Post 5: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Here I sit, writing my final blog post. Oh, how far we have come!

I plan on discussing two things in this post: Atwood’s style and the meaning of the work as a whole.

I have touched briefly on Atwood’s style a few times throughout these blog posts, but I wanted to really solidify what I think it is now that I have finished the book. First and foremost, Atwood is an illustrative writer. She paints imagery throughout the book, which is clear form the first few lines. “Out of the gravel there are peonies growing. They come up through the loose grey pebbles, their buds testing the air like snails’ eyes, then swelling and opening, huge dark-red flowers all shining and glossy like satin. Then they burst and fall to the ground,” (pg 1). I may have actually used this quote before, but I think that it really illustrates how well Atwood writes. Not only can you see the peonies, but you can almost understand how they feel to the touch and how they contrast with the environment around them. This quote also beings the motifs of peonies throughout the book; they are used to represent death and murder.

Not only is the imagery of the book incredible, but the outside details that Atwood adds to this book are quite interesting as well. Since the book is based on a true story, there are real excerpts from newspapers at the time that give insight as to the public opinion of Grace at the time and some more facts of the case. She also includes excerpts from poems that she feels are relevant to her story. The details that Atwood has chosen to include really add to the depth and deimension of the novel. These added details preface many of the chapters and give the reader something to think about before they actually begin reading, much like the quotes before The Handmaid’s Tale. With the reader’s mind prepped, they can more fully understand the text that they are about to read.

I think it is also important to note that not only is Atwood’s technical style good, but it’s so enjoyable to read. Even though the writing is complex and requires analysis, Atwood writes with a simple elegance that cannot be overlooked. Her writing flows from page to page. She can make time stand still, as she does when she describes that Grace learning that Mary Whitney is dead. The time from the discovery of the body to Grace falling asleep that night lasts almost five pages; however right after that, mere pages later, Atwood describes Grace going leaving one house to go to another and then another without sacrificing her stylistic elements. This reflects the skill that Atwood possesses in her writing.

To sum it all up, I love Atwood’s style. Everything from the imagery to the way she includes jokes in her writing is wonderful to me.

The meaning of the work as whole is a very tricky thing to decipher. The book deals with so many topics, including the situation of women at the time. However, I think that the strongest themes is that we can never, in any situation, know the truth.

In the book, Grace is narrating her own story and telling us how she came to be involved in the gruesome murders of her employers. She has many reasons to distort the truth, namely to convince us of her innocence. Was Nancy Montgomery REALLY a woman with a short temper who flipped her opinion every minute, or was she just dealing with a below average maid? These are questions that the reader has to ask. Not only are we only getting one side of the story, but it’s as biased as bias can be. On top of her desire to protect herself, Grace could have been protecting others when telling us of her story. Mary Whitney could have simply been a victim of a terrible man with no morals, or Grace could have been protecting Mary’s image since she was her only friend. Grace could also have been protecting Dr. Jordan by making him appear kinder than he was (or, in my opinion, less creepy).

While the book shows that we will never understand the whole truth with narration, it also shows conveys this through it’s biggest plot twist: the reveal of Grace’s second personality, or the spirit of Mary Whitney. This twist conveys the idea of never knowing the whole truth in a few ways: first, her story. “Mary” claims that she was having an affairs with both McDermont and Kinnear, something that cannot be proved or disproved since they are both dead. She also claims that Grace knows nothing about her, and says to Dr. Jordan “You mustn’t tell her!” (pg 401). How can we know if that’s true? How can we know if “Mary Whitney” is a second personality or a fake cop-out designed by Grace and Jeremiah? Exactly. We can’t.

The book ends so simply, with Grace quilting the Tree of Life. I think that this is a metaphor for the reader having to stitch the story together. Grace herself is pulling together the story, saying that her tree will be made with three fabrics:

“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,” (pg. 459).

This metaphor, that Grace herself is still trying to get everything to line up right at the very end of the book, clearly shows that the whole truth isn’t yet known. 

I think that this book was just wonderful to read. I loved the style, the feminist elements, and the way that Atwood switched between multiple perspectives. Even though the book was slow to start, I don’t think I could have chosen a better book to read for this assignment! Thank you for joining me on this wonderful journey through the mind of Grace Marks.