3While reading a certain Amazon review, I was amazed at how some guy thought that Bella was acting like a Mormon. Just to clarify some things, I wrote this up on how the supposed "Mormon" themes in Twilight are not Mormon at all.
1. Early Marriage.
Now this was shocking. Early marriage is a Mormon thing? Let's just say that whoever wrote that was writing it on extremely poor evidence or a lie that an Anti-Mormon told him.
Mormons make no secret of the fact that their members do not date until they are 16. Does it sound like they'd be encouraging marriage at 18? In addition to prohibiting dating until 16, Mormons normally go on one date and then end the relationship. They date a variety of people for one date only, and, if they strictly obey Mormon doctrine, holding hands is the most you can hope for with these single dates. Only when they are searching for their lifetime partner does kissing and multiple dates with the same person occur. And Mormons are well-known for refusing sex until marriage.
Bella, on the other hand, probably never had a boyfriend until Edward came along. She declares herself an outcast at her Phoenix school, so it's unlikely that she had a boyfriend or ever went on a date. But, mysteriously, she starts a long-term relationship with Edward right off the bat, marrying him a year later.
So did Bella act like a Mormon? Or did she act like just the opposite?
2. Sexism
No question here, this was a blantant attack on Mormons.
Mormons have never disguised the fact that the priesthood is not shared with women. But do Mormon women complain about it? No. Mormons believe that men and women have seperate places in their divine roles. It is the job of the woman to raise a family, and they consider this a equal honor to the man's job of running the church. They believe that men and women are equal, just not the same. This is a common mistake that anti-Mormons make. Mormon men and women are equal. They simply have different jobs.
Bella, meanwhile, deals out all her cards to Edward and Jacob, letting them run her life. She has no ambition, no hobbies, and no outside...well, anything. Her love for both Edward and Jacob is her whole life, and her only ambition is to get married and have a kid. She lets Edward and Jacob fight over her, not ever saying whose love she really wants, and what she wants to happen.
While Bella is evidently on a lower rung, meant to keep silent, Mormons are on the same rung of different ladders.
3. Putting marriage and love before education.
Bella has no plans for education. This was said to be a common Mormon trait.
Mormons are not encouraged to marry early, and thus are encouraged during high school to start a college education and a career path. They go through college, sometimes on a mission. They then follow this with a career, often meeting their spouse on this path and marrying them\m, continuing to work until a kid pops up. Some Mormon women work at home, although they are encouraged to raise the family. While this is often framed as sexism, Mormon women are contemptuous of couples who leave their children to the care of others.
During New Moon, Bella throws away her college fund to get a pair of motorcycles in order to hear Edward's voice. In Eclipse, she shows no plans for college, even though her high school life is ending. Her only ambition? Get married, have kid. Nothing else.
So while Bella has no plans other than marriage, Mormons are expected to get educated and have a career before they start looking for a spouse.
of swearing and pre-marital sex?
Well, as to the absence of swearing, there isn't one. People, just because their speech doesn't go something like this. " * you *for* your *up* my* and* then * trying * hard* to*" Doesn't meant there's an absence of swearing. If you're asking for the Elder Swear or else it's prudish, then you are going to be deeply disappointed by how many good books are prudish.
Pre-marital sex is a Mormon trait, as mentioned before. It's one of the only things she got right, aside from the absence of drugs.
So, as a conclusion, Bella is not Mormon. If all Mormon girls were like her, the religion would not have survived into the twentieth century, let alone the twenty-first. While Stephenie Meyer says that she is straight-laced about her beliefs, her character isn't, whatever the Anti-Mormon propaganda says.