Midnight Sun

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-11

Chapters 12-15

Chapters 16-17

Chapters 18-21

Chapters 22-24

Chapters 25-27

Chapter 28-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 18-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 18 Summary: “Mind Over Matter”

When they drive to Bella’s house, both Bella and Edward are elated. Edward even sings along to the radio and finally tells Bella that he was born in 1901. He also explains how Carlisle transformed him, although he leaves out a lot of detail. Edward remembers vividly when Rosalie brought Emmett to Carlisle to be turned and how Emmett turned out to be a perfect match for her. Alice and Jasper, on the other hand, came to the Cullens of their own volition. Edward explains Alice’s abilities to Bella, then he tells Bella about other vampires. Back at Bella’s, Edward reveals that he has been watching Bella sleep, and she is initially horrified. Then she realizes that she has not said anything too embarrassing in her sleep. When Charlie comes home, Bella is not ready to introduce Edward to him, so Edward hides in her room. Edward can tell that Charlie thinks Bella is acting suspiciously. Charlie asks Bella if she is interested in any of the boys in town, such as Mike, and this makes Edward jealous. Bella denies this though and goes to bed. While she gets ready in the bathroom, Edward overhears Charlie disconnecting Bella’s truck. Bella also realizes that Charlie thinks she is going to sneak out, so she makes a big show of getting ready for bed. In her room, she and Edward talk about their afternoon together. He explains how he managed to restrain himself, as well as how jealous he has been of Mike. Edward tells Bella about his first night visiting her, when he heard her say his name and his mind was finally set on love. Bella reassures him he does not need to be jealous about Mike, and she explains that she feels insignificant compared to Rosalie. Edward reassures Bella that he much prefers her. They discuss their mutual love, why Edward chooses to resist his instincts for her, and why vampires are how they are. They also discuss their physical desire for each other, although Edward can never consummate it. Before Bella falls asleep, she whispers that she loves Edward.

Chapter 19 Summary: “Home”

While Bella sleeps, she tells Edward repeatedly that she loves him. Edward mulls over inviting Bella to meet his family the next day. Rosalie is his main obstacle, so he leaves Bella to try and smooth things over with Rosalie. She is reluctant to hear Edward out, and she cannot stand to see Bella risk her humanity. She tells Edward, that Bella has “a whole life of possibility ahead of her, and she’s going to waste it all. Everything I lost. I can’t bear to watch it” (419). Edward says that he cannot either, but Rosalie doubts Edward will reject Bella’s eventual wishes for immortality forever. Rosalie promises to try and at least be nice. The other Cullens are happy to meet Bella, and Alice thinks about Bella’s futures, which still lean heavily in the direction of her becoming a vampire. Edward focuses on the possibility that she remains human and then he returns to Bella. When Bella wakes up, she realizes that Edward changed clothes, and he explains where he went. While Bella eats breakfast, Edward asks her to meet his family, although she is intimidated, worrying that they will not like her. Edward suggests that Bella introduce him to Charlie as her boyfriend, although Bella says that she considers Edward to be something more than that. She wants to be with Edward forever, although he thinks her idea of forever is clouded by her mortality.

After Bella gets dressed, they kiss, and Bella is again overwhelmed. They head to the Cullens’s house, where Edward introduces Bella to Carlisle and Esme. Alice and Jasper introduce themselves, and Alice is thrilled to begin her new friendship with Bella. Carlisle informs Edward in his thoughts that Rosalie was too overwhelmed, so she and Emmett left. During the visit, Alice sees strange vampires coming to town the next day. Bella becomes fascinated by a grand piano and Esme encourages Edward to play for her. While he plays, Edward tells Bella about the upcoming visitors, which makes Bella shudder. Edward brings Bella upstairs to show her around the house. When she sees an old cross on the wall, Edward explains Carlisle’s backstory. He was born in London in the seventeenth century as the son of a pastor obsessed with hunting supernatural creatures. During a hunt, Carlisle was bitten by a vampire. Edward explains how strong and good Carlisle is, then he takes Bella to see the rest of the house.

Chapter 20 Summary: “Carlisle”

They come to Carlisle’s office where Edward shows Bella some of Carlisle’s history. There are numerous paintings in Carlisle’s office, but Edward shows Bella one of London in Carlisle’s youth. Edward tells Bella how Carlisle, once changed, first tried to kill himself. He then traveled to Europe to study and met a group of vampires called the Volturi, with whom he stayed only briefly. After his time in Europe, Carlisle moved to the US and eventually turned Edward. Edward explains that he stayed with Carlisle, except for his brief period of vigilantism. This does not disgust Bella, even though Edward thinks it should. Edward remembers one person in particular he killed, a pedophile who tried to kidnap a girl. Unlike the other evil men who Edward killed, this man was grateful that Edward saved the girl from him, which made Edward feel guilty for all his murders. Edward brings Bella to his bedroom, and Bella admires his CD collection. Alice and Jasper come in to invite them to play baseball, since it is going to storm. Jasper begins to feel excited to spend more time with Bella, since her and Edward’s emotions are so positive.

