Meaning of the Work and Final Thoughts

Hello readers!

SO much has happened since my last update. I have now finished Alias Grace and I think you are going to need a plot update!

Grace Marks is hypnotized in an attempt to understand whether or not she is guilty of the crime she is in prison for. The hypnotist is actually an old friend of Grace's, (Jeremiah, an peddler that used to visit the first home Grace worked in) posing as a doctor. While Grace was hypnotized, Mary Whitney's spirit spoke through Grace's body, or at least that is what it appeared to be (keep in mind that this could have been a plot created by Jeremiah and Grace). "Mary Whitney" admitted to being the one behind the murders of Nancy and Thomas, having egged on James McDermott to kill them. If this were true, Grace would be innocent and set free. The audience of the event believed her (even if the readers of the novel did not) and Grace was pardoned a time after the event.

Dr. Jordan had been having an affair with his landlady and when his landlady requested that he murder her husband and marry her, he fled. Grace was sent to live with Jamie Walsh (an old friend when she worked for Thomas) who she later married. The story ends with Grace writing a letter to Dr. Jordan, more than a year after she was pardoned.

Dr. Jordan

From the Netflix Original TV Series

Now that you're caught up, onto the meaning as a whole.

The meaning of the work was hard for me to discover. I still have more than one idea, but one stands out to me more than the others.

As I have said in past blogs, the work is written like a patchwork of information. To me, the main meaning of the work as a whole is that people are a patchwork themselves. They are made up of different personality traits and experiences and aspects from other people that they adopted.

This idea didn't spark until page 406 when a minor character in a conversation with Dr. Jordan about the human brain stated rather passionately, "We cannot be mere patchworks!" This idea developed more when I thought about it.

Reason 1: the book is written like a patchwork of ideas, a journal almost. This gives the feeling of looking into someone's mind, seeing their quilted thoughts.

Reason 2: the idea that Grace Mark's has two personalities, whether she is indeed possessed or an early case of Dissociative Identity Disorder. She is a patchwork herself of different people. This also brings in the topic that the people you surround yourself with slowly become a part of you. Whether it be adopted mannerisms or literally taking over your body (Mary Whitney for example). Mary Whitney also took over Grace's mind even though Grace was never aware that Mary was in her body (if she even was really possessed, we will never know). Mary would influence Grace's every day thoughts and statements, "I try to think of what Mary Whitney would say, and sometimes I can say it," (63).

Reason 3: we are built of stories, and the stories can change based on who is telling them. In Grace Mark's case, stories of her were either truthful, or complete lies based on the teller's perspective of her. For example, a women who interviewed Grace at one point during her trial stated that Grace saw the dead, red eyes of Nancy following her, when in fact, they were red peonies. The story of the eyes would have implied guilt, but the peonies were less dramatic and made her appear less guilty, so a different story was told.

I am not sure if this is actually the true meaning of the work, but this is what it is to me. We are made up of what and who is around us and of events that happen in our lives.

After doing some research, there is another message that Margaret Atwood attempted to get across in her novel. She wanted to show the difference between the treatment of men and women when accused of murder. The man is almost automatically looked at as guilty while the woman tends to be pitied and assumptions of manipulation are made. This is a strange twist on a feminist novel. Even though the reader does not know whether Grace is guilty or not, she still was treated as if weak and innocent. It makes the reader think about the stereotypes of a women, weak, malleable, innocent. It is unfair that a woman is treated differently than a man is when faced with a crime. Why must the woman be treated as less than the criminal she is? It's a weird way to make the reader think about ALL of the inequalities a woman has.

While doing my research, I also discovered a really interesting fact, this novel is based off of a true story. Grace Marks, Nancy Montgomery, Thomas Kinnear, and James McDermott all existed. Kinnear and Montgomery were murdered, McDermott was executed, and Grace went to an insane asylum then to a penitentiary and was pardoned in 1873. Dr. Jordan is a fictional character, and the life of Grace after she was released is also fiction, but every single newspaper clipping is real and from the time of her scandal.

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Because this is my second to last blog post, I wanted to share why I chose to read this book. I was enticed mostly by the time period, the 1800s. A time when a women couldn't show her ankle, a time when bosses took advantage of their workers and got away with it. When if you were single, you were either a whore or a virgin. When women were still looked at as property, either they were chosen because of their physical attractiveness or because of their money. They could only get a job working as a servant or a seamstress but with the only being to build their endowments for when they wished to marry.

I wanted to know more about this time and Margaret Atwood did an astounding job incorporating all of these aspects into a story not just about the time period, but also an exciting mystery.

Thank you so much for reading! I know there is a lot going on in this post, but there are so many things to talk about when it comes to this incredible masterpiece of history and fiction, I could never get it all down. I will get back to you soon with my absolutely final response!

“Inspiration behind Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 1 Nov. 2017, www.cbc.ca/books/6-things-that-inspired-margaret-atwood-s-alias-grace-1.4302863.