Alias Grace

The chapter consists of long poem describing the murder of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery at Richmond Hill by James McDermott and Grace Marks, the trials of James McDermott and Grace Marks, and the hanging of McDermott. In this poem, the reader learns that Grace was only 16 years old when the murders took place. The motive for the murders is jealousy and love. Grace’s love for Thomas Kinnear and her jealousy of Nancy Montgomery cause her to incite James McDermott to kill Nancy by promising him sexual favors in return. Out of love for Grace, James kills Nancy. In a fit of revenge after Grace rejects him, he kills Grace’s love, Thomas Kinnear. Nancy was Thomas Kinnear’s housekeeper and his mistress; she was also pregnant when she was killed. Once Thomas and Nancy were dead, the two culprits robbed Kinnear of his valuables and ran away across the border to the United States. They were caught by a Canadian magistrate in Lewiston and brought back to Canada to stand charges. James McDermott blamed everything on Grace. They were both convicted of Thomas Kinnear’s murder and sentenced to death. McDermott was hanged, while Grace’s sentence was converted to life in prison.

In 1859, Grace sits in the prison Governor’s parlor, waiting for a doctor who is writing a book about criminals. She works in the Governor’s house as a housemaid and seamstress, and this is the first time she has been allowed to sit on the furniture. Woven into her description of her current situations are repeated references to people she has known in the past, including Mary Whitney and Mrs. Alderman Parkinson. She describes the frequent guests, mostly ladies in various reform and spiritualist movements. Grace is frequently shown to the guests as a curiosity, because she is a murderess.

Grace muses about all of the contradictory identities that others have placed upon her: demon, innocent dupe of a male “blackguard,” too ignorant to hang, an idiot, cunning and devious, a good girl (23).

Grace describes the Governor’s two daughter’s scrapbooks, which are full of feminine fripperies, such as fabric scraps and sentimental verses written by friends. In contrast, the Governor’s wife’s scrapbook contains sensational newspaper clippings describing criminals and their infamous crimes, including Grace.

Grace is afraid of doctors, though this doctor is only going to measure her head. The doctor comes in. When he opens his black bag to pull out an instrument, Grace imagines he’s pulling out a knife and she screams because she believes this is a doctor she has seen before with his “bagful of shining knives” (29).

Someone throws cold water on Grace to revive her, and the prison Matron is called to help stop Grace’s hysterical fit. She slaps Grace, which stops her. They take her back to the prison in disgrace, as she has frightened everyone with her fit. The doctor had no knives, only calipers.

Grace describes the cell where they have put her until they decide whether she needs to go back to the insane asylum. She was judged to be mad seven years ago and spent time in the asylum. Grace insists that many of the women in the asylum were “no madder than the Queen of England” (31). Some women were only “mad” when drinking or when pretending madness to escape a bad home life or starvation. Others were genuinely mad, such as the woman who had lost all of her family to famine and disease, and one who had killed her child. Grace showed spirit by biting Dr. Bannerling, the asylum director, when he touched her breast under the guise of “examining” her. Eventually, the authorities return Grace to the prison.

She imagines the red flowers blooming on the walls and falls asleep. She is left in solitary confinement for two or three days. Finally, someone knocks on the door.

Dr. Simon Jordan enters Grace’s cell. Grace describes him: he is about her age, tall and slender, dressed well but in worn and rumpled clothing, and when she hears him speak, she knows that he is American. Grace pretends to be dull-witted, because she wants to figure out what he wants from her. He tells her that he is a different kind of doctor, and he pulls an apple out of his pocket and gives it to Grace. He asks her what she thinks of when she sees an apple. She answers him stupidly, again hiding what she really thinks and knows. He explains that he is a doctor who studies minds and diseases of the mind, brain, and nerves and that he wants to help her. He promises that if she continues to talk with him and doesn’t become violent, she will not be sent back to the asylum. Grace agrees to talk with him.