The Verdict

The verdict: Everybody has gone hog wild, and somewhat insane.

During the hypnosis process, it is revealed that it's believed that Grace is being possessed by the spirit of Mary Whitney, and also Simon Jordan's sexual desires. While in a hypnotic state, "Mary" says that she was all cold and alone on the floor and she needed to be warm and since Grace forgot to open the window after she died, so her spirit could not get out. She then continues to beg Dr. Jordan to not let anything happen to Grace and not let anyone hurt her. Everyone, including myself as a reader, was skeptical on whether or not it was truly the spirit of Mary Whitney speaking or whether it was Grace on the edge of pure psychological insanity. I was skeptical on the idea of hypnosis in the first place, and the story of Grace being possessed by Mary Whitney only further proved her guilt for me, along with her unbalanced mental state. She confesses that she didn't strangle Nancy Montgomery but rather her kerchief did it. I'm no Sherlock Holmes or anything, but that sounds like a confession to me.

As if we didn't already have one crazy character from the beginning of the novel, we now have two more. Rachel (aka Mrs. Humphrey) has alluded her life to that of Nancy Montgomery's by falling for her housekeeper (Simon Jordan) and carrying on a relationship. However, her situation is much different than Nancy Montgomery's as Rachel's husband is mentioned many times since the beginning of the novel, therefore implying that she's married. This also conflicts with Dr. Jordan because if he's involved with a married woman (who, let's not forget, is also his servant) then that means that he's also gotten himself involved in a situation where I don't think he is emotionally equipped to deal with. There is no doubt in my mind that Rachel is crazy, and at this rate, Dr. Jordan isn't far behind. Rachel keeps saying how her husband doesn't have to come back, that he could have an accident and no one would have to know. Basically, she wants Simon and herself to commit a crime similar to one that Grace Marks and James McDermott were convicted for. At this point, I'm not entirely sure whether or not Simon meant to consent or not, but by kissing her, Rachel interpreted this as his willingness to do what she had planned and his passion towards her as she says, "I knew you would never leave me! I love you more than my life!". Clearly, there is something off about her humors, and with her state of mind in general. I quickly realized that although Rachel Humphrey was a woman who his family would find appropriate for marriage, he couldn't spend the rest of his life with a woman knowing that at the same time he had committed a crime. Dr. Simon Jordan's story ends with him going home to care for his sick mother, which then turns into him going off into war as a doctor, where he then never heard from again.

Grace Marks, despite her obvious guilt to the crime she was convicted for, gets the happy ending she had been waiting for her whole life. She had been in prison or locked away in the asylum for so many years that it had almost felt like her new home. From the time Grace Marks is imprisoned until the time she is granted her freedom once more, she has become a new person. She is no longer the damaged, fragile girl who came across on a boat from Ireland with her broken family, but she is rather a more matured and head-strong woman who can think sensibly for herself. In the book, when she leaves she thinks about her mother dying and says "Of course I wasn't dying, but it was in a way similar.". I think that this is similar to dying in a way because she is being reborn into a new person. She has now lost the identity of Grace Marks, as that is the name she was given to by her mother, and also the name she shared with her father whom she no longer had any contact with. In a way she was reborn into the living version of Mary Whitney, which can be interpreted in many different ways after reading the hypnosis section of the novel, but by the end of the novel, she becomes a new person, especially when she moves to New York and gets married to Jamie Walsh. Even though I still believe that she was guilty, Grace Marks was a remarkable woman and the novel Alias Grace was a great novel even though it was written by Margaret Atwood. By the end of the novel, I could truly appreciate Grace Marks as who she was, and that was by her average, everyday alias, Grace.