Review Of The Novel Alias Grace By Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood is a novel about murder, searching for truth, and pain. Grace Marks, has been locked up in Kingston Penitentiary for murder, but she does not have any recollection of what exactly occured. Dr. Simon Jordan, is studying the brain and mental illnesses, he is brought in by the clery to write a report on Grace, which would allow Grace to be released. Even though it is a very long novel, Alias Grace is an appropriate for a ENG4U course at London Christian High because Atwood has used many symbols, it has a prominent theme, and it has a strong, well developed plot. Firstly, Atwood uses many symbols, from the colour red to quilting. These are the two main symbols that present themselves throughout the novel. The colour red in the novel symbolizes traumatic events, spilled blood, and death. When Grace found Mary dead next to her the sheets were stained red with blood, this shows how the colour red represents traumatic events, spilled blood, and death, “The nightdress and petticoat were soaked through with blood, and the sheet was all red with it, and brown where it had died” (176).

The colour red is also talked about many more times throughout the novel, which is why it could be seen as a symbol. Quilting in the novel symbolize the many parts of Grace life, whether it be the good parts or the bad parts. One of the quilts, the tree of paradise, symbolizes a desire for purity, and Grace also makes her own version of it. In Graces version she puts patches of the dresses that hold meaning to her on it, But three of the triangles in my Tree will be different. One will be white, from the petticoat I still have that was Mary Whitney’s; one will be faded yellowish, from the prison nightdress I begged as a keepsake when I left there. And the third will be a pale cotton, a pink and white floral, cut from the dress of Nancy’s that she had on the first day I was at Mr. Kinnear’s, and that I wore on the ferry to Lewiston, when I was running away. I will embroider around each one of them with red feather-stitching, to blend them in as a part of the pattern. And so we will all be together. (460) The three dresses Grace uses in her quilt are from three very significant parts of her life. Mary's petticoat represent a joyous part of her life, filled with love and laughter. The prison night dress represent a hard time in Graces life, rough times within the prison, and how she struggled throughout her time there. The prison dress also can represent her time with Dr. Jordan, and all the memories she had both made and revealed with him. Nancy's dress, that Grace had run away in, represents the murders, which was a life changing time for Grace. Each section the novel is entitled with a quilt pattern, such as, jagged edge, broken dishes, and the tree of paradise. Secondly, Atwood's use of prominent themes allow this novel to be a good novel to study because it allows for discussion. Truth, memory, and madness is one of the many themes presented within the novel.