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Alias Grace Chapter 32: The Summer Heat and Simon's Disintegration

⚠️ 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

The oppressive summer heat descends suddenly on Kingston, transforming the landscape and exacerbating the decay in Mrs. Humphrey’s boarding house. Simon Jordan, unaccustomed to such brutal transitions, finds his clothes heavy, his skin damp, and his room unpleasantly odorous. No suitable maid has been found because Dora spread rumors about unpaid wages and the Major’s desertion. Mrs. Humphrey cooks breakfast daily, but she suffers nervous prostration and headaches most afternoons. Simon attempts to feed her, buying a chicken he must clean himself using his dissection tools—a grotesque task that leaves him with the washing up. The house becomes squalid; Simon worries that living alone with his landlady will damage his reputation and professional standing. He resists the urge to ask Grace Marks for domestic advice, needing to maintain authority in her eyes. During breakfast, Mrs. Humphrey repeatedly expresses gratitude while Simon’s mind wanders to inappropriate images of her body. He dismisses any real attraction but acknowledges his unmet physical needs. He considers visiting brothels but deems them too risky in the small, gossip-filled town. Later, during a session with Grace, Simon feels drained, almost falling asleep. He believes they are approaching the “blank mystery” of the murders, but his own concentration falters. He notices a penciled note—“whisper”—underlined three times. That evening, he receives a letter from his mother extolling Faith Cartwright’s domestic skills and hinting at marriage. Simon crumples a draft reply, feeling his work has been fruitless. In the night, Mrs. Humphrey enters his bedroom holding a candle, claiming she heard a noise. Simon is frightened and disturbed, recognizing the untenable nature of their living arrangement.

Key Events

  • The sudden summer heat worsens the squalor in Mrs. Humphrey’s house.
  • Simon cleans and cooks a chicken using his surgical scalpel.
  • Mrs. Humphrey details Dora’s rumors and her own nervous illnesses.
  • Simon mentally speculates on Mrs. Humphrey’s nipples, then recoils.
  • He considers but rejects going to Kingston’s brothels due to risk.
  • During a session, Simon nearly falls asleep and loses track of Grace’s words.
  • He notes “whisper” in his notebook, underlined three times.
  • He reads a letter from his mother promoting Faith Cartwright.
  • Simon crumples his reply, despairing over his lack of progress.
  • Mrs. Humphrey enters his bedroom at night, claiming to have heard an intruder.

Character Development

Simon Jordan: This chapter deepens Simon’s psychological unraveling. He is lethargic, distracted, and plagued by intrusive sexual thoughts he does not act upon. His inability to maintain order in the house mirrors his failing control over the investigation. He increasingly doubts his work, comparing himself to explorers lost in a jungle. The nocturnal visit from Mrs. Humphrey underscores his vulnerability and the erosion of his professional distance.

Mrs. Humphrey: She emerges as more manipulative than merely frail. Her repeated expressions of gratitude, her convenient relapses during chores, and her nighttime entrance into Simon’s bedroom suggest either genuine neediness or calculated behavior. Her “cool nerve” when claiming to have heard a noise indicates a latent assertiveness.

Grace Marks: Though present mostly in memory and through Simon’s reflections, Grace continues to dominate the narrative. Simon imagines her as “the centre of Grace’s narrative,” the keeper of a buried truth. Her voice is calming but also draining, suggesting she unconsciously draws energy from him as he tries to extract her memories.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Heat and Decay: The oppressive summer serves as a metaphor for moral and physical decay. The stench of dead fish, the “cooked veal” tongue image, and the singed lilacs all suggest something rotting beneath the surface of polite society.

Domestic Incompetence and Gender: Simon’s struggle to clean a chicken—a task routinely performed by female servants—highlights his dislocation and the artificiality of his scientific detachment. He can dissect a corpse but cannot manage a kitchen.

Repressed Desire/Stifled Sexuality: Simon’s vivid imagination of Mrs. Humphrey’s body, followed by his renunciation of brothels, illustrates his pent-up urges. His fear of scandal and the Governor’s pious wife trap him in a state of frustrated celibacy.

Amnesia and the Unknowable: The “forest of amnesia” where “things have lost their names” represents the central mystery of Grace’s guilt. Simon senses that a crucial piece—the “whisper”—lies just beyond his grasp, mirroring his broader failure to understand his own desires.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 32 marks a turning point in Simon’s investigation. His physical and mental deterioration signals that he will not achieve a clear resolution with Grace. The domestic chaos and the nighttime intrusion foreshadow a crisis that will force Simon to abandon his project or become entangled in a scandal. The chapter also reinforces the novel’s persistent themes: the unreliability of memory, the performance of femininity, and the impossibility of objective scientific inquiry into the human mind.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Simon decide not to ask Grace for domestic advice?
Simon needs to maintain his authority as a doctor and investigator. Asking a convicted murderess how to hire a maid or clean a chicken would undermine his position of all-knowing detachment. He fears losing control of the power dynamic in their sessions.

2. What does the “whisper” Simon underlines in his notebook represent?
The word “whisper” may refer to a detail from Grace’s story that Simon has already heard but not yet interpreted—a clue to the night of the murders. Its presence underlines his subconscious awareness of something important that his conscious mind cannot access, echoing the novel’s theme of buried knowledge.

3. Why does Mrs. Humphrey enter Simon’s bedroom, and what does this scene reveal about her character?
She claims to have heard a noise and wants Simon to check the locks. But her calm voice and the candlelight scene suggest she may have invented the excuse. The scene reveals her potential cunning and willingness to test boundaries. It also exposes Simon’s vulnerability and his recognition that their cohabitation cannot continue without breeding scandal.

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