Twilight Lexicon Discussion Forums

Mike was definitely annoying at times--probably almost as annoying to readers as he was to Bella--but I have to give him credit for one thing. We learn in Eclipse that most of Bella's former friends and acquaintances shunned her completely after she went racing off to Italy to save Edward. The only exceptions were Angela, who we know is always the soul of decency, Ben (who was probably influenced by Angela)--and Mike. That counts for something, and makes him hard to really dislike.

Mike hasn't done anything to be disliked, he's just a normal teenage guy. He was nice to Bella on her first day. bella should have been grateful that people were being showing her around and stuff, but no - she immediately dismisses him as an annoying puppy. He has a crush on Bella - so what? Does that mean we should hate him? Jacob doesn't want to let go of Bella either,, just like Mike... I don't see what's so bad about him

Jestak wrote:Mike was definitely annoying at times--probably almost as annoying to readers as he was to Bella--but I have to give him credit for one thing. We learn in Eclipse that most of Bella's former friends and acquaintances shunned her completely after she went racing off to Italy to save Edward. The only exceptions were Angela, who we know is always the soul of decency, Ben (who was probably influenced by Angela)--and Mike. That counts for something, and makes him hard to really dislike.

Mike is an interesting guy. Annoying, Yes. Even up to her wedding day, Mike wasn't thinking exactly pure thoughts, but then neither were some other guys. Seeing him through Edward's eyes makes you want to crush him too. But then his sheer persistence and his friendship with Bella in Eclipse made you wonder whether underneath all of his typical adolescent fantasies there was a part of him that recognized that Bella had something special about her.

I feel sorry for this guy. He seemed like a nice guy, and didn't deserve the mocking. He didn't deserve the shallow way he was treated.

i dont love mike newton, but i dont have ill feelings towards him either. i mean from bellas eyes, he seemed like a loyal enough friend, sure he was like the lost puppy who follows you wherever you go, but it was cute and funny to see someone like mike crushing on bella. and it put her in some awkward yet funny moments when she had to turn him down haha. now when you see mike from edwards POV in midnight sun, you can really start to hate mike. all his crude and lusty thoughts, i mean i just adored and loved jealous edward, but it didnt put mike in a good light. But the thoughts of a teenage boy are generally crude and lustful, so i cant blame him really. I just dont know where mike is with me, sometimes he cracks me up, other times i want to punch him in the face haha

iloveshineeKEY wrote:Mike hasn't done anything to be disliked, he's just a normal teenage guy. He was nice to Bella on her first day. bella should have been grateful that people were being showing her around and stuff, but no - she immediately dismisses him as an annoying puppy. He has a crush on Bella - so what? Does that mean we should hate him? Jacob doesn't want to let go of Bella either,, just like Mike... I don't see what's so bad about him

I have to agree with the above. I believe the only purpose for Mike Newton (and Eric, and Tyler...) was to show that even though Bella considered herself plain and ordinary, she was in fact quite attractive.
I think the reason people are so hard on him now is because of The Book That Shall Not Be Named. Just my opinion though.

I never saw anything wrong with Mike, and I always thought that Bella was a bit unfair to him. : ( He never seemed that bad, especially since he stayed friends with Bella during Eclipse. He might have been annoying from Edward's perspective, but I think Edward was just being too hard on him as well...

I really like Mike Newton too. I think I would have liked him a lot more if he would have been more of a constant character throughout the series. Like most people say, more of him in Breaking Dawn would have been great!