Twilight
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Is Rosalies dislike for Bella justified? Why or why not?
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BGirl
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Aug 28, 2011 12:36PM

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So each choice has pluses and negatives. Rosalie saw only good things about being human, while Bella saw only wonderful things about becoming a vampire. Even the bloodlust was a temporary set back, not a major detriment.
Both are right, neither is wrong. It is just about what each wanted to get out of her own life.



But I think it also shows that she cares about Bella to some extent because she doesn't want her "throw her life away" because thats what she thinks becoming a vampire is doing.


nice theory :D


“…There would be no happy ending, as she’d promised. I wondered if this was why she had so much more bitterness in her than the rest of them—because she’d been within reach of everything she’d wanted when her human life was cut short” (Bella reacting to Roses’ story in Eclipse 158).
“Shallow as I was, I felt better when I saw my reflection in the mirror the first time. Despite the eyes, I was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen….It took some time before I began to blame the beauty for what had happened to be me—for me to see the curse of it. To wish that I had been…well, not ugly, but normal. Like Vera. So I could have been allowed to marry someone who loved me, and have pretty babies. Tha’s what Id really wanted, all along…” (Rosalie, 162)
“…You see, at first, I was mostly jealous because [Edward] wanted you and not me….I was so used to people wanting me. And Edward wasn’t the least bit interested….But he never wanted anyone, so it didn’t bother me long…And then he met you…I just meant that he found you more attractive than me. I’m vain enough that I minded” (164-165)
When Rose explains why she hates bella:
“Don’t you see, Bella?...you already have everything. You have a whole life ahead of you—everything I want. And you’re going to just throw it away. Can’t you see that I’d trade everything I have to be you? You have the choice that I didn’t have, and you’re choosing wrong!” (166)
Another quote to show how vein Rose is:
Bella: “Would you like me better if I chose to stay human?”
Rose: “Maybe”
We can see how much vanity affects rose by the way she expresses how she ‘might’ like Bella if she stayed human. Thus, rose can’t be justified for why she hates Bella because of this reaction. We understand that Bella has everything Rose wanted, but you can’t hate someone for not having what they have; this is what we call jealously. Most families raise their children to not have this trait; therefore we can’t justify Rose for her own jealously. As a reader we can sympathize for her grief, but we can’t justify it.

She doesn't like-like him. She was just hurt that he didn't want her. Like everyone else did. He stood out. Imagine having all the guys falling over you and then this one guy is flat out rude to you and doesn't drool over you. And years later he drools over a less prettier girl(in rosalie's eyes) and now rosalie is sitting there asking herself what edward saw in Bella and not in her.


That can be especially difficult if the only thing you were ever valued for were your looks. I've seen it happen to people. Girls who have always been gorgeous grow up believing that is the only good thing about them, then they find out that someone doesn't believe their good looking. It can be a hard blow to take.

Exactly. I mean, it is not like Rosalie has every right to act the way she does with Bella... it's just that from her own personal world, her own perspective, it is hard not to be the way she is.

I completely agree that there are "other things" about her...but the question remains: is her hatred justified?
Let’s re-think the question: can we justify her behavior based on jealously and grief? Some may disagree, but I would say you can’t justify someone’s behavior from jealously because that’s a negative trait a person chooses to take on. I understand that this is not the life she would have chosen and she probably would have rather been left to die than suffer the ‘curse’ of not being able to have children and grandchildren. On the contrary, Bella has chosen this life. Two different people and two very-different outlooks on life. I can understand Rose’s hatred, but I can’t justify jealously, thus I can’t justify her hatred. I never will, regardless if it is a fictional character or a real person. Jealously is a trait that someone allows themself to have.
I’m not saying that Rose doesn’t have the right to hate bella, but I’m just stating why I don’t think we can justify it because it’s based on jealously. Imagine characters reversed for a moment: If Rose had the kindness of Alice and she was telling Bella not to become human because of the things you miss out in life such as children, grandchildren, etc we would be able to justify her dislike because I don’t think Alice would have jealousy, but rather concern. Alice would dislike bella because shes choosing wrong, not from jealously of what alice ‘could have had’ or from vanity that rose possesses. Its probably not the best comparison, but the bottom line is that jealously is never a trait that can be justified. If you are Christian than you may know that it is one of the major sins as well. I’m not flipping this into a Christian battle, but I’m just further emphasizing how jealousy can’t be justified. I would rather have someone envious before jealously.
Depending on the way you look at her character depends on how you will perceive her.Personally, I see rose as jealous and vain, thus I don’t justify it. If you can’t see this way at all than you will probably see it the opposite way.
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