Don Henley tried to get to "The Heart of the Matter," and he decided that "it's about forgiveness" even if you don't love someone anymore. Or maybe you never did. In We Need to Talk About Kevin, it certainly seems like Eva never loved Kevin, but she is, in her own way, also searching for forgiveness. Maybe she wants to forgive Kevin and herself by proxy. Whatever her reasons, forgiveness doesn't necessarily require love, but it may lay the stones on the road to love.
Questions About Forgiveness
- Why does Eva forgive Kevin in the end? Or does she simply give up trying to blame him? Are those two things—giving up on assigning blame and forgiving someone—the same thing?
- Why does Eva want Franklin to forgive her for being a bad mother? He's dead. By asking this of her dead husband, is Eva really trying to forgive herself?
- Which characters forgive Eva? Why do they do that? By forgiving Eva, does this mean they blame her for the crime in the first place?
- Why are some characters unable to forgive Eva or Kevin? Do they need to forgive, or is it okay to have anger?