Alias Grace

The theme of discerning lies from the truth is central to understanding this novel. How important is the “truth” of what happened that day to Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery? How do we know when we have the “truth”? What is Atwood saying about how we construct the truth for ourselves?

Trace the character development of Simon Jordan from his arrival in Kingston through the end of the novel. As the character who shows the most change, explain how his character develops through his relationships with people in Kingston, particularly women, including Grace. How does his relationship with Grace change him? Lydia? Mrs. Humphrey?

Do you believe that Grace killed Nancy Montgomery? Gather and present evidence from the text proving Grace’s guilt or innocence. How does it matter, or does it matter, that Atwood never gives a clear answer to the question of Grace’s guilt?

The color red figures prominently in this novel as a symbol. What different meanings can be attributed to Atwood’s use of the color red, and how does she use that motif to describe a particular theme? For example, the red peonies that grow out of the prison yard are a symbol for blood spatters, but they also underscore the recurring theme of Grace’s guilt. Explain three red symbols and each related theme. If you use the red peonies as one of your three symbols, you must related it to a different theme than the one given in this example for your analysis.

Nineteenth-century social classes and their associated behavior codes were extremely rigid. Describe the ways in which Simon Jordan both adheres to and takes advantage of his social code. What price does he pay for his hypocrisy? Do any other men pay a price for breaking their social codes? How?

Women in Victorian times were particularly bound by the requirements of their social code. Social requirements and expectations differed by social class as well. Explain how Grace and Mary Whitney have more freedom, or less, than the Governor’s daughter, Lydia, and Mrs. Rachel Humphrey. What is similar about these women’s situations, regardless of social class? Explain.

Both Simon and Grace have faulty memories, yet they are the narrators of the novel. Which is a more reliable narrator? Why? What do you think Atwood is trying to say about memory? How is our sense of identity related to memory? Explain.

The need for social reform, and the participation of upper-class women in these social reform movements, forms a background theme of this novel. Based on your own research into the nineteenth century, choose a social reform movement that appears in this novel and explain how this novel relates to and supports that movement. For example, one of the goals of the Committee is to see reform in insane asylums. What were the asylums of the day like? Who ended up in them? What specific reforms came out of the reform movement of the nineteenth century? You can choose this reform movement, or another, such as worker’s rights or women’s rights. Be sure to tie the historical movement to examples in this novel.