Alias Grace Chapter 2: The Ballad of Grace Marks
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 2 of Alias Grace consists entirely of a traditional folk ballad that narrates the murders of Thomas Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery, the subsequent trial of their servants Grace Marks and James McDermott, and the aftermath. The ballad opens with an introduction of the four main people: Kinnear, a gentleman; Nancy, his housekeeper; Grace, a sixteen-year-old serving maid; and McDermott, a stable hand. It then recounts a love triangle: McDermott loves Grace, Grace loves Kinnear, and Nancy is the obstacle. McDermott, urged by Grace, murders Nancy with an axe, then strangles her with Grace’s help. They later shoot Kinnear when he returns home. The pair rob the house, flee to the United States using the alias Mary Whitney, and are arrested in Lewiston. At trial, Grace claims she was forced; McDermott accuses Grace of leading him on. Young Jamie Walsh testifies that Grace wore Nancy’s clothes. McDermott is hanged and his body dissected; Grace is sentenced to life in the Kingston Penitentiary. The ballad ends with a moralistic Christian hope for Grace’s repentance and salvation.
Key Events
- Introduction of the characters and their social positions
- McDermott’s murder of Nancy Montgomery (axe blow and strangulation)
- McDermott’s shooting of Thomas Kinnear in the kitchen
- The pair’s flight to Toronto and then to Lewiston, New York, using the name Mary Whitney
- Discovery of the bodies (Nancy under a washtub, Thomas on his back)
- Arrest by Bailiff Kingsmill at the Lewiston Hotel
- Trial: Grace denies involvement; McDermott blames Grace
- Testimony of Young Jamie Walsh about Grace wearing Nancy’s dress and bonnet
- McDermott’s execution by hanging, body cut up at the university
- Grace’s life imprisonment in Kingston Penitentiary
- Final stanzas about Nancy and Thomas’s graves intertwining and Grace’s potential redemption
Character Development
- Grace Marks: Portrayed as a complex figure—both victim and perpetrator. The ballad alternates between showing her as the instigator who demands the murders and as a helpless girl coerced by McDermott. At trial she denies everything, but wears Nancy’s clothes, suggesting guilt or complicity.
- James McDermott: Depicted as a violent, passionate man who acts out of love for Grace. He blames Grace for leading him on and is ultimately executed.
- Nancy Montgomery: Kinnear’s housekeeper and lover. She is portrayed as vain (wearing satin and silk) and hard on the servants, yet her final plea for her life and unborn child evokes sympathy.
- Thomas Kinnear: A gentleman who enjoys a life of ease but is betrayed by his servants; his murder is sudden and brutal.
- Young Jamie Walsh: A minor character whose testimony (Grace wearing Nancy’s clothes) becomes a key piece of evidence.
- Bailiff Kingsmill: The lawman who arrests the fugitives, representing the reach of justice.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Folk Narrative as Truth: The ballad form presents the story as a known, almost mythic tale, questioning the reliability of official accounts.
- Class and Gender: The ballad highlights the power imbalance between masters and servants, and the limited agency of women like Grace and Nancy.
- Love, Jealousy, and Betrayal: The love triangle (Kinnear–Nancy–Grace–McDermott) drives the violence.
- Sin, Guilt, and Redemption: The final stanzas explicitly discuss sin, atonement, and the hope that Grace will be “white as snow” in Paradise, framing the story within Christian morality.
- The Body as Evidence: Nancy’s strangled body, the dissected corpse of McDermott, and the intertwining vine and rose from the graves all symbolize the physical traces of crime and memory.
- Imprisonment and Freedom: Grace’s life sentence contrasts with McDermott’s death; she remains trapped in “Prison drear” while he is “free” through execution.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter establishes the foundational narrative of Grace Marks’ story as it existed in popular culture before Atwood’s novel. By embedding the ballad, Atwood signals that the events are already mythologized, inviting readers to question the truth behind the legend. The ballad provides a condensed, ambiguous version of events—the same events the novel will later challenge and explore from multiple perspectives. It also introduces key character names, relationships, and the central mystery of Grace’s guilt or innocence. This chapter sets up the tension between public story and private truth that drives the rest of the book.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does the ballad format affect the reader’s perception of the events? The ballad, with its regular rhyme and meter, presents the story as a traditional, almost folkloric tale rather than an objective record. This framing suggests that the events have been simplified and moralized for popular consumption, encouraging readers to distrust the neat narrative of guilt and punishment. It also distances the reader from the characters, making them archetypes rather than fully realized individuals.
2. What contradictions exist in the ballad’s portrayal of Grace Marks? Grace is both the instigator (she demands the murder) and the victim (she claims McDermott forced her). She wears Nancy’s dresses, which implies involvement, yet at trial she denies everything. The ballad itself does not resolve these contradictions, leaving the question of her true role open. This ambiguity is central to the novel’s exploration of memory and storytelling.
3. What role does class play in the ballad’s depiction of the crime? The ballad explicitly contrasts the “gentleman” Kinnear and his fine clothes with the servants who “work hard from dawn to dark.” Nancy, though not well-born, dresses in satin and silk, causing resentment. The murders are presented as a class crime—servants rising up against their master. The punishment also reflects class: McDermott, a laborer, is hanged and dissected, while Grace, a young woman, is imprisoned and given a chance at redemption, perhaps because of her gender or perceived moral weakness.