The Importance Of Guilt For Personal Development As Illustrated In We Need To Talk About Kevin By Lionel Shriver
What has been done cannot be reversed or fixed anew as guilt and fear begin to pent up. It is similar to where the discovery of heartbreak is indeed heartbreaking consoles one about humanity. The book We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, depict that guilt is necessary for personal development using the evolvement of empathy, the growth of independence and an understand for forgiveness, as situations that show this clearly.
To begin, Kevin’s guilty conscious towards his murders helps him become empathetic. When Eva discusses her matters with Kevin with a woman, she believes that he could feel guilty, Eva scoffs and said: “Remorse? What could he conceivably regret? Now he’s somebody, isn’t he?”. Eva believes that Kevin is incapable of feeling guilt and at first she was correct, however, it was a later effect of guilt that causes him to become empathetic as the time he spent in Juvie has helped him reflect upon his actions as the previous times she had visited Kevin, he was very confident and showed no regret. When visiting him before he leaves for actual prison, the guard has told that their time was up, Kevin hugs Eva to show how heavy the guilt is. Next: “Anyway, I thought you might take this and, well, maybe you could, you know 'Bury it'. Kevin asks Eva to bury Celia’s eye.
Lastly, Eva asked Kevin why, he answered: 'I used to think I knew, now I'm not so sure”. Comparing Kevin to his childhood renounced similar to a sociopath he showed no guilt or shame, and was incapable to receive and give love; he was a pathological liar and manipulative. Seeing Kevin unsure and guilty of actions he had been so unhesitant to, the realization that his untouchable life, where he was able to get away with what he desires, will be spending five years in jail; something far worse than what he has experienced in Juvie, and for the first time, he expresses fear and vulnerability as well as guilt towards his murders.
To conclude, the overbearing guilt of mass murder creates fear in Kevin and causes evolvement in empathy and remorse towards his actions.
Secondly, guilt has helped Eva to gain more independence: “It's far less important to me to be liked these days than to be understood). Kevin always stated truthful facts about Eva, calling her out on her hypocritical statements and her thoughts of feeling superior towards others, asking why she always thinks she is better than everyone Eva does not change instantly, however, it is seen throughout the letters that the way she begins to think shifts.
“So I made an effort, at which point I had to recognize that I’d been resisting the birth”.
“Yet I do hope that you're not feeling sorry for me; it's not my intention that you do”. Throughout the novel Franklin had been unsupportive and heavily biased towards Eva and Kevin’s relationship.
Finally, Eva finds the ability to forgive through guilt. Visiting Kevin before he is sent to prison, Eva thinks and says: I'm not quite sure, but I like to think that he choked, 'I'm sorry.' Taking the risk that I'd heard correctly, I said distinctly myself, 'I'm sorry; too, Kevin. I'm sorry, too'. After having the strength to ask him why after two long years, Eva realizes that the boy she once knew has changed,
Next, as she Eva announces to herself: “After three days short of eighteen years, I can finally announce that I am too exhausted and too confused and too lonely to keep fighting, I love my son”. Throughout the story Eva blames herself and Kevin for all the faults in her life, especially the murders of their family and his classmates. She felt that the mutual treatment they gave has caused Kevin’s drive for murder. Feeling a need for closure it was her last time visiting him before his sentence of five years in prison, having the closure she needed she has come to forgive him as well as herself. Lastly, when she opens the door to his room, her letter final letter states: “He has five grim years left to serve in an adult penitentiary, and I cannot vouch for what will walk out the other side. But in the meantime, there is a second bedroom in my serviceable apartment. A copy of Robin Hood lies on the bookshelf. And the sheets are clean”. This scene shows that she still cares for him, Robin Hood was a book she kept from when Kevin had allowed Eva to take care of him when he was ill, a sense of care for him as she had yearned for that type of relationship with him.
In conclusion, guilt is necessary for personal development as illustrated by the growth of becoming forgiving and independency, as well as learning empathy. The two are not closer to figuring out each other, however, the acceptance of guilt and forgiveness shows that the beauty of life always allows a new beginning, even to the worsts of ends.
