We Need to Talk About Kevin Theme of Identity

Mother. Father. Wife. Husband. Son. Daughter. These are all identities, but they are also ways to identify someone based on their relationship to someone else. In We Need to Talk About Kevin, Eva is a mother to Kevin and Celia. A wife to Franklin. But what is she when her husband and her daughter are killed and her son is in jail? She is no longer a wife, and she has no desire to be a mother. Eva has to figure out who she is when she is all by herself.

Questions About Identity

  1. How would you describe Eva before she gave birth to Kevin? Does having a child change her?
  2. What words does the general public use to describe Eva's personality? Is their assessment of her accurate?
  3. What aspects of Eva's personality does she share with Kevin? What aspects does she share with Celia? How are Franklin and Kevin similar or different?