Besides the amazing speed and strength, different vampires possess different superpowers. Edward can read what people think in their heart; Alice can predict the future; Jasper is able to feel and influence emotions of people around him. These various superpowers add more flavor to the traditional vampire images and make the readers admire them a lot.
2.1.2 Personality
In the western tales, vampires are monsters that fed on blood. They are in an awkward position as they are neither god nor ghost. And they are cursed by the God so they can not live as human beings nor can they experience ordinary life. Besides, they are fed on blood, which makes them hated by the human world.
Not only the appearance of vampires is horrible, but their inner heart is usually full of desire, revenge and slaughter which is in accordance with the main theme of gothic novels. The origin of vampire, who is called Dracula, is full of slaughter in his heart and takes revenge on the society after he lost his beloved one.
In Mayer’s book, James and Victoria symbolize the cruelty and slaughter. They are fed on human blood and keen on slaughter. Since Bella’s blood has a certain fragrance, they cannot resist the temptation. As a result, they crazily chase Bella and they even kidnap Bella’s mother to force her to meet them alone so that they can realize their dream of eating Bella.
《暮光之城》中传统与现代的结合对哥特式小说的沿袭与创新(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_75527.html