We need to talk about Kevin, By Lionel Shriver, Serpent's Tail, $22.95 Well before the post-September 11 security crackdown, there were metal-detectors in American schools. 1 - does Kevin have the majority of the blame because we are responsible for our actions? It has SPOILERS. Within the genre of maternal horror, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a doozy. The degree to which is what I find really interesting. And this week when Reddit user zackjbryson asked, "What is the most disturbing book that you have ever read? Our therapist called this "parent shopping". I knew he didn't. That also brings into question, in the movie more-so than in the book, if Kevin was really evil and Eva saw him for what he was, or if it was her perception and her projecting it on him made him who he was via a lack of parental bond. 2 - does Eva carry most of the blame because her abuse towards Kevin and her distinct lack of maternal attachment to Kevin, when we know she has the capacity for it because of how she treats her daughter? We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, It is written from the first person perspective of the teenage killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son Kevin and the murders he committed, as told in a series of letters from Eva to her husband. I don't think so, so I definitely agree with your points here. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Can you fake that unconditional love and acceptance? Can we think poorly of a mother who doesn't bond with their child? That pretty much the whole time she is trying to convince herself that Kevin was born that way, and at the very end she recognizes her blame and tries to redeem herself by changing her approach in her relationship with her son. — Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath? It’s a tough topic, but one we need to talk about and this week Jenn, Lara, and Mike tackle Lynne Ramsey’s psychological horror, We Need to Talk About Kevin. Kevin is the most guilty. Together, they’ll share their thoughts on Franklin (lots of thoughts there), praise Lynne Ramsey’s directorial style, and conclude with an uplifting moment of grounding and self-care. I agree, everyone is to blame to varying degrees. Can we think poorly of a mother who doesn't bond with their child? Eva was definitely the only one who saw Kevin for who he really was. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. However, most serial killers had a fucked up childhood, so they are also made. Reminded me of that old 1950's movie, The Bad Seed. But people like this end up doing fucked up things at some point. Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | RSS. But Kevin is just getting started, and … This question was recently posed to Reddit users, and some of the results were a little surprising. To ask other readers questions about We Need to Talk About Kevin, please sign up. Can we think poorly of anyone if nothing is in anyone's control because we're all deterministic machines? I think We need to talk about Kevin is a great book for discussion, there are many points that could be pulled apart and looked at closely. […] So I blamed me, and he blamed me. In true "when your only tool is a hammer, ever problem looks like a nail", the school insisted he had ADD/ADHD. Shriver won the prestigious Orange Prize in 2005, and the book was adapted to screen in 2011. He’s the only one to blame. I am not a parent, but I think parent's face so much guilt and worry obsessively over the things they did, so it could be possible that Eva's abuse was lesser than what she recounted it to be, or less impactful on Kevin. Review by Peanutscratch ★★★½ . Kevin definitely is extremely manipulative as a child, as he shows signs of psychopathy from very early on. We also need to talk about Eva, the amount of emotional labor placed on mothers, and the complex decision to have children. Is that within their control? We Need to Talk About Kevin movie tie-in A Novel download reddit audiobook We Need to Talk About Kevin movie tie-in A Novel audiobook Press J to jump to the feed. Franklin (though shown to be a cuddly guy in the movie) didn't see Kevin as he really was and wanted Kevin to be different, looking for his ideal son. I think Kevin was simply born that way. I've both read the book and watched the movie so lemme know if I am mixing them up. I do think he's evil, but what made him that way is intriguing. Jim Spellman via Getty Images "What name is considered to be trashy in your country?" It has been a while since I read this book but it really stuck with me. Is anyone else as mystified as I am as to Franklin's apparent blindness to his son's nature, or is Kevin supposed to be a true chameleon with his parents, like sociopaths are supposed to be able to be? Eva and Franklin both had major short-comings as parents, and there was a definite lack of attention from the doctors as they are typically the ones we hope/expect to pick up on certain behaviors as well. It is written from the first person perspective of the teenage killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son Kevin and the murders he committed, as told in a series of letters from Eva to her husband. I think if it was told from a different POV we would probably assign blame a little differently, but no one else really