CHAPTER 13 Civilized Vampires Versus Savage Werewolves Race and Ethnicity in the Twilight Series Natalie Wilson 'VJhile the cultural phenomenon surrounding Twilight now boasts several million devoted fans, the W series' representation of race is rarely a topic of discussion. This chapter interrogates the unex- amined white privilege permeating the Twilight texts, arguing the saga upholds dominant ideas about race that associate whiteness with civility, beauty, and intellect on the one hand, and indigenous people with anir:ulity and primitivism on the other. The series relies on a structural divide between humans, vampires, and werewolves. Indeed, it is the relationships and tensions between these groups that ground the narrative. The story begins with Bella Swan, an average white human teenage girl, moving to Forks, Washington, and falling in love with Edward Cullen, a beautiful and talented white vampire. Bella also finds friendship with Jacob Black, a Quileute, who later in the series becomes a shape-shifting werewolf tasked with protecting his people from vampires. Jacob falls in love with Bella, but Bella ultimately chooses Edward. This love triangle is echoed by the larger struggle between the Cullens (Edward's vampire family) and the Quileutes (a Native American tribe), who view each other as enemies. Read as a racial allegory, a white, working-class human chooses between an ultra-white, ultra-privileged vampire and a far less privileged wolf of color. The story thus echoes older tales of conquest and imperialism, though instead of the white cow- boys and Native Americans who populated western films, we now have vampires and werewolves vying over borders as well as women. Although the saga depicts the animosity between the Cullens and the Quileute as hinging on vampire and werewolf affiliation, the vampires and humans are predominantly presented as white while the werewolves are presented as native. The love triangle at the series' core is also imbued with racial connotations, with a white vampire in competition with a Native American shapeshifter. Their characters are contrasted using various binaries that equate Edward with whiteness (and its associations with civility, wealth, and intellect) and Jacob with the indigenous (and its associa- tions with animals, primitivism, and savagery). Like Bella, readers are encouraged to choose between these two different racialized suitors.