Charlie Question: Does Charlie think Edward is a threat?

I think Charlie is absolutley fine with the Cullen's until one of them hurt his baby girl.

I lived through a Bella-like situation as young adult...when my fiance suddenly disappeared with no warning for months, and then when he decided to come back and I had moved on, he decided he wanted me again.

Saying my parents went into orbit is a gross understatement! I can totally sympathize with Charlie and how he has no idea of any of the back story...all he sees is the aftermath, and his life with Bella and her broken spirit....we know what happened in Italy and why Edward left. Charlie doesn't....

So, I think he totally thinks Edward is a threat to Bella.

I was optomistic for their relationship though, when he started to see Edward's kind nature near the end of Eclipse when Jacob was injured.....I hope he is still nice when he finds out they are engaged!!!

[BellAlice]

I agree with eveything you guys have said....

Another thing we should factor in here, I think, is the time frame.... Edward just spent from sept to mid April gone.... and now it's only been about a month and a half and shes graduating....

So we're talking a month and a half for Charlie to change hostile behavior towards Edward... and as far as he knows, Edward has no reason not to just take off again for another 6 months.

In Charlie's conversation with Alice over breakfast, he sounds like he thinks Edward is out playing... Alice conveys that he's not, but I think Charlie, wanting to protect Bella is not going to let go of that assumption so easily....

In Charlie's defense, when they walk in the house after the kissing episode, although he initially congratulates Jake, the next day, he teaches Bella how to throw a punch and says basically that Jake shouldn't have done that. And, I have to say, that although I've been forceably kissed 4 times and none of them have made my top 5 moments in my life, they also haven't made my worst 5 moments either... mostly, now, they're just a cause for humor in my life...

As far as Charlie being threatened by Edward, I really think we're on to something there... both in the sense he instinctively knows to be threatened by him cause he's a vamp and threatened because he's going to take Bella away from him.

Towards the end, he talks about her telling him before she just up and leaves... I'm sure he knows it's going to be with Edward.

In the forced kiss scene, when Bella hangs up the phone, he tells Jake he should probably go, Jake says he'll stay and he says, "it's your funeral" then, when Jake follows them out, Charlie is really concerned and asks him if he's crazy. Now call ME crazy, but to me that sounds a little absurd. In Bella's words, Jake was 6 foot 7 and muscled all the way up like no 16 yr old had ever been. Edward is what, 6'2"? Why is he worried about Jake getting into a fight with Edward. He doesn't seem opposed to fighting in general.... I mean I'm sure hes not going to be like, ya guys, go duke it out... but it's seems weird to me that he was worried for Jake there, when Edward seems like the one who would need more help from an outsider's viewpoint. I think he subconsciously knows Edward is someone to be afraid of.... especially if you're on his bad side. What do you guys think?

[multitaskmom]

In the forced kiss scene, when Bella hangs up the phone, he tells Jake he should probably go, Jake says he'll stay and he says, "it's your funeral" then, when Jake follows them out, Charlie is really concerned and asks him if he's crazy. Now call ME crazy, but to me that sounds a little absurd. In Bella's words, Jake was 6 foot 7 and muscled all the way up like no 16 yr old had ever been. Edward is what, 6'2"? Why is he worried about Jake getting into a fight with Edward. He doesn't seem opposed to fighting in general.... I mean I'm sure hes not going to be like, ya guys, go duke it out... but it's seems weird to me that he was worried for Jake there, when Edward seems like the one who would need more help from an outsider's viewpoint. I think he subconsciously knows Edward is someone to be afraid of.... especially if you're on his bad side. What do you guys think?

Nicely said. And with such compelling "evidence" as well.

[saram05]

Wow ladies, this has been a great thread to read through!

I think that at this point, the only threatening thing to Charlie about Edward would be that Edward could leave Bella broken again. I am not a parent myself, but I could see how just the thought of your child hurting that much AGAIN would seriously make it difficult to like and trust the instigator of that hurt.

[BellAlice]

Nicely said. And with such compelling "evidence" as well.

Thanks! I try.... I don't usually have anything new to contribute though....

