We Need to Talk About Kevin: Chapter 5: December 8, 2000 Summary & Analysis

One day in 1982, Eva has just returned from a trip to Greece and waits for Franklin to come home from work. She is making a traditional Greek dish for dinner but becomes frustrated when Franklin doesn’t come home on time. Eva becomes scared as more time passes. When the phone rings, Eva assumes it’s Franklin, but it’s actually her mother calling. Eva feels that her mother resents her because she is so well-traveled. She is rude to her mother on the phone. She realizes that her situation parallels her mother’s experience of waiting to hear from Eva’s father, only to find out that he was killed in combat—news she received when she was pregnant with Eva.

As more time passes, Eva becomes increasingly anxious about Franklin. She considers a “parallel universe” in which he never comes home. She drinks wine, but it doesn’t taste right without Franklin there. Everything in the house looks meaningless without him. Eva remembers how her mother tried to replace Eva’s father with Eva’s older brother, Giles. No one could ever replace Franklin, but Eva thinks that if he ever died, she would want to have a child to help her through the loss. Franklin finally comes home, and Eva decides to try to get pregnant.

Eva and Franklin stop using birth control. Though Franklin is thrilled, Eva has second thoughts. She starts to think of her body in terms of its biological practicality instead of its beauty, and she feels like she is losing agency over her own body. Eva continues to drink while they are trying to conceive, and Franklin disapproves. Eventually, Eva goes to the doctor for a pregnancy test. When the doctor says it’s positive, Eva feels sick. The doctor tells Eva what she should do and eat in order to have a healthy pregnancy, and Eva once more feels that she is losing control over her body.

Eva resents that she can no longer drink wine. Franklin stops drinking, too, in solidarity. This annoys Eva. She thinks that Franklin doesn’t mind sacrificing his life for his child because he doesn’t know what else to do with his life, and she believes that this attitude eventually put too much pressure on Kevin. Though Eva regrets deciding to become pregnant, she loves Franklin and knows that all he wants is to have children. After they conceive, Franklin is hesitant to have sex because he thinks it might hurt the fetus, and this exasperates Eva.