Chapter 21 Summary: “The Game”

Edward brings Bella back home so she can introduce him to Charlie. When they arrive, the Blacks are there. Edward is annoyed because he thinks Billy is there to warn the Swans about the Cullens. Edward leaves while Bella prepares to tell Charlie about her new boyfriend, even though she is worried about his reaction. Edward stays close enough to observe Bella’s interaction with the Blacks. As she talks to them, Billy realizes that she knows the truth about the Cullens, although Jacob is completely ignorant, apart from smelling something strange. Bella manages to evade all of Billy’s attempts to warn her or Charlie, to Billy’s annoyance. The Blacks leave and Edward follows them to the reservation border. He overhears Billy’s horrified thoughts remembering when Carlisle called to warn that they were coming back to town. Edward turns back to return home. He runs into Rosalie and manages to convince her to come to the baseball game. Emmett tells Edward he owes him a favor for this, and Edward insists that Emmett act politely to Bella. Back at Bella’s, Edward can tell that Bella already told Charlie Edward is her boyfriend, and that Charlie is both anxious and amused. Charlie invites Edward inside, saying that thinks the idea of Bella watching baseball is funny. Then they leave for the game.

Bella becomes queasy when they reach the point at which Edward will have to run with her, but he overwhelms her with kisses and convinces her to come along. When they enter the clearing, Rosalie immediately moves further away, but Emmett decides he likes Bella. Edward leaves Bella with Esme, who wants Bella to feel safe around her. Esme serves as umpire while the rest of the Cullens play and Bella watches. Alice has a vision of three strange vampires coming to the baseball game. Bella is unable to leave in time to avoid the strangers, so the Cullens decide to stay and protect Bella. Alice can tell that a fight in the clearing is unlikely, but it is difficult for her to see exactly what will happen. Edward dreads the strangers’ arrival, knowing that he put Bella in danger.

Chapters 18-21 Analysis

Now that Edward feels safe and secure in his relationship with Bella, he begins to integrate her into a major aspect of his life—his family. Just as earlier in the novel, in Chapter 18 Edward looks to his own family for models of romantic relationships, remembering vividly how each couple came together. He and Bella also discuss their jealousy of their perceived rivals in Mike Newton and Rosalie. Their unnecessary jealousies highlight the triangular conflict between Edward, Bella, and Rosalie. The conflict between them contrasts with the powerful bond between Edward and Carlisle, whom Edward admires deeply. When Edward brings Bella to his house, he gives the most backstory to Carlisle, explaining how he tries to make up for his negative nature as a vampire by abstaining from human blood and saving human lives. This is something Edward now, even more than ever before, strives to emulate. Bella’s presence in the home alone shows just how far Edward tries to live up to Carlisle’s beliefs—a human who is the object of his deepest thirst is unharmed in his home, surrounded by his vampire family. He thinks, “it was hard to think of Carlisle’s quest to subdue his nature, to become a blessing to mankind rather than a parasite, without feeling again all the awe his journey deserved” (452). To Edward, a vital part of bringing Bella into his family is showing her this admiration he has for Carlisle.

When Edward initially reveals his nighttime visits to Bella, she is horrified not at the violation of privacy, but more so at the risk that she has embarrassed herself by talking in her sleep. When Edward asks if she is angry, she says it depends on “what [he] heard!” (395). Only when Edward assures her that she has said nothing worrisome does Bella calm down. In her reaction, Bella again reveals her overly selfless tendencies by not worrying at all that Edward has spied on her and invaded her privacy. The focus on nighttime visits and sleep talking, although briefly negative, shows how Meyer constructs its importance as a marker of intimacy and openness between Edward and Bella, who are often otherwise awkward and worried when expressing their feelings toward each other. Their discussion of physical intimacy, for example, is euphemistic. When asleep, Bella whispers, “Edward…I love you” (416). This shows how, in sleep, she is unencumbered by her constant worry that she cares for Edward more than he for her.

Although this section of the novel is marked by Edward’s elation at finally feeling secure in his relationship with Bella, by the end of Chapter 21, Meyer breaks this security by introducing the second primary conflict in the novel. When the Cullens bring Bella to play a game of baseball, a group of three strange vampires come to visit. Alice did not anticipate this outcome, and she admits, “I can see I had the perspective wrong before” (495). This, therefore, shows the flaws in the family’s overreliance on Alice’s ultimately subjective abilities.