Re: Explorations
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:34 am
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Hello Smitten, I agree, Bella is simply well suited for her new life. We're just having some fun with this theory.smitten_by_twilight wrote:She does seem to be born differently than other humans though - made to be a vampire. She continues to tolerate pain well (the burn) after transformation.
That's a good point, corona. Although I think it's still possible she had MS, just that it was not responsible for a lessened degree of pain. I don't know that she did feel pain less intensely. As you pointed out, I think it's more due to her self control than experiencing less pain than the average person.corona wrote:Here I think is a chink in that MS argument. Bella is healed of all physical ailments during the transformation, and that would have made things simply worse for her, like when her spine is healed and the pain doubles. Toleration of pain based on a physical ailment (insensitivity) wouldn't have helped Bella there, it would have made things worse once the ailment was removed.
No, not necessarily related to the physical attributes that make her a good vampire, just possibly. Certain aspects of Bella being a natural for the vampiric lifestyle do seem to go beyond her being a singer, but some seem related to me. Running on this neurotransmitter theory (hormones being one type of neurotransmitter), her scent to Edward and other vampires could be related to a unique neurotransmitter balance, and she and Edward would be best suited to each other in getting preggers. This unique neurotransmitter balance might contribute to a slightly smoother physical and emotional transition to being a vampire. But it would pale (ha, ha) in comparison to the contribution made by her familiarity with the Cullens, her ability to control her instinctive fear, her ability to control pain (possibly related to those many injuries and having to be the parent and reassure her mom), and to the fact that she chose to become a vampire and fought for it.Tornado wrote:I'm not sure that the fact that Bella became pregnant so quickly is necessarily related to the physical attributes that made her a good vampire, or just the fact that, as Edward's singer, their cells combined more easily. The guide suggests that any vampire who had sex with their singer would impregnate her quickly, so I think that's more related to the appeal one had for the other. Perhaps it did break down into something chemical ultimately, but the unique aspects of Bella, and how she seems designed to become a vampire, seem to go beyond the singer part of her nature. The fact that she appeals to all vampires (i.e. smells more appealing than the average human) might be a more telling piece of information.
Very true. To me (and this is just my perception cuz I do this), I see Bella as setting aside her pain, kind of dissociating from it. I'm actually thinking here of the pain she experiences after transformation, the burn in her throat, rather than the burn of transformation which is overwhelming and un-dissociatable. I'm sorry I wasn't clearer on that, I should not have been trying to post here at 2 am local! It was total stream of consciousness. But to me, dissociating from the pain requires equal strength of mind as just tolerating and bearing it, even though it doesn't feel like it does.corona wrote:As to the tolerance of pain, I think Bella shows more self-control and iron will than anything else. If there is a physical issue involved, well, that makes it less heroic. If one is less sensitive to pain it simply means that one isn't experiencing the full measure of agony as one who is more sensitive to it.
Brilliant! Yes, she would have experienced pain differently and more intensely after being of healed of such a thing during transformation.corona wrote:Here I think is a chink in that MS argument. Bella is healed of all physical ailments during the transformation, and that would have made things simply worse for her, like when her spine is healed and the pain doubles. Toleration of pain based on a physical ailment (insensitivity) wouldn't have helped Bella there, it would have made things worse once the ailment was removed.
I didn't think of that, but you are right, there's an inconsistency. We know little about Edward's transformation, but Rosalie apparently screamed most of the time. (Gosh, I hope the neighbors didn't hear! ) People do react differently to pain, as Tornado pointed out, and Carlisle was aware at the beginning that he was in a different environment (dangerous) than Bella was (supportive), which might have encouraged him to hold on to his awareness. Perhaps that is part of his tremendous feat; not only to remain silent, as Alice and Bella did, but to do so unmedicated while maintaining awareness of his surroundings. For 3 God-awful days. It must be very tempting to give in to the pain, scream and writhe, and stop fighting to focus on anything else.corona wrote:P.S. Personally, I see a contradiction in Bella's description of the transformation and Carlisle's experience of it, although I don't dispute the canon. According to Bella the pain is overwhelming and bewildering to the point where you eventually lose all sense of self except for the desire to have the pain stop, that death is actually preferable. During that period of time nothing else existed for her (not even Edward) except pain. If you lose all sense of self, then self-control goes with it, meaning that Carlisle couldn't have prevented himself from screaming and thrashing around. He might even have preferred being found and destroyed rather than go through it, if he could have been conscious of such a thought.