A Review Of The Novel Alias Grace English Literature Essay

A Review Of The Novel Alias Grace English Literature Essay Grace Marks is one of the two accused for the murders of her employer, Mr. Kinnear and his housewife, Nancy. She was sentenced to life imprisonment. Initially she claims that she does not remember what happened at the scene of the crime. Grace is introverted and carefully chooses what she says so that she does not reveal much information about herself. After Dr. Jordan comes, she opens up a little and tells him her tough childhood and what she remembers about the murders. By the end of the novel, Grace is pardoned, marries her lover, Jamie Dr. Simon Jordan is the physician that is to analyze Grace. He is interested in her circumstances and wants to use what he knows about psychology to pry as much information from her as possible so that it can be determined whether or not she really is suffering from amnesia. After entering in a relationship with Mrs. Humphrey, his landlady, and the results of Graces hypnotism, Dr. Jordan becomes disillusioned. He is unable to come to a conclusion and in the end just returns to Europe. Mary Whitney is a girl about Graces age who also worked for Mrs. Parkinson. Mary is more experienced with worldly matters and thus becomes sort of like a mentor to Grace. It is through Mary that Grace is able to find family. They are like sisters and become close to each other. She has an affair with Mr. George that ends up in a pregnancy and a failed abortion that takes away her life. Grace seems to care more for Mary than her own mother because when her mom died, she thought twice about using the sheet to cover her. On the other hand, Grace uses her money to provide the best possible funeral for her friend. Supposedly, the spirit of Mary resides in Grace and will come out during hypnotism. Nancy Montgomery is the housemaid of Mr. Thomas Kinnear. When she is first introduced, she is looking for extra help. She is not as welcoming or friendly as Graces last employer, Mrs. Parkinson. She feels as though she is superior to Grace. Nancy has an affair with Kinnear and gets jealous of Kinnear when he starts lusting for Grace. She is later found in the cellar, strangled and her throat cut. 4. Conflicts: One major conflict in the novel is determining Graces innocence and also her identity. Much of the book is concerned about Grace giving the readers background information about herself and her version of what happened during the time of the murders The conflict never gets resolved because Dr. Jordan never comes to a conclusion and just abandons his all of his findings. He does not know what to think after he witnesses the spirit of Mary Whitney possess Graces body. Atwood gives you all of many small pieces and it is up to readers to put everything together and then decide whether or not Grace is guilty or not 5. Opening chapter or scene: Alias Grace opens with a dream about Nancy, a dream that also occurs again later on in the novel. The year is 1851 and Grace is twenty-four years old. She has been in prison ever since she was sixteen. She tries to be the model prisoner even though life in the penitentiary is described as tough. She tells this dream to Dr. Jordan when they arrive at the part of the story. In the next section is a little poem that gives a quick but somewhat inaccurate summary of what has already happened before the novel started. The opening gives some background information about Graces life and also foreshadows many events. 6. Plot: Grace has been kept at the Kingston Penitentiary when Dr. Jordan comes and performs his project with Grace, the inciting incident After Graces initial reluctance to participate with Dr. Jordan ends, the rising action occurs when Grace relates her past to him. She is an immigrant from Ireland to Canada and suffers from a dysfunctional and poverty-stricken family. Life was hard for her because her father was worthless. She was able to find a job as a housekeeper. While working, she befriends Mary Whitney. She is traumatized when Mary dies because of an unsuccessful abortion and quits her job. She takes up another job with Nancy Montgomery, who works at the Kinnear estate She also meets James McDermott, another worker under Mr. Kinnear. Nancy and Mr. Kinnear seem to have a relationship together but now Kinnear is paying more attention to Grace. James thinks that Nancy and Kinnear should be killed. Grace then tells Dr. Jordan that James kills them both and then faints when James threatens her. When she awakens, James says that she must keep her part of the deal which implied that she was to go to bed with him. Grace tries to put him off and persuades him to escape to Toronto but they soon get captured. In the climax, Dr. Dupont hypnotizes Graces but instead a spirit comes out saying that she is not Grace but Mary Whitney. When the trance is broken, Grace comes back but does not remember what happened during the hypnosis. 