.
Jacob promises never to hurt Bella and to always be there for her. When the conflict between werewolves and vampires becomes too intense, he is forced to break those promises, hurting both Bella and himself.