[Sillyloofa1]

I agree- I think that Charlie is just worried about Bella and the state that she was left in. The time seems like it should be longer than it actually is, but things move pretty quick in NM when E comes back into the picture. I think that Charlie in a lot of ways is still protecting himself. Think about it- he has lived this long without Bella in his life- and he knows that she will be moving on again soon. He knows that when she comes to Forks it isn't forever and even if she stays thru High School he has to let go of her again when she graduates. So I think Charlie is trying to protect his heart as much as Bella's.

[beck8701]

I agree- I think that Charlie is just worried about Bella and the state that she was left in. The time seems like it should be longer than it actually is, but things move pretty quick in NM when E comes back into the picture. I think that Charlie in a lot of ways is still protecting himself. Think about it- he has lived this long without Bella in his life- and he knows that she will be moving on again soon. He knows that when she comes to Forks it isn't forever and even if she stays thru High School he has to let go of her again when she graduates. So I think Charlie is trying to protect his heart as much as Bella's.

Aww, that's so tender. I never thought of it quite like that before.

[Shimmerskin]

I think Charlie is hostile towards Edward because of how deep Edward hurt Bella. Left her alone in the woods, without warning, with no contact for months on end.

You know, I've just revamped Twilight and paid special note this time (because of this thread, thankyouverymuchladies!) to Charlie's attitude shift once Bella returns from Arizona.
He suddenly distrusts and dislikes Edward, blaming him for her accident. Charlie didn't have much of a chance to get personally acquainted with Edward, certainly not in his context as Bella's boyfriend, prior to the AZ incident but his attitude wasn't hostile.

Now, it is. We know the real story of B&E's relationship and of what happened in Phoenix, but in Charlie's eyes, Edward's existence led to Bella's infatuation which led to her fear of commitment, resulting in her escape to AZ, Edward's attempt to reconcile, and her "hotel accident." It's all Edward's fault, just because he exists! That seems pretty childish on Charlie's part, yet his anger is more correct than he knows. Edward is behind it all. The fact that Edward is a vampire IS what led to Bella's mad dash and near-death.

Wow. I like how this dovetails so well with the discussion on the Bella's Power thread. We were talking about Bella "knowing" things without realizing she knows them. That's what Charlie seems to be doing here, as well. He senses that Edward is why Bella was hurt (which isn't as obvious as it seems because he could just as well blame himself and/or Renee), but his reasons for thinking it are wrong. It's not the fact that Edward exists, it's that he's a vampire. We know that if Edward were human, there would be no threat to Bella, hence his existence isn't the issue. His existence as a vampire is. Only Charlie doesn't know that. Or rather, he doesn't know that he knows that :wink:

Something I just said is niggling at me, and someone else may have brought this up, too. I wonder if Charlie's blaming of Edward is partly to divert blame from himself. Maybe he's feeling guilty about Bella's childhood spent shuttling between parents, neither of whom could provide for her as well alone as they might have together, and he's thinking she wouldn't be falling so quickly and precariously into this relationship if she'd had more stability, more of a male influence, more material comforts, and less ostracism and loneliness. (I, myself, have always wondered why definitely-not-rich Renee insisted on living in an upscale community when it meant her child could never fit in there).

To sum up this last part, maybe Charlie despising Edward has at least a little to do with not wanting to admit or face his own culpability for Bella's obsessive behavior.

In the forced kiss scene, when Bella hangs up the phone, he tells Jake he should probably go, Jake says he'll stay and he says, "it's your funeral" then, when Jake follows them out, Charlie is really concerned and asks him if he's crazy. Now call ME crazy, but to me that sounds a little absurd. In Bella's words, Jake was 6 foot 7 and muscled all the way up like no 16 yr old had ever been. Edward is what, 6'2"? Why is he worried about Jake getting into a fight with Edward. He doesn't seem opposed to fighting in general.... I mean I'm sure hes not going to be like, ya guys, go duke it out... but it's seems weird to me that he was worried for Jake there, when Edward seems like the one who would need more help from an outsider's viewpoint. I think he subconsciously knows Edward is someone to be afraid of.... especially if you're on his bad side. What do you guys think?

