We need to talk about Kevin: Lionel Shriver

The narrator’s (Eva) character is presented throughout this extract of the book. In this epistolary, Eva is addressing who we assume to be her husband. In the first few lines, she says this ‘trifling incident’ has ‘moved me to write to you’. Right from the start of the incident we are instantly trying to explore what this incident may have been and why this incident has drawn her back to her husband.
Next, we are drawn into the rather morbid image of ‘The way a cat may lay mice at your feet’. This morose image suggests there was a clash of ideology between her and her husband and that the relationship may have been quite weak. Furthermore, the repulsive images are found throughout the rest of the first paragraph; ‘Clear viscous drool’, ‘Slathering’. This implies that there was an element of conflict in the household between husband and wife. This is further backed up with ‘Would you please not eat that whole sandwich’, showing again the disagreement between them both.
Early into the second paragraph, we are told that the narrator liked to tell her husband ‘My tales’, however the enjoyment was not shared between them both, just solely by the narrator. ‘Tell-tale politeness’ tells us that he used to maybe pretend that he liked them, or maybe his dislike for them was too obvious that his wife only knew his tricks too well. We also learn that the narrator enjoyed travelling ‘Hear stories from abroad’, however, this was a think of the past and she is now a troubled woman reminiscing about her life. Further into this paragraph he tells us ‘All my foreign travel was a kind of cheating’, this tells us that not only was she a troubled woman, but also tried to run away from her troubles, almost putting them aside. Near the end of this paragraph, the narrator uses the simile ‘Like those baubles the Japanese exchange’ to