ever picked up on the fact that Kevin was, for lack of better word, evil. The fact that she even thinks of herself as evil and that Kevin came out evil because she is evil is odd. If so, should they have? — The Impossible Question of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’: Nature or Nurture? (*May have actually been written and performed by … His mom most likely had untreated post partum depression, which caused her to be unable to bond with Kevin. I don't know about the blame part. Very … What made it disturbing?" Or nearly everybody is a bit to blame (except for little like his sister). The film moves without any pattern between past, present and who knows when. But ultimately it’s Kevin’s fault. But are all killers in general made or born? Kevin actually admired his mother a lot. 4 - what role do Kevin's doctors and teachers have? Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, We Need to Talk About Kevin explores nature vs. nurture on a We Need to Talk About Kevin explores … Kevin was bad from infancy. Because there are people who are full-fledged psychopaths who don't kill or commit any crimes, despite it being their nature. People are born this way. We spent hours, over days, having tests done. I think you are on to something though with your point about the narrative style influencing our perception. Answered Questions (17) I only saw the movie and I exonerate his mother completely of any fault. The novel is presented in a series of letters by Eva Katchadourian to her estranged husband Franklin, whom the reader is led to believe is reading these letters, however at the end of the … Who says if he wasn't abused everything would be okay. Previous Next . Maybe the abuse push him to do this in an early age. The first school made the problem worse, the second school was a miracle. I think everyone is to blame, but I can't assess the majority of where it lies. It’s a tough topic, but one we need to talk about and this week Jenn, Lara, and Mike tackle Lynne Ramsey’s psychological horror, We Need to Talk About Kevin. So, was the school responsible? Is that within their control? I'm the adoptive parent of a child who had attachment issues and it was so, so hard. We need to talk about "Kevin." If we had the same narrative style from a different character and knew their innermost thoughts, would we place more responsibility on them? He thought he knew. You make me feel bad; feeling bad makes me mad; ergo, you make me mad. We cling to guidelines like the length of Tilda Swinton's hair to figure out where we are. The Impossible Question of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’: Nature or Nurture? “We need to talk about Kevin” ... We are willing to talk about it openly because it threatens the existence of the community itself. Mike breaks down the many different diagnoses related to Kevin’s behavior from Conduct Disorder to Antisocial Personality Disorder and the difficulty in accurately diagnosing them. He didn't bullshit her, but he manipulated everyone else. By Lionel Shriver. The novel explores the subtle repercussions of maternal ambivalence, nature versus nurture, and the complexities of a mother … Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram, — Bookclub – Lionel Shriver – We Need to Talk About Kevin. We Need to Talk About Kevin Guilt and Blame. He didn't have ADD/ADHD. Counterpoint, $25 (416p) ISBN 1-58243-267-8. I think answering those can determine how much we can blame Eva-- or was he born like that? I don't like Eva, but I think Shriver chose her for the narrative because you get to see how much of her abuse does have influence, but also how ridiculous the level of blame by the locals is as well. Eva is incredibly unlikeable, but I do feel bad for her considering how much she lost in the end. The fact that nobody else clued in to Kevin's behavior is no surprise to me. This is a moderated subreddit. 7 - In general, do you think in instances of atrocities like those portrayed in the book that the parents are more to blame than the children? The question about nature vs. nurture has gone on for a long time, and I think killers are both born and made. Tilda Swinton plays the mother, Eva, as she contends for 15 years with the increasing malevolence of her first-born child, Kevin. Interesting. It speaks to the worst human fear imaginable: that evil lurks, not in the outside world, but right at home. Editing assignment || sum up a feature movie in 10 minutes || Ultimately the only person who is responsible for Kevin's actions is Kevin. Did they perhaps notice developmental issues and not inform his parents? My main question is regarding the relationship between Kevin … I don't think can blame Eva for her lack of maternal instinct, especially when she didn't want to have kids in the first place. In the novel, he had kept a photo of her which she assumed he had torn to shreds. I changed his school and his "ADD" disappeared. The movie, based on a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, follows Eva (Tilda Swinton), the mother of Kevin … It is our intent and purpose to foster and encourage in-depth discussion about all things related to books, authors, genres, or publishing in a safe, supportive environment. The school still wanted me to medicate him. 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