Midnight Sun

Love is a powerful but dangerous force in Midnight Sun. Before Edward even falls in love with Bella, he senses love coming, aided by Alice’s ability to see it as inevitable in the future. Even in Chapter 5 when Edward is determined to ignore Bella, he is still distracted by the possibility of love. He thinks, “it would be exactly like falling: effortless. Not letting myself love her was the opposite of falling—it was pulling myself up a cliff face, hand over hand, the task as grueling as if I had no more than mortal strength” (88). Meyer sets up love as a force so powerful that Edward will clearly be unable to resist it, no matter how hard he tries and despite his exceptional strength of mind. By the end of Chapter 5, love makes both a permanent and positive change in Edward, just as it did to the members of his family. After Edward overhears Bella talking in her sleep, he is overcome with a final wave of love that alters him forever. He thinks about his family, “when change came for one of us, it was a rare and permanent thing. I had seen it happen with Carlisle, and then a decade later with Rosalie.