Plot- Summary
In the small town of Forks, Washington, Bella Swan is turning eighteen years old. Most people would be excited to reach this age, but not Bella. Once she turns eighteen she will, from that point on, always be older than Edward Cullen, the love of her life. Edward is seventeen years old and is one of the most beautiful beings human eyes have ever seen. He will remain at this age for eternity because he is a vampire, along with the rest of the Cullen family. Although Bella does not mind that he is a vampire, Edward worries that he is constantly putting her in danger, even though the Cullen family only hunts animals, not humans. Edward begins to grow distant with Bella, and finally tells her that he and his family are moving and that he doesn’t want her anymore. Bella is devastated and drowns in her grief for months. This period of her life without Edward is like the stage of a new moon (the darkest time in her life), when the sky is the darkest kind of night, and the moon cannot be seen from Earth. She becomes almost catatonic. Although thinking about Edward hurts her, she is desperate not to let him go. Eventually, Bella renews her friendship with a reckless boy named Jacob Black. Jacob lives on the Quileute Indian reservation, and for a while things seem to be improving. But as Bella’s friendship with Jacob grows deeper, she soon discovers that, like Edward, Jacob has a dark secret. It becomes increasingly apparent why the residents of the reservation hate the Cullens. Finally, one of the many thrilling adventures she has with Jacob leads her back to Edward, and also to a deadly danger no one could have imagined. So what do you do when your sole purpose for being has left you? Do you still risk everything to save them?
Plot- Conflicts
One of the conflicts in New Moon is Bella vs. letting go. This conflict is internal and man vs. self. After Edward leaves her, Bella must find a way to move on with her life. But she seems to be stuck in a rut. She feels that Edward is her life, so without him she thinks it is impossible to carry on. She cannot stop thinking about him and obsessing over him. She will do anything to get close to something that reminds her of Edward, even if this causes her more pain. Not only can Bella seem to not let him go, she does not want to. During the story, she finds that if she does something thrilling and dangerous, she hears Edward’s voice as clear as a bell in her head pleading her to stop. So, every chance she gets, she does the most reckless and precarious things she can think of to be able to hear his voice again.
Another conflict in New Moon is Bella vs. Edward. This conflict is external and man vs. man. Edward is leaving Bella because he wants to keep her safe, even though he is still madly in love with her (although Bella does not know this). He feels that all he does is bring danger into her life. Edward thinks that the closer he gets to Bella the more hazardous her life becomes because he is a vampire. But Bella feels differently. She doesn’t care that Edward is a vampire and she does not think that he brings danger to her life. She desperately wants Edward to see this, but he does not; he sticks to his ideas. Nevertheless, although Edward has left her, he wants her to be as safe as possible and he would not want to continue on if she died. So when he receives word that Bella committed suicide, he aims to do the same. However, Bella had not actually killed herself. She had simply jumped off a cliff into the sea to hear the thrill of Edward’s voice again. But the person who saw her do so misinterpreted it, thinking she had died. So when Edward is on the verge of taking his own life, Bella must risk everything in order to save him before time runs out. Another problem Bella and Edward have is that of immortality. Bella wants Edward to change her into a vampire, so that she may stay young and be his love for eternity. But Edward feels that he is a monster, a terrible being with no soul, and he says that he will not bring this upon her. He does not want to take her life and soul away.
Conflict- Climax
The climax of the story is when Edward is about to step into the sun at noon in Volterra, Italy. If he does this, he will expose the secret that the Volturri have kept for so long and the Volturri will kill him as punishment. Bella and Alice Cullen (his sister) are in a race against time to reach Edward and keep him from ending his life. If they do not make it in time and Edward dies, Bella will not be able to live any longer. Edward is her sole reason for being and if he dies, she will follow suit. Bella is willing to risk everything in order to save him, even if it means sacrificing her life for his. This is the moment that Alice, Bella, and Edward’s lives all depend on.
Plot- Conclusion and Resolution
Although Bella never fully lets go of Edward, the resolution that eases her pain and helps her to carry on comes in the form of Jacob Black. After Bella has been extremely apathetic for months, she rekindles her friendship with Jacob. Jacob makes her happy and when Bella is with him she able to smile again and let go of the pain for a while. And, although Bella does not realize it yet, she is falling in love with Jacob. Their relationship has grown more deep and strong than she could have ever anticipated. Bella compares her heartbreak over Edward to a wound- a pulsing, open, deep, throbbing wound. When Bella is around Jacob, while this wound does not heal completely, the pain lessens and Bella feels that the wound recedes somewhat.
In the matter of the conflict of Bella vs. Edward, this problem is not fully resolved either (at least not in this installment of the series). When Bella jumped off the cliff into the sea, Edward planned to kill himself. He knew he could not do this on his own for almost nothing can kill a vampire, so he planned to go to Volterra, Italy. Here the Volturri, the royal and most powerful family of vampires, resides. They will do anything to keep vampires a secret in the world from humans. When a vampire steps into the sunlight, their skin sparkles like diamonds and everyone will know that the vampire most definitely is not human. So Edward plans to step into the sun at 12 noon in the middle of the city. By doing so, he knows the Volturri will kill him for exposing the secret. Once Bella saves him, just in the nick of time, by throwing herself at him to keep him in the dark alley, two members of the Volturri see the incident and take them back to the Volurri’s tower. Eventually they are free to go, but Edward and Bella’s lives had been at stake. Edward realizes that being apart from Bella does nothing but bring more danger to her and he knows that he cannot leave her now for he must protect her. However, Bella still does not convince Edward to turn her into a vampire.
Plot- Setting
New Moon takes place in the present day and in a little town by the name of Forks, Washington. Forks is always under constant cover of clouds and rain. “I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I was dreaming. The reasons I was so certain were that, first, I was standing in a bright shaft of sunlight – the kind of blinding clear sun that never shone on my drizzly new home in Forks, Washington--…” (Pg. 3). The population of Forks is very low, being a little over 3,000 people. Here, Bella attends Forks High School. Most of her classmates have known each other since they were infants, and their families have lived in Forks for generations. Newcomers are generally gossiped about for nothing else much more exciting happens there. Many lush green forests and meadows, with foliage being ever present, surround Forks. In addition, Forks is the wettest place in the continental U.S. “…and the rainiest summer in the history of the Olympic Peninsula…” (Pg. 6) But by now, Bella has gotten used to the weather, however much she dislikes it. “Dull gray light, the familiar light of an overcast morning…” (Pg. 6)
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