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Chapter 6: December 9, 2000
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in We Need to Talk About Kevin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Guilt and Accountability
Marriage, Family, and Social Norms
Nature vs. Nurture
Idealism vs. Reality
Forgiveness and Empathy
Summary
Analysis
In the present, Eva has a new job at a travel agency. Her coworkers argue about politics in light of the recent presidential election. Eva used to be a politically involved Democrat but has since given up on “defending humanity.” Eva writes to Franklin that she sometimes feels completely to blame for Kevin’s murders, but she thinks that this attitude attributes too much power to her. Kevin’s crime affected many people very deeply. Eva can’t fathom what this must feel like, so she is unable to feel completely guilty.
Though Eva’s criticism of conservative American values already imply that she is politically left-leaning, here she states her political beliefs for the first time. Franklin is a Republican while Eva is a Democrat, again highlighting how different the couple’s values are. Eva says here that she sometimes blames herself completely for Kevin’s murder, but at other points in the novel she blames others. Eva struggles to understand the complicated matter of who is to blame for such a significant event as mass murder.
Themes
Mary Woolford is currently suing Eva for parental negligence, but Eva thinks Mary just wants someone to blame for the death of her daughter. Eva feels bad for Mary, but Eva believes that people can’t accept the fact that tragedy just happens sometimes—there isn’t always someone to blame. Eva considers the tendency to blame others an entitled and uniquely American attitude.
Eva says that there isn’t always someone to blame when things go wrong, but she, like Mary, is also on a quest to figure out who should be held accountable for Kevin’s murders. Eva attributes Mary’s deflective attitude to her being American, but Eva seems to use Americanness as a scapegoat for many issues she sees in others. She is hypocritical in this way—though Eva is American herself, she seems to think of herself as different from other Americans, and in this way, she exhibits the same “American” attitudes that she criticizes.
Themes
When Mary first files the lawsuit, Eva’s lawyer advises her to settle. Eva tells her lawyer, Harvey, that she loves Kevin, but she feels that it isn’t really true. She thinks that she really is a bad parent, and, in her letter, she asks Franklin to forgive her for this. Harvey doesn’t care whether Eva is in the right. Eva knows Harvey is right, but against his advice she lets the case go to trial. Eva reacts stubbornly to the lawsuit because she feels she’s already been punished for her wrongdoings in her daily life. She wants to be publicly absolved of blame, but she also knows that she acted selfishly regarding her son. She takes responsibility for some factors affecting how Kevin turned out—but not all of them.
Again, Eva has mixed feelings about how much guilt she deserves to bear for her son’s murders. Taking the case to trial implies that she thinks she can win the case and that she is innocent of parental negligence. At the same time, Eva admits that she doesn’t feel like she loves Kevin and that she is a bad parent. Eva seeks Franklin’s forgiveness for her flaws as a parent, but she also seems to seek forgiveness from the public, since she hopes the trial will publicly absolve her of blame.
Themes
Eva’s letter returns to the early days of her pregnancy. Eva is 37 when she’s pregnant, so she wants to get the fetus tested for Down’s syndrome. Franklin opposes, so Eva gets the test done behind his back. She feels that her commitment to parenthood is contingent on a healthy baby, whereas Franklin would enjoy the martyrdom of caring for a disabled child. Kevin is born late, and Eva, somewhat jokingly, considers that he had second thoughts about being born just as she had second thoughts about giving birth.
Eva notes earlier that Franklin would sacrifice his entire life for his child, and the notion that he would enjoy caring for a disabled child reinforces that idea. However, after Kevin is born, Eva sacrifices more to care for her son than Franklin does. This ends up causing a rift between the couple, as Eva resents sacrificing her career for her child.
Themes
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Eva wants to impress Franklin by appearing unfazed by the pain of being in labor, but, in reality, she has a low pain tolerance. She regrets hiding the pain from Franklin, wishing that he had realized how much Eva dreads hardship and discomfort. But Eva refuses anesthetics during labor, determined to appear tough. She is in labor for more than 24 hours, and when the doctor suggests a C-section, Eva puts all her effort into labor because she doesn’t want a scar on her abdomen. Giving birth is excruciating, and Eva feels deep animosity for the baby and for Franklin. She immediately feels that Kevin is linked to “suffering” and “defeat.”
Though Eva doesn’t want to make personal sacrifices for Kevin, she does sacrifice a lot for Franklin. She goes through with her pregnancy mostly because Franklin wants a child, and she hides her pain and suffering from him. All of this leads to Eva resenting both Franklin and Kevin, and this in turn creates an unhealthy environment for Kevin to grow up in. Eva avoiding a C-section because she doesn’t want a scar shows that she can be vain at times, though it’s also worth noting that a C-section is a serious medical procedure that can have serious and even permanent side effects.
Themes
