76 pages 2 hours read

Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Symbols & Motifs

Quilting/Quilts

Grace sews quilt blocks throughout her sessions with Simon, and she constantly refers to textile and quilt patterns within her narration. Further, each section of the novel begins with a quilt pattern name. Symbolically, the structure of the novel mirrors a quilt: both the characters within the novel and the reader must put together a whole out of separate pieces of cloth. This patchwork method of constructing a narrative, a novel, or the “truth” becomes the central unifying motif in the novel.

Additionally, Atwood has chosen symbolic quilt pattern names for each section of the novel, and indeed many of them mirror the violence or difficult experiences contained in each section: jagged edge, rocky road, broken dishes.

At the end of the novel, Grace is making a Tree of Paradise quilt using fabric symbolizing the most significant events in her life: a scrap from Nancy’s dress, Mary’s petticoat, and her own old prison nightgown. They are all together again. Grace has made peace and weaves these women into the patchwork quilt of her life as part of the whole. In this manner, a quilt is a metaphor for life; each experience becomes a piece of cloth sewn into the pattern.

Related Titles

By Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Backdrop Addresses Cowboy

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Death By Landscape

Margaret Atwood

Teaching Guide + Study Guide

logo

Hag-Seed

Margaret Atwood

Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's The Tempest Retold

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Happy Endings

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Life Before Man

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Rape Fantasies

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Stone Mattress

Margaret Atwood

Plot Summary

logo

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Surfacing

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

The Circle Game

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

The Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

The Heart Goes Last

Margaret Atwood

Study Guide

logo

The Landlady

Margaret Atwood

The Landlady

Margaret Atwood