Nicely said. And with such compelling "evidence" as well.

WOW, I have never, ever factored Jake's size into that scene....huh! Yah, why would Charlie say that????? Jake towers over Edward; they say that in the motorcycle scene in front of the high school. That is why the guys all say, 'those big brother's of his will protect him'

hmmmmmmmm *rubbing chin*

[Shimmerskin]

In Bella's words, Jake was 6 foot 7 and muscled all the way up like no 16 yr old had ever been. Edward is what, 6'2"? Why is he worried about Jake getting into a fight with Edward.

WOW, I have never, ever factored Jake's size into that scene....huh! Yah, why would Charlie say that????? Jake towers over Edward; they say that in the motorcycle scene in front of the high school. That is why the guys all say, 'those big brother's of his will protect him'

hmmmmmmmm *rubbing chin

*

I think some of it might be that Jake is still such a "boy" despite his size, and Edward has always seemed much more grown-up than the usual 17 yr old. Charlie has always thought of Jacob as a kid; he's never really known Edward that way.

It's kind of like this: For the longest time I had trouble seeing my husband as a "man." It didn't matter that he was a responsible father, the main breadwinner, worked 60 hours a week, and looked like a grownup in photographs...no matter what the visual evidence was, all I saw was a boy because that's what he was when I married him. I knew intellectually when he turned 30 that he was THIRTY, but my perceptions hadn't quite caught up. He was a boy, not a man. I think Charlie does this with Jacob. He still thinks of him as he was, not as he is.

That doesn't discount Charlie's feeling that Edward can be dangerous. If nothing else, Charlie is aware of Edward's protectiveness (I'm sure he and Renee have discussed it, especially after the Florida trip) and he has probably sensed that Edward could become downright savage if Bella were threatened in any way.

Edward comes across as sleek, streamlined, rapier-quick, decisive, and very, very smart. Jacob is more like a giant puppy. Which of the two would Charlie be more worried about in a fight?

[Amie]

In Bella's words, Jake was 6 foot 7 and muscled all the way up like no 16 yr old had ever been. Edward is what, 6'2"? Why is he worried about Jake getting into a fight with Edward.

WOW, I have never, ever factored Jake's size into that scene....huh! Yah, why would Charlie say that????? Jake towers over Edward; they say that in the motorcycle scene in front of the high school. That is why the guys all say, 'those big brother's of his will protect him'

hmmmmmmmm *rubbing chin

*

I think some of it might be that Jake is still such a "boy" despite his size, and Edward has always seemed much more grown-up than the usual 17 yr old. Charlie has always thought of Jacob as a kid; he's never really known Edward that way.

It's kind of like this: For the longest time I had trouble seeing my husband as a "man." It didn't matter that he was a responsible father, the main breadwinner, worked 60 hours a week, and looked like a grownup in photographs...no matter what the visual evidence was, all I saw was a boy because that's what he was when I married him. I knew intellectually when he turned 30 that he was THIRTY, but my perceptions hadn't quite caught up. He was a boy, not a man. I think Charlie does this with Jacob. He still thinks of him as he was, not as he is.

That doesn't discount Charlie's feeling that Edward can be dangerous. If nothing else, Charlie is aware of Edward's protectiveness (I'm sure he and Renee have discussed it, especially after the Florida trip) and he has probably sensed that Edward could become downright savage if Bella were threatened in any way.

Edward comes across as sleek, streamlined, rapier-quick, decisive, and very, very smart. Jacob is more like a giant puppy. Which of the two would Charlie be more worried about in a fight?

shimmerskin you amaze me

Also let remember that at the end of eclipse when Bella come back home after the fight and Charlie is telling her about how Jacob was swearing and everything and Jacob says I bet your glad that that she loves Edward today and not me then he says that is one thing that Edward always considers your safety or something like that don't have my book sorry I totally messed that up.

But anyways Charlie has always thought that of Edward that he considers Bella’s safety Jacob does to but in a different way

Okay I am done not making sense it made total sense in my head.

[Shimmerskin]

Okay I am done not making sense it made total sense in my head.

Amie, I always get what you're saying and I'm glad you're here