Alias Grace

Simon narrates this chapter. He never expected that he would have to make his living as a doctor; he expected that he would dabble in medicine for a while, then settle down and take over his wealthy father’s textile mills. The unexpected, severe collapse of his father’s business—followed by his death—has changed the direction of Simon’s life, turning what was to be a comfortable and rich life into one of anxious care. Gone are the mills, the large house run by a staff of domestic servants, and with them, his carefree life. His inheritance is small, and he uses most of it to take care of his mother. Simon protects his mother from the knowledge of their exact circumstances, saying, “His father was self-made, but his mother was constructed by others, and such edifices are notoriously fragile” (56). He hopes to parlay this assignment with Grace into patronage and methods for his own a private asylum.

He falls into a reverie about his first meeting with Grace. As he enters her cell, he imagines he sees a slight, hysterical, waif with large, frightened eyes. He is surprised to have his vision shift and Grace appear tall and self-possessed, with assessing, not mad, eyes. He realizes that he is already in trouble and must be careful not to let his imagination take over.

The maid brings his breakfast into his room; he thinks of her as a pig and imagines her hung up like a ham. This association, Dora – pig – ham, is clearly the type of association he expected from Grace when he presented her the apple.

Grace narrates this chapter. Two guards bring Grace over to the Governor’s mansion every day that she works there and sees Simon. The guards make lewd and ribald jokes at her expense to entertain themselves. The Governor’s daughters—Lydia and Marianne—practice their charms on Simon by finding excuses to interrupt his sessions with Grace.

While she talks to Simon, Grace sews quilt blocks. He begins each session by giving her something and asking her what that thing reminds her of: a dried blue flower, a pear, or an onion. She finds it difficult to talk to him, since she hasn’t talked much over the last 15 years. Simon encourages her by talking about himself and his past.

This chapter begins with a letter from Dr. Samuel Bannerling to Simon. Dr. Bannerling was the asylum superintendent for most of Grace’s internment there. He believes she is a cunning, deceitful liar, and certainly not mad. He asserts that Grace pretended to be mad in order to escape the confines of the prison. He implores Simon to resist the pleading of the do-gooders trying to gain Grace’s release, because she is where she belongs. She certainly committed the crimes with which she was charged. Were she to be released, Dr. Bannerling is confident that she would kill again.

Simon gets dressed and readies himself to meet his employer, Reverend Enoch Verringer. He tries to sneak out of the house, but his landlady stops him. She wants to know if his breakfast egg was cooked properly since she cooked it herself. Trapped by the requirements of polite society, he stops to talk to her and agrees that the egg was delicious, though it was not. Mrs. Humphrey is lonely, and he wants to avoid any additional intimacy with her.

Simon describes Rev. Verringer, who is no older than 35, as an intelligent, politically astute Methodist minister. Verringer heads the Committee seeking a report from Simon that they can use to help gain Grace a pardon. However, the Committee also wants to be sure that their efforts stand a good chance of being successful—that Grace is indeed innocent—before putting a petition forth. Verringer recognizes that Simon can benefit professionally from this assignment, and he reassures Simon that he will be paid whether or not he reports negatively or positively as to Grace’s innocence. 

Simon attends a Sunday gathering at the Governor’s residence. He meets Mrs. Quennell, a noted Spiritualist and women’s advocate, and Dr. Jerome DuPont, a self-described “Neuro-hypnotist.” Dr. DuPont asserts that hypnotic sessions can alleviate amnesia. Simon is skeptical but hesitates to confront DuPont. Simon shares his methods with DuPont, which consist of suggestion and the association of ideas. Simon hopes to restore Grace’s memory by reconnecting the broken chain of thought.

Miss Lydia shows Simon her mother’s scrapbook full of criminals, displaying the pages with Grace’s case. Lydia flirts and presses herself against Simon; Simon is certain that Lydia, an innocent girl, has no idea what she is doing. Simon muses that he should probably let his mother find him a nice, malleable, young woman for a wife and get married. Though he’s aware of Lydia’s attractiveness, he really is more attracted by Grace, reporting that when he is with her: “[h]e is in the presence of a female animal; something foxlike and alert. He senses an answering alertness along his own skin, a sensation as of bristles lifting” (90).