In ten chapters, a lot of things happen. Chapter 35 begins with a statement by Dr. Simon Jordan regarding Grace saying, " 'It is not the question of your guilt or innocence that concerns me. I am a doctor, not a judge. I simply wish to know what you yourself can actually remember.' " (Atwood 367) Earlier on while I was reading the novel, I wondered whether or not Dr. Jordan was actually concerned about the innocence or guilt of his patient but rather the patient herself. Even From this, a common theme has managed to emerge throughout the novel. I thought that the theme of truth has come up a lot, because although Dr. Jordan isn't searching for innocence or guilt in Grace, he's still working to find the truth in what happened. The theme became clearer to me when Grace says at the end of her session with Dr. Jordan, " 'It would be a great relief to me, to know the whole truth at last.' " (Atwood 384) because ever since the beginning of the novel, the truth of what Grace Marks did was trying to be uncovered and the theme makes me wonder how much the truth is actually worth to us, and whether uncovering it is fixing the damage that was done, or causing more chaos than before. In Dr. Jordan's case, I think uncovering the truth is only proving to have a negative affect on him, as he somehow becomes involved with his servant, Mrs. Humphrey, while also frequently fantasizing about Grace. Throughout the rest of the novel, we can see his mental state slowly deteriorating as he no longer understands the events that are unfolding and he can't rationalize things in a professional and appropriate manner such as keeping his relationship with his maid just that, and thoughts of marriage keep popping into his head while in a session with Grace Marks. Even after sleeping with Mrs. Humphrey (who she insists on him calling her Rachel), Dr. Jordan still lusts after Grace and imagines her in Rachel's place. There's a clear attraction to Grace from Simon's perspective, however this feeling is not mutual. I was almost scared while reading because during a session, Simon wondered if Grace thought of him while she quilted, however I thought this was crazy and on the brink of creepy. It was known from the very beginning that Grace Marks was suspected of murder, and she was even committed to an asylum for being mentally unstable, yet here is a well trained doctor, looking as her and thinking about marrying her. If we were in Elizabethan times, Dr. Jordan probably would've been seen as of ill with his humors being off and all, and would have been bled out in order to cure him. However at this time, he would not have been bled out because this would've been completely hypocritical, as in the case they were investigating, the victim was found in a pool of their own blood and to cure someone in the same fashion as someone was punished, it would seem completely wrong.
Aside from Dr. Jordan's crazy moments, he also had some wise, professional ones. He went to go visit Grace's lawyer to see if he could find some truth from him. He found truth, however it wasn't the same truth he was looking for. It's revealed that Grace was thought guilty to the extent that not even the lawyer who was representing her thought she was innocent. MacKenzie goes as far as saying that he was told that there was no chance that he had of winning, and it was no longer about winning -- it was all about losing with as much elegance as possible. Grace says that no one understands guilt. She knows that he is looking to find out whether she is guilty or not, and she says that, "He doesn't understand yet that guilt comes to you not from the things you've done, but from the things that others have done to you." (Atwood 456). By this, I think that Grace is talking about all of her life experiences leading up to that moment, and how she was treated by others and mostly how she was influenced by McDermott.
For me, it almost seems as if Grace is pleading her case of being innocent, which is irrelevant because ever since the beginning of the book I thought that she was guilty, and up until this point, I still think that she's guilty.
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