Edward's Decision

Was Edward's decision to leave the right one? How do you feel about how he handled the situation- especially convincing Bella that he didn't love her? What else could he have done?

First of all, I always hate it when people pretend not to care about someone/an animal to get it to leave. All the animal shows do it- Born free, Natty Gann, White Fang... I was just watching White Fang the other day and out of all the sad things that happen in it, what makes me cry? When he picks up the stick to make White Fang think he's mean and run away. It always makes me feel so sad because the animal wouldn't know why this person suddenly doesn't love them anymore. Ahhh... so heartbreaking. So, this is how I felt with Edward and Bella as well. I would rather that he left her a note or something, "I love you but goodbye". I'm sure it would have had the same effect on her but it wouldn't have been so sad for me. By the way, I thought the pages reading 'October', 'November', 'December', and 'January' were a brilliant idea to show the passage of time.
-Annegirl

That was a neat way of showing the months she spent in shock, turned completely inward and cut off from the world. I didn't like the way Edward left her, because I didn't want him to leave in the first place. But from his perspective, you can see how he would think that that was the only way to keep her safe. The only way she would ever be apart from him is if he told her he didn't want her. And he thought that as a human, she could get over it with time. He loved her enough to try to do the right thing for her - even though it didn't work.
-Sanya the Duck

Great comments from annegirl and Sanya the duck! He felt he had to go and the only way he could was just to say "goodbye"...and go. Supposedly, he destroyed all evidence of his being there...if only she had known to look under the floorboards! To have a goodbye be done that way where one thinks they are no longer loved was a very painful thing for Bella (and for Edward, too!) and I don't agree with that either. But if we think back on our first "romances" perhaps if the guy had said he loved us but had to go we would probably think of every reason we could to try and keep him there...which is what Bella did. She tried to make "deals" so Edward felt he just had to go as it was getting harder to do so. I have to say I really liked the way Stephanie did the months going by...I had never seen that done that way...very clever.
-Bookworm