Dr. Simon Jordan: The Failed Scientist of Memory in Alias Grace

Overview of Dr. Simon Jordan

Dr. Simon Jordan is a young American physician who arrives in Kingston, Canada West, in 1859 to investigate the case of Grace Marks, a convicted murderess suffering from purported amnesia. As a “doctor of the mind” practicing an early form of psychotherapy, Jordan represents the 19th-century scientific optimism that the human psyche can be systematically explored and healed. Yet his own repressed desires, class anxieties, and emotional fragility make him an unreliable investigator. He is both a sympathetic figure—earnestly trying to unlock Grace’s memories—and a cautionary example of how intellectual ambition can collapse when confronted with the irrationality of desire and the limits of objective knowledge.

Plot Role and Function

Jordan enters the story as an agent of external inquiry. He arranges daily interviews with Grace inside the Governor’s mansion, using objects (dried flowers, a pear, an onion, a potato, a radish) and association-of-ideas techniques to prompt her memory. His presence allows Grace to recount her life story in extended monologues, which form the bulk of the novel. He also serves as a foil to competing truth-seekers: the Spiritualist Mrs. Quennell, the neuro-hypnotist Dr. Jerome DuPont (secretly Jeremiah the peddler), and the hostile Dr. Bannerling. Beyond Grace, Jordan becomes enmeshed in the domestic chaos of his boarding house, first rescuing his landlady Mrs. Humphrey from starvation, then succumbing to a sexual encounter with her—an act of self-destruction that forces him to flee Kingston abruptly. His flight ends any possibility of further scientific inquiry, and the novel’s final letters reveal that Jordan never completed his study.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Scientific ambition: Jordan rebelled against his wealthy mill-owning father by choosing medicine. He dreams of establishing a private asylum but lacks the capital (Chapter 7). His work with Grace is, he admits at first, driven by “high hopes” for “great revelations which would astonish the admiring world” (Chapter 50). This ambition is sincere but also narcissistic.

Emotional detachment and its failure: Jordan trains himself to observe without feeling. Yet he cannot maintain this stance. When Grace describes Mary Whitney’s death, he leaves the interview “deeply disturbed” (Chapter 21). He dreams of being entangled in a woman’s hair, and later of dissecting a female cadaver that becomes Grace (Chapters 17, 42). His attempts at detachment crumble under the pressure of desire and compassion.

Class prejudice and condescension: He views the servant Dora with disgust, imagining her thighs as “boiled sausages” (Chapter 7). He patronizes Mrs. Humphrey, advancing her rent with a “jolly and insincere uncle” voice (Chapter 17). Though he prides himself on being a scientific reformer, he shares the social snobbery of his era.

Indecisiveness: Jordan flirts with Lydia, the Governor’s daughter, and thinks “Possibly he should propose to her,” but he never acts (Chapter 37). He cannot commit to his mother’s marriage schemes or to a radical course of action with Grace.

Chronological Arc in the Novel

1. Arrival and first interviews (Chapters 5, 7, 8): Jordan meets Grace in her locked cell, offering an apple. He is struck by her composure, not the expected hysteric. He begins using objects to prompt memory.

2. Growing entanglement (Chapters 10–21): Jordan socializes with Reverend Verringer, meets Dr. DuPont, and gives a talk on asylum reform. His landlady faints from hunger; he buys food and advances two months’ rent. He begins dreaming about Grace and feeling his scientific detachment eroding.

3. Deepening obsession (Chapters 32–37): Jordan neglects his work, clean a chicken with his scalpel, and discovers Mrs. Humphrey has been stealing his laudanum. He is drawn into a rowing trip with Lydia but remains emotionally absent. He considers allowing DuPont to hypnotize Grace.

4. The hypnotic session and collapse (Chapter 36–42): During the session, Grace apparently channels Mary Whitney’s voice, accusing Jordan of being a “dirty little boy” (inferred from context). Afterward, Jordan has a dream-like sexual encounter with Mrs. Humphrey, mistaking her for Grace. Overcome with guilt, he flees to Europe, leaving a false letter about his mother’s illness.

5. Aftermath (Chapter 50): Jordan writes to his friend Murchie from a Swiss clinic, calling his entire study a “wild goose chase” and admitting he nearly addled his own wits. He never writes the promised letter to the government on Grace’s behalf; she writes to him in vain. His mother intercepts Mrs. Humphrey’s letters, closing off that relationship.