7. Conclusion: In the novels falling action and conclusion, a disoriented and confused Dr. Jordan ceases his investigations and returns back to Europe Grace is pardoned and released from the penitentiary at the age of forty-five. She ends up marrying her childhood lover, Jaime Walsh and soon gets pregnant. The novel ends with a passage about how Grace will quilt the Tree of Paradise. She will interweave Marys petticoat, her prison nightdress, and Nancys dress altogether. The ending was only somewhat appropriate because it did not really feel as if he flowed with the rest of the story, that it did not belong there. It just seems attached on. 8. Themes: One theme of the novel is gender and feminism in the nineteenth century. Women back then were supposed to act a certain way. They were to be submissive and modest with the men dominating. Women were also thought to be more petite and moral. This may be a reason why James was executed and why Grace was only sent to prison. Another theme of the novel is that of sexuality. This theme seems to be a big driving force in the story. Mary Whitney gets involved in a sexual affair that has big repercussions. While in prison Grace must deal with the verbal abuse and sexual advances of the guards. Grace is accused of having a sexual encounter with Jamie in the orchard. Also when Mrs. Humphreys husband leaves her, she turns to a sexual relationship with Dr. Jordan for comfort. Dr. Jordan, on the other hand has fantasies of Miss Lydia and even Grace. Both Mr. Kinnear and James lust after Grace. Kinnear and Nancy have an affair too. Either way, sexuality plays an important role in the novel. 9. Symbols/Archetypes: One big symbol is that of the quilt. There is both a physical quilt, the one that Grace is working on, and a mental quilt. Each time Dr. Jordan examines Grace, it seems if as though another piece of Graces life and identity are sewed onto a quilt. All of the little intricate bits and memories are stitched together make up the whole quilt and there are also different ways to look at and interpret quilts. In addition, the title of each chapter is a name of a real quilting design. Another symbol may be that apples. They could symbolize the truth and knowledge. It could also represent the apple in the Garden of Eden. Grace could symbolize Eve, who was manipulated by something evil and then was punished for it. 10. Parallel events/parallel works: Alias Grace is similar to the story of the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gillman. Both works of literature were about psychiatric care. Women were the protagonist in both stories. Also both women were isolated from other people, one in an asylum, another in a lonely room. The dream that Grace describes in the opening chapter makes another appearance in the middle of the novel. In it, Grace sees Nancy with blood all over her face. Alias Grace is the retelling of the real story of Grace Marks. It is a historical fiction novel though, so some aspects such as the character of Dr. Simon Jordan are made up. 11. Style: Atwood rarely uses quotations in this novel. This makes the text more confusing as to who is talking and thinking which thoughts. This does emphasize the ambiguity of Graces life and her account of the murders In addition to the lack of punctuation, Grace also uses the word could very often. This makes it seems like she is making up some of the details, that what she says is conditional The story is presented from the point of view of Graces At the beginning of each chapter, Atwood uses a real historical article and/or a quote that describes something about Grace to introduce the next section. To highlight the quilt theme, Atwood also names each chapter after a genuine quilting pattern and even provides a small picture of the design. 12. Significant lines: I would rather be a murderess than a murderer, if those are the only choices (23) showing feminist attitudes like passing through the gates of Hell and into Paradise (447) when she left the penitentiary and went off into the real world and that is the same with all quilts, you can see them two different ways, by looking at the dark pieces, or else the light (162) there are always more than one way to look at things in life and everything has a dark and light side Murderess is a strong word to have attached to you (27) she has a label attached to her and it makes her think a certain way And so we will all be together (460) the last line of the novel, Grace will all of the remnants of her past onto one quilt so that she can look at it and move on

