What if...?

A discussion of the novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

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December
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Re: What if...?

Post by December »

vampbball wrote:decent vampire who really is comfortable being a vampire. Because Bree never had all the closeness that you mention, I think it would have taken her time for her to perceive it as desirable.She liked Fred because he didn't talk, didn't pressure her, was decent, but not too familiar. Fred was exactly her speed. (Even Diego surprised her with his affection and familiarity. Alice would have completely blown her over.)

She certainly would!

Interesting observation. I can see this. Particularly if she'd been able to catch up with Fred.

The remarkable thing is how characters like Bree and Fred make the notion of the decent but not veggie vampire intelligible to us. Or perhaps I mean to say: how Stephenie manages to make them seem decent to us, despite the fact that what they are doing is -- let's look this straight in the eye -- killing people.

As for what one imagines Bree doing, I guess it depends partly on just what the "what if" we're trying out here is. Is it: would she have been able to subdue her thirst and stick it out with the Cullens if that was what was required of her? Or: would she have chosen to join them sooner or later, assuming that she survived in the first place?
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vampbball
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Re: What if...?

Post by vampbball »

December wrote:The remarkable thing is how characters like Bree and Fred make the notion of the decent but not veggie vampire intelligible to us. Or perhaps I mean to say: how Stephenie manages to make them seem decent to us, despite the fact that what they are doing is -- let's look this straight in the eye -- killing people.
Yes. This was especially true for me, because I have been very disapproving of the vampires in general. (In a discussion a long while back, someone asked me if I thought the vampires had a right to exist, and I said that if I lived in the Twilight-verse, I'd be working to isolate the shapeshifting gene in order to breed vamp fighters large scale.) It even irked me in BD when Bella worried about all the lives being lost "not too close but in the area" due to the influx of witnesses. So for me to respond so sympathetically to Bree is saying something. I still think that denying their root human-ness is wrong, and I can understand why Carlisle tried to kill himself when he discovered he was a vampire (seems perfectly rational to me!), but they are sentient creatures with a huge moral burden placed upon them. That said, I think that choosing to become a vampire and not intending to abstain from human blood is completely unjustifiable.
December
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Re: What if...?

Post by December »

Choosing to become a vampire with full intention of giving your lust for human blood free rein? Yes, inexcusable. Or close to it. That's Gianna, isn't it? And why Bella is so horrified when she Edward tells her what Gianna is hoping for ("How can she want to be a part of this?"). But of course very few vampires actually did choose this fate. Bella's position is unusual. No doubt having had the conscious choice strengthens her ability to resist the thirst -- foreknowledge of what she'll be facing helps to prepare her -- but it also places a unique moral burden on her to damn well succeed in resisting it. For Bella, really, there can be no excuses.
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Re: What if...?

Post by vampyre_princess »

I think if they had spared her, she would go find Fred, and tell him that the 'yellow eyes' aren't what Riley made them out to be at all, and she'd try and get him to come back with her and both of them join the Cullen's and I think she would try her hardest to become a 'decent' vampire. Because I actually think she hated haveing to take a human life to quench her thirst. I think since she started talking to Diego her concience and humanity came back to her, I think she was always different from the other 'frenzied' newborns, but she needed to find someone else, and she found him in Diego. I think she would try and live like the Cullen's do for herself and for Diego too.
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Tiger_kitten
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Re: What if...?

Post by Tiger_kitten »

It's also worth mentioning that when first transformed into a vampire, you don't really remember your human life, therefore your human morals, and from the very beginning Riley brainwashes them all (Bree specifically for this discussion). If you were "born again" in a sense, and from the first moment-on you were told you were superior and that you DESERVED blood and such, wouldn't you believe it? They don't know there is another way.

You can relate it to meat-eating. Most people (Riley's army) are raised thinking it is okay to eat meat, it is basically a daily occurance, animals are lesser creatures, and we need their substances to survive. Now if you are raised by vegetarians (Cullens) you realize that it is wrong to eat meat and from the beginning you do what is "morally right" by substaining from eating meat. Yes "most people" may someday get older and realize the morality of the situation. But I can't really blame any of the newborn army for their actions. They don't REALLY know any better.

Now if they were in Bella's situation, and they did what they did... They are evil. Ha ha.

P.S. I am not a vegetarian, so sorry if any of that came off in the wrong way, it is just an easy metaphor.
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Lyra-Bess
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Re: What if...?

Post by Lyra-Bess »

I think that Bree would have joined the Cullens if she'd been allowed to live. At least Esme and Carlisle would probably have wanted her to stick around. I think Bree'd have had a hard time adjusting to their lifestyle and it would feel weird to her to be a part of a loving, family unit. Ultimately though, I think she'd have been really happy with the Cullens after a decade. I say a decade because as a newborn she'd have the thirst to deal with and I can imagine a 'vegetarian' diet might be something she'd not be good with. And also she might go away and come back a bit because she'd probably want to find Fred and she'd also probably really struggle with being a part of a family and being around that many vampires all the time. Vampires are supposed to like their privacy and being independent so I can imagine the Cullens being okay with her taking time to figure things out. However, I see Bree as coming back to them because of the things that would initially have driven her away.
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Re: What if...?

Post by Tornado »

I don't think she would have joined them immediately, no. I think if the Volturi had walked away, leaving her alive, once they had gone, Edward would have taken Bella away, so that she wouldn't tempt Bree anymore. Then Esme (with Jasper's and Alice's help) would probably have taken charge of Bree for a while, especially while Carlisle went to help Jacob. They would have talked to her about the way they lived, but I don't think it is a lifestyle she could have embraced immediately, especially considering the fact that she was still in her first year, and had been used to satisfying her thirst whenever she liked. She certainly wouldn't have been trustworthy around Bella. Yes, she managed to resist, but that's only because she knew that one move and they would have killed her. It would be too dangerous to have Bella, especially as she does smell good, anywhere near Bree for extended periods of time.

I think that Bree would have gone to join Fred, and that they might have travelled together for a time. Maybe she would have brought him back to meet the Cullens. Fred would probably like Carlisle. However, I think both of them would have chosen to be nomads for a while, and remained friends with the Cullens. Maybe later on, when they had passed the newborn madness, they might reconsider their lifestyle in light of how the Cullens choose to live.
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jennaentrust
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Re: What if...?

Post by jennaentrust »

Yes I think Bree would have joined the Cullens. I also agree that she would not have been trustworthy around Bella which could have caused many other problems.
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