Alias Grace – Chapter 35 Summary and Analysis
⚠️ 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
Dr. Simon Jordan finally questions Grace Marks directly about the murders. He brings a silver candlestick (similar to one used by McDermott) but does not yet show it. Grace recounts the sequence from Thursday, July 23, 1843: Kinnear rides away at three o’clock; Nancy tells Grace and McDermott they must leave after the next day, claiming Kinnear agrees. Grace believes Nancy wants her gone out of jealousy. Desperate and fearful of being turned out without a reference, she cries. McDermott then confesses his plan to kill Nancy with the axe, strangle her, and shoot Kinnear upon his return. Grace does not fully believe him but feels trapped. She persuades him to wait until late Friday to avoid early suspicion. On Friday, a party is held with Jamie Walsh playing the flute. After Jamie leaves, Nancy and Grace sleep in Kinnear’s bed with the door locked. Grace warns Nancy that McDermott intends to kill her; Nancy laughs it off. That night, Grace has two vivid dreams: first, Mary Whitney appears holding a glass with a firefly (her soul), then a dream where Nancy kneels with blood, wearing Grace’s kerchief. Grace wakes in terror. She tells Simon these dreams caused her to be sent to the asylum.
Key Events
- Simon interviews Grace with a prepared silver candlestick, hoping to provoke a breakthrough.
- Grace details Kinnear’s departure and Nancy’s order for her and McDermott to leave.
- McDermott privately reveals his murder plan to Grace; she tries to delay him.
- A convivial Friday supper and dance with Jamie Walsh; McDermott grows sullen.
- Grace locks the bedroom door and warns Nancy, who dismisses the threat.
- Grace dreams of Mary Whitney with a firefly, then a prophetic vision of Nancy’s death.
- The chapter ends with Grace claiming her asylum confinement stemmed from these dreams.
Character Development
- Grace Marks: Shows acute awareness of social dynamics (Nancy’s jealousy, McDermott’s volatility). Her memory is detailed yet selective; she underscores her powerlessness while also claiming agency in delaying the murder. Her dreams reveal a deep psychological burden.
- Dr. Simon Jordan: Struggles to maintain clinical detachment; he apologizes repeatedly when he offends Grace. His impatience and guilt suggest he is emotionally invested, undermining his scientific pose.
- Nancy Montgomery: Portrayed as capricious—kind after quarrels, but also reckless. Her dismissal of Grace’s warning contributes to her fate.
- James McDermott: His murder plan is presented as both grandiose and serious. The story highlights his jealousy (of Jamie Walsh) and sullen resentment.
- Mary Whitney: Appears as a dream-specter, linking Grace’s past trauma with the present crisis.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Memory and Storytelling: The chapter dramatizes the difficulty of recovering “true” memory. Simon presses for facts, but Grace’s narrative blends chronology with emotional truth.
- Dreams vs. Reality: Grace’s dreams (Mary Whitney’s firefly-soul, the red peonies, Nancy’s plea) blur the boundary between premonition and recollection. They also serve as a justification for her asylum committal.
- Class and Gender Power: Kinnear’s teasing (“your favourite beau … the horse”) underscores the sexualized banter between master and servant. Nancy’s authority to dismiss Grace reflects the precarious position of female domestics.
- The Firefly Motif: Trapped in a glass, the firefly symbolizes Mary Whitney’s soul—and perhaps Grace’s own trapped consciousness, unable to escape the story of the murders.
- Inevitability and Fate: Grace repeatedly feels events are “fated” and beyond her control. This fatalism absolves her of agency in the narrative she tells.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 35 is the emotional and narrative core of Grace’s testimony. It provides the most complete version she has given of the days leading to the murders, and it introduces the crucial element of her dreams. The dreams are presented as both real prophetic experiences and as symptoms of her mental state—the very ambiguity that made her asylum diagnosis possible. Simon’s behavior here (apologizing, almost abandoning his role) foreshadows his later inability to remain objective. The chapter also sets up the central mystery: does Grace truly remember, or is she constructing a story that protects herself while implicating McDermott?
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Grace lock the bedroom door when she sleeps with Nancy?
Grace explains that she always locks doors when she sleeps, but here she specifically fears McDermott may creep in with the axe. She had previously convinced him not to kill Nancy while she slept, but she does not trust him. The locked door is a physical barrier against the violence she knows is possible.
2. What is the significance of the firefly in Grace’s first dream?
Mary Whitney holds a glass containing a firefly; when Mary removes her hand, the firefly flies out but cannot escape the closed window. The firefly represents Mary’s soul (trapped after her suicide) and also Grace’s own soul, which feels confined by her circumstances. The dream links Mary’s tragic end to the impending tragedy for Nancy, suggesting cyclical suffering for women.
3. How does Simon’s interviewing technique in this chapter differ from that of Dr. Bannerling or the prison chaplains?
Simon explicitly tells Grace he will believe her, contrasting with the others who accused her of lying. He does not try to force a confession but asks open-ended questions. However, he still uses props (the candlestick) and becomes emotionally involved, showing he is not as neutral as he claims. Grace notes that only lawyer Kenneth MacKenzie had shown similar faith in her.