Yesterday I posted about literally bloodthirsty creatures, vampires. In the Twilight book, Edmund is a "converted" vampire, because he is part of a community of vampires who have committed with each other to longer drink human blood. Instead he occasionally quenches his thirst for blood by hunting and killing animals.
One of the main conflicts of the novel is the fact that Bella and Edmund are attracted to each other and want a close romantic relationship, but Edmund is playing with fire because he is so strongly tempted by being in the presence of vampire prey: an attractive woman with deliciously smelling blood.
Possible solutions to the conflict: Manage the temptation as best as possible by self-control, regular feasting on animal blood, and accountability from fellow vampires.
Break off the relationship and stay away from the temptation.
Change Bella into a vampire so that she is no longer tempting as prey.
What if there were another possible solution? What if Edmund could drink a blood that would forever quench his human bloodthirst? What if there were a way for Edmund to go back to being human? This isn't even addressed as a possibility. It seems there is no return to human life for the cold ones. It seems there is no hope for a normal loving relationship with another human. Kill them for their blood or make them vampires too. Or die of thirst. Or be killed.
Vampires may be from the realm of folk-tales and mythical lore, but the stories tell us something true about the human condition. Even if we don't believe in vampires, we can recognize the reality that the human race is a blood-thirsty one. And it is not a few creeps and murderers that the rest of us need to watch out for. I think at some level we have to admit we are all bloodthirsty. We are not far from the conflict of Bella and Edmund: how do we have intimate loving relationships and overcome the predator/prey dynamics that are part of our natural way of life?
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