Ok. Call me crazy (you wouldn’t be the first,) but I may be the first person out here that has read the entire Twilight saga (movie too) and relates to it on a level much deeper than anything Stephenie Meyer could have imagined. I’m a sucker for pop culture and had to read the books the moment I heard of their popularity. Also, as a mother to two girls, I try to stay abreast of all things “now.” Mama likes to know what the kids are into these days. Which is more than I could say for my own parents 3o years ago. But that’s a different post.

Here we go: Twilight’s Cullen family vampires symbolize the inner struggle and social outcasting of the alcoholic.

Whaaaaa????

That’s right. In the Twilight saga, the Cullen family is a centuries old clan of vampires living and working within the tiny town of Forks, Washington; the cloudiest, rainiest region in the continental U.S. thereby allowing them to move about during the daytime without being exposed for what they really are. These particular vampires don’t perish in the sun, their skin simply glitters as if diamonds are impended in their skin.

But the Cullens don’t drink alcohol human blood. They feel a moral and ethical obligation to their human neighbors and choose to abstain from drinking human blood. Instead they exist solely on the blood of animals.

But occasionally they do relapse. Not within the 21st century, but years ago when members of the clan were much younger and new to this way of life, the occasional slip occurred and human blood was consumed. It is no surprise that the strongest resolve within this family lies within the oldtimer vampire, Carlisle, a three hundred year old doctor and patriarch of the Cullen family. Every group of recovering vampires needs an oldtimer to help sponsor the newcomers into this way of life. Carlisle’s length of sobriety and serenity is due to his level of compassion for his fellow man. For Carlisle, self seeking and self centeredness has disappeared. He is all but immune to the allure of human blood.

It is a daily struggle for the younger members of this family to abstain from alcohol human blood and it is only through being in a fit moral and physical condition that they find that they have the strength to maintain their sobriety way of life.

Other non-sober vampires think the Cullens are crazy for choosing this way of life.

Human blood is the best!

Human blood feels good!

Human blood gets us into a frenzy!

Tastes great! Less filling!

But the Cullens maintain that killing humans is wrong and that there is an easier, softer way. The family finds that it is much easier to maintain their way of life by sticking close together and watching out for one another (read: fellowship and sponsorship.) They maintain a singleness of purpose and are always mindful of where their triggers might lie. The scent of human blood is always around and in order to avoid drinking, they must watch that they don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. Weakness within anyone of them is a most certain set-up for relapse. And once there is a relapse, the chances of them putting an end to their human feeding frenzy are diminished. Abstinence is the only true means to peace of mind.

While the relationship of Bella (human) to Edward (vampire) could be considered a hybrid of classic Al-Anon and enticing Mai Tai, her transformation into immortality in the fourth book complicates my analogy. I will leave it at that.