why does bella know the EXACT words her mom used when she broke up with her dad? like its not like she was there, or she was a baby, right? is her mom telling this story to her child frequently?? seems like awful parenting (not that we didn’t already know that renee is an awful parent haha)
Yeah I don't know about this one.
My hunch is that SM had the idea of like "oh it would be dramatic and heartbreaking if Bella used the same words Renee did!!" and then just didn't bother to think through HOW Bella would know what the exact words were.
You're right, of course, that Bella was a baby when this happened so she can't possible 'remember' it. So someone had to tell her. And the only two people who were there were Charlie and Renee. Either one of them telling their kid the details--down to the exact words--of their break-up is kind of weird.
But I doubt SM stopped her stream-of-consciousness writing for one moment to wonder "hey, how DID Bella know about this?" but if she had, she'd blame it on Renee telling Bella at some point. Sort of like Bella conveniently having a passport in New Moon because Renee and Phil had originally thought about getting married in Mexico or whatever. She comes up with ideas and then justifies them after the fact. Or doesn't. Which is fine, I'm sure a lot of authors do that, but it Twilight has such in-the-moment vibes that it kind of sweeps you along and while you're reading you're not so much like "wait. . . how would Bella know what Renee said to Charlie?" until thinking back on it after the fact.
At least that was my experience; on my initial read, for example, I totally missed that Bella meeting the Cullens at their house and playing baseball/running from James was the same day. Somehow it felt like more time had passed but no they literally met her that day and Rosalie's "why should I?" attitude makes more sense in that context. They really DON'T know her at all.
okay but as someone who was raised by an impulsive and over-sharing mom, I can totally see Renee just offhandedly telling Bella the exact way that she left her dad without a second thought as to how that might be inappropriate/weird/traumatizing