Key Relationships

With Grace Marks

Jordan is both Grace’s confidant and her potential betrayer. She gradually trusts him enough to share intimate details; he, in turn, feels “as if he is drawing on my skin” (Grace’s perspective, Chapter 8). Yet Jordan never advocates for her release. After the hypnotic session, he abandons her without explanation, leaving her to write a confused, hurt letter (Chapter 50). Their relationship illustrates the power imbalance between the male scientist and the female subject.

With Mrs. Humphrey

The landlady is a mirror of Grace: a woman trapped by circumstances, sexually available yet taboo. Jordan rescues her from starvation, then sleeps with her. He then flees, leaving her to face social ruin. His mother’s subsequent letter to Mrs. Humphrey drips with class condescension, revealing how Jordan’s own privilege shields him from consequences.

With Dr. Jerome DuPont

DuPont / Jeremiah is Jordan’s rival and secret superior. He exposes Jordan’s limitations: while Jordan fumbles with association-of-ideas, DuPont uses hypnotism to produce dramatic (if ambiguous) results. Their debate at the Governor’s party (Chapter 11) shows Jordan clinging to orthodox medicine while DuPont embodies a more flexible, secretive approach.

With his mother

Constance Jordan controls her son from a distance. She urges him to abandon his asylum plans for a sewing-machine business (Chapter 6). After he flees, she intercepts Mrs. Humphrey’s letters and writes a patronizing dismissal. Jordan never escapes her influence.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Theme and Symbol Connections

Memory and Storytelling: Jordan believes the mind is a “locked box” (Chapter 16) that he can pick with the right tools. But his failure illustrates that memory is not a stable archive; it is shaped by trauma, performance, and power. His own memories become “troubled dreams” (Chapter 50). Explore memory and storytelling in Alias Grace.

Gender Oppression: Jordan holds institutional power over Grace, but she weaves her own story, controlling what she reveals. He, in turn, is vulnerable to his mother’s authority and Mrs. Humphrey’s advances. The novel shows that even a “scientific” observer is caught in gender hierarchies. Read about gender oppression.

Betrayal and Manipulation: Jordan betrays Grace’s trust by leaving, and betrays his landlady by using her body. He also deceives himself, thinking he can remain objective. Learn about betrayal and manipulation.

Identity and Self-Invention: Jordan’s professional identity is a performance; underneath he is a lonely, conflicted man. Grace’s multiple identities (victim, actress, murderer) force him to question his own self. Discuss identity and self-invention.

Power and Control: Jordan tries to control the narrative, but Grace and DuPont outmaneuver him. His final letter to Murchie admits he was “led only by marsh-lights.” See power and control analysis.

5 Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Simon Jordan offer Grace an apple during their first meeting?
The apple is both a concrete object to establish rapport and a biblical allusion to temptation and knowledge. Grace takes it but does not eat it in front of him, signaling her caution. Jordan later uses other food items (radish, pear) to prompt associative memory.

2. What is the significance of Jordan’s dream about dissecting a female cadaver?
In Chapter 42, he dreams of lifting sheets from an empty operating table, then feeling a hand on his shoulder. The dream reveals his repressed desire for Grace and his anxiety about his own scientific gaze; he cannot separate his observer role from sexual fantasy.

3. How does Jordan’s letter to Edward Murchie reveal his failure?
In the final letter (Chapter 50, January 12, 1860), Jordan calls his study a “wild goose chase,” admits he came close to “adding my own wits,” and says her face floats before him like a “lovely and enigmatic mirage.” This confession shows he gained no objective knowledge and remains haunted.

4. Why does Jordan agree to let Dr. DuPont hypnotize Grace?
Outmaneuvered by the public pressure of the Governor’s circle and his own curiosity, Jordan grudgingly consents, feeling he has no choice. The hypnotic session produces the dramatic “Mary Whitney” voice, but it also undermines Jordan’s authority and leaves him more confused.

5. What happens to the letter Grace writes to Jordan?
Grace sends a letter (December 1859) expressing distress at his sudden departure and hoping he will still write to the government. The novel does not show Jordan receiving or replying; her letter goes unanswered, symbolizing his abandonment of her.

Further Reading

• Book overview
• Ending explained
• Questions and answers