Alias Grace Literary Essay: The Consequence of Childhood

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Childhood is often perceived as a period of innocence and purity. However, it is also the period of time where a person’s fundamental character is established, which can be easily affected by the conditions of the child’s environment. Alias Grace, a novel by Margaret Atwood, contains many themes centered on the concept of childhood and the influence of a person’s past. The book features a famous convicted murderess, Grace Marks, and a doctor, Simon Jordan, who interviews her at the Kingston Penitentiary where she is held in order to find the truth behind her convicted crime. In the novel, the relationship between Grace and her family contributes the most to her character development throughout her life. Grace’s family influence causes her to develop independence, protective characteristics, and murderous thoughts which all influence her actions later in life. The conditions of her childhood are essential factors and contributors to Grace’s individuality.
Grace’s many siblings and weak-willed mother caused the need for her to develop strong independence in order for her survival. She is born in a poor family of many siblings with a submissive mother and an abusive father. Grace is the oldest among her many siblings, that remain in the house and within contact, which resulted in her having many responsibilities. Dr. Jordan would often hold conversation sessions with Grace in order to find out her connection to the murder of her employer and the head servant of the house. Their talks mainly consist of Grace retelling her life. During one of Grace’s flash backs, she remembers: “This was when our father began to tell me that I was almost a grown woman […], it was time I went out into the world to earn my own bread, […]”(Atwood 146). At...

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... early age, Grace is forced to become independent to care for herself and her family. She is the main support for the family, and therefore develops motherly and protective characteristics which are also evident in her later relationships in life. The formation of murderous emotions in Grace as a survival mechanism also occurs during childhood and continues to plague Grace’s thoughts as she grows older. Alias Grace makes it obvious that early childhood is a vital period of time for an individual’s development. This period of time can drastically change a person’s character as people are easily influence at younger ages. Therefore, instead of treating children as inexperienced and unknowledgeable beings, they should be regarded as easily moldable blank slates with unlimited adaptability.

Works Cited

Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace. New York, NY: Anchor, 1997. Print.

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