Where does friendship end and romantic love begin? Throughout New Moon, Bella struggles with how she feels about Jacob. Jacob knows that he wants more than just friendship with Bella, yet he promises to always be her friend, no matter who she ultimately chooses to love. Friendship in New Moon is defined by loyalty, promises, and companionship. Jacob also defines friendship as loyalty to his kind, the werewolves, which is why he struggles to be with friends with Bella when she decides she wants to become a vampire – his natural enemy. Bella, on the other hand, feels that friendship has no boundaries.
New Moon examines different kinds of families. Groups of vampires and groups of werewolves form adopted families, bound by supernatural transformation, lifestyle, and special skills. Bella and her parents are, like most conventional families, related by blood. Contrary to what one might expect, the supernatural families appear to share a closer emotional bond, because their special mental skills don’t allow them to keep secrets from each other. Bella, on the other hand, often lies to Charlie and Renée. But in all cases, family members feel strong loyalty and love for one another, and all respect the head of the family.