Ronald Reagan Administration Essay -- American History Politics Politi

In 1980, troubled by a unstable economy at home, a hostage crisis overseas, and the end of prior administrations that were not trusted, America elected Ronald Reagan by a landslide margin of victory. At sixty-nine years old, he was the oldest President to be elected. He was born in a small town in Illinois and served two terms as California governor starting in 1966. Reagan's track record proved to be very strong and included welfare cuts, decreasing the number of state employees, and halting radical student protesters. Like other GOP members, Reagan came into office promising to limit the power of government and to strengthen American military power overseas. "In this present crisis," Reagan said in his inaugural address, "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."(Reganfoundation). The new president wasted little time in institutionalizing the new conservative creed. In 1981, after surviving an assassination attempt, Reagan pushed his agenda of lower taxes (a measure that proved most beneficial to the rich) and steep budget cuts through a hesitant Congress. Furthermore, Reagan cut spending on social security, weakened organized labor groups, and lived up to his campaign promises by reducing government regulations that had prevented mergers while supervising the banking industry. At the same time, he appointed conservatives who would carry out his vision of smaller government to agencies like the EPA, his cabinet, and the courts. Anti-Communism was the cornerstone of the Reagan administration's foreign policy. The Reagan Doctrine had a turbulent relationship with the Soviet Union and Central America, more so than with other nations. President Reagan pushed for a space-based missile system to ... ...l fell and the Cold War ended in 1991. The Soviet collapse was the result of a culmination of many events, including the Chernobyl disaster, rebellion in the Baltic republics, and the rising expectations of consumers in a socialist system that could not produce anything of use. Reagan was indeed judicious in his rhetoric and in his Anti-Communist views. These actions on his behalf led to greater worldwide investment in democracy. 1. Anderson, Annelise, Martin Anderson, and Ronald Reagan. RONALD REAGAN'S PATH TO VICTORY: SELECTED WRITINGS BOOK. New Yrk: Free Pr, 2004 2. .Strober, Gerald S.. Ronald Reagan. Triumph Books, 2004. 3.10 Apr 2007 . 4. Reagan, Ronald. 06 Apr 2007 . 5.Robinson, Peter. How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. Regan Books,

Final Essay

He is stuck on the bridge between being an adult and a child and does not know here he wants to go. He doesn't know what he wants to do or be in the future. Throughout the book, Holder makes many references to the ducks that he saw a few times in Central Park. He says, â€Å"The ducks. Do you know, by any chance? I mean does somebody come around in a truck or something and take them away, or do they fly away by themselves- go south or something? â€Å"(Slinger 91 This could be a symbol for Holder and his life. Holder is wondering where the ducks will go, very much like he is wondering where he himself will go.Holder wonders if he will have to get up and go nowhere on his own, or if someone will come along and help him out before things get too difficult. Holder is thinking about where the ducks will go when it gets cold and hard for them to survive. He is also thinking about where he will go when life gets even more difficult and harder for him to survive on his own. Holder is also scared for the future of children. He has experienced firsthand what it is like to be extremely stressed and forced to grow up quickly. He does not like growing up and he just wants to be a child forever.Holder wants to save children from falling into the world of adulthood. He says, â€Å"Navy, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around – nobody big, mean – except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff – I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. Know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.This shows that Holder actually is caring for the children in the world and he wants to help them keep their innocence in any way that he can. Throughout the Story, Holder mentions his little brother Allele. Allele passed away when they were little of cancer. Holder feels guilty and upset over Allies death and really misses him. Allele was one of the few people who Holder actually loved and cared about. Allele had an old baseball mitt with poems written all over it that he would read while standing in the field. While talking about Allies old baseball mitt that Holder kept, he says â€Å"You'd have liked him.He was two years younger than I was, but he was about fifty times as intelligent. He was terrifically intelligent. His teachers were always writing letters to my mother, telling her what a pleasure it was having a boy like Allele in their class. And they weren't just shooting the crap. They really meant it. But it wasn't just that he was the most intelligent member in the family. He was also the nicest, in lots of ways. He never got mad at anybody. God, he was a nice kid, though. He used to laugh so h ard at something he thought of at the dinner table that he just about fell off his chair.

American Capitalism And Soviet Communism - 1344 Words

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The US lend lease program helped the soviets immensely with the Germans and Stalin had acknowledged that without it, they would not have been able to endure the Nazi force. At the time, â€Å"Roosevelt had believed that Russians would come bow down to America, would humbly beg, since the USSR is a poor country, without industry, without bread–so they had no other option. But we looked at it differently. Our people were ready for sacrifice and struggle†(cite 55). The Soviets may have not needed the alliance but it was very profitable to them and vital toShow MoreRelatedCommunism : A Economic System921 Words   |  4 PagesThe Communism is Karl Marx’s ideal economic system, which promotes a central plan economy. A central p lan economic is when the government places quotas on companies that manufacturers goods. After the end of World War II the spread of Communism began to raise in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is the makeup of different European, African, and Asian countries. 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