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FE/MALE MOTHER OF TWO: GENDER AND MOTHERHOOD IN LIONEL SHRIVER’S WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Smialek, Amy B
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1460635518

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Arts in English, Cleveland State University, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
There are critical reviews regarding Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin that discuss many controversial topics in the novel. Of these reviews, most critics limit their arguments to the taboo topics of American school shootings and Eva’s character as an ostensibly ambivalent mother. Unfortunately, there is little academic criticism on Shriver’s most recognized novel and, among such analyses, two of Shriver’s most crucial depictions are overlooked. Firstly, readers must acknowledge the impact that contemporary American society has on females and mothers. This novel shows how much a culture relies on societal “rules” that govern human expectations. Secondly, Shriver’s character of Celia is often overlooked. Without taking Celia into account, Eva cannot be fully analyzed as a mother. Eva’s character can be defined as a conventional and unconventional female. We should also recognize Celia’s importance, as well as the significance of each child’s reaction when identifying Eva’s conventional and unconventional mothering tactics. As I demonstrate, Eva is not an ambivalent mother, even though society labels her as such. Shriver suggests that how a person mothers a particular child is influenced by that individual child’s reaction to that style of mothering. Kevin responds more agreeably to Eva’s unconventional mothering, while Celia flourishes with Eva’s conventional mothering. For Shriver, contemporary society defines and critiques our expectations for gender and motherhood. Since Shriver’s protagonist is both a female and a mother, Shriver suggests that the character of Eva must endure more scrutiny from society. Ultimately, Shriver depicts a society that makes us do, say, and think the absurd, like condemning a mother for her teenager’s murderous acts.
Rachel Carnell, PhD (Committee Chair)
Adam Sonstegard, PhD (Committee Member)
James Marino, PhD (Committee Member)
103 p.
American Literature; American Studies; Families and Family Life; Gender Studies; Literature; Womens Studies
Ambivalence; Anti-Boy; Contemporary America; Conventional; Epistolary; Gender; Judith Butler; Lionel Shriver; Male-Dependency; Menace; Motherhood; Queering Gender; School Shootings; Societal Expectation; Taboo; Unconventional; We Need to Talk About Kevin

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smialek, A. B. (2016). FE/MALE MOTHER OF TWO: GENDER AND MOTHERHOOD IN LIONEL SHRIVER’S WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1460635518

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smialek, Amy. FE/MALE MOTHER OF TWO: GENDER AND MOTHERHOOD IN LIONEL SHRIVER’S WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN . 2016. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1460635518.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smialek, Amy. "FE/MALE MOTHER OF TWO: GENDER AND MOTHERHOOD IN LIONEL SHRIVER’S WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN ." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1460635518

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu1460635518
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© 2016, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License FE/MALE MOTHER OF TWO: GENDER AND MOTHERHOOD IN LIONEL SHRIVER’S WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by Amy B Smialek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.