We Need to Talk About Kevin Chapter 8: December 13, 2000 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Eva wakes up to discover "'Florida' was over" (8.2). No, not in the "sawed off into the Atlantic" sense, but a president had been chosen.
  • Eva flashes back to April 11, 1983—the birth of Kevin.
  • It's not sweet in the least. Kevin doesn't want to be held by Eva, and he doesn't want to be breastfed by her. He seems to hate her immediately.
  • Eva confesses to Franklin that "childbirth had left [her] unmoved" (8.29). Before this letter, she would never have admitted it to anyone.