You know, the thing that got me in Eclipse was his final talk with Bella. There was still a lot of bitterness there, but he is finally acknowledging that Bella has made a fully informed decision. At least there was that, and he ended up giving her the best wedding present she could have ever wanted, which was his acceptance. And he also cleans up a little of his prior remarks by letting her know that he will not be her enemy when she changes, and that he will take her side against his own wolf pack, if necessary.Chernaudi wrote:Edward make mistakes and BS'd Bella, like when he left in New Moon, and even though I didn't agree with that, at least his intentions were noble, and he'd give up all to protect Bella. Jacob may have a similar capacity to do the same for Bella, but I always felt that in EC and such that there'd likely be some ulterior motive behind it, too. Jacob just doesn't seem quite as noble as Edward does.
The most he could do on her wedding day was showing up and reaffirming what he promised in EC. That was it, and it would have meant more to her than anything else, and he knew that. Bella is delirious with joy that everyone she loves is at her wedding. And Jacob's response is to say it wasn't quite as sad as he thought it was going to be (huh?), and don't worry, he isn't there to make her feel guilty (places her hand on his beating heart), and then we all know how that scene finally ended.
I think you stated earlier that this obsession of Jacob's should have been allowed to die with dignity. That's a very good way of putting it. I have a variety of epithets that I think fit Jacob well, but I can't post them here; "jerk" just doesn't have the visceral impact I am looking for.Chernaudi wrote:I see a similar (but obviously less extreme) fatalism with Jacob there.