Illuminations+and+Quotations

__**Section 1**__ **By: Laura Wiens & Breanna Willms**

(Grace to the reader) **“The reason they want to see me is that I am a celebrated murderess. Or that is what has been written down. When I first saw it I was surprised, because they Celebrated Singer and Celebrated Poetess and Celebrated Spiritualist and Celebrated Actress, but what is there to celebrate about murder All the same, murderess is a strong word to have attached to you. It has a smell to it, that word—musky and oppressive…” (P 22)**

(Grace to the reader)“**I would rather be a murderess than a murder, if those are the only choices.” (P 23)**

(Grace to reader)**“It is shocking how many crimes the Bible contains. The Governor’s wife should cut them all out and paste them into her scrapbook.” (P 27)**


 * “There were many women and ladies there; everyone wanted to stare, they wanted to breathe death in like fine perfume, and when I read of it I thought, If this is a lesson to me, what is it I am supposed to be learning?” (P 28)**

(About women in the asylum) **“One poor Irishwoman had all her family dead, half of them of starving in the great famine and the other half of the cholera on the boat coming over; and she would wander about calling their names… Another woman had killed her child, and it followed her around everywhere, tugging at her skirt, and sometimes she would pick it up and hug and kiss it.. I was afraid of this one” (P 31)**


 * “When I was younger I used to think that if I could hug myself tight enough I could make myself smaller, because there was never enough room for me, at home or anywhere, but if I was smaller, I might fit in.” (P 33)**

(Simon to Grace) **“If you will try to talk…I will try to listen. My interest is purely scientific. It is not only the murders that should concern us. He’s using a kind of voice, kind on the surface but with other desires hidden beneath it” (P 41).**

(About Simon) **“For the widely held view that women are weak-spined and jelly-like by nature, and would slump to the floor like melted cheese if not roped in, he has nothing but contempt. While a medical student, he dissected a good many women—from the laboring classes, naturally—and their spines and musculature were on the average no feebler than those of men, although many suffered from rickets” (P 73)**


 * “Bread cast upon the waters comes back to you tenfold…”** (P 117)


 * “I had forgotten to cut off a lock of her hair to keep, as I should have done…. As soon as the sheet was over face I had the notion that it was really my mother under there, it was some other woman; or that my mother had changed, and if I was to take away the sheet now she would be someone else entirely. It must have been the shock of it that put such things into my head…And then with the icebergs floating around us and the fog rolling in, my poor mother was tipped into the sea” (P 121)**


 * “It is always a mistake to curse back openly at those who are stronger than you unless there is a fence in between.”** (P 130)

__**Section 2**__ **By: Kaitlyn Mullally**

(Grace to Simon) **"At last we reached Toronto, which was where they said the free land could be obtained. The city was not in a good situation, being flat and damp;"** (P 142) I think this quotation is interesting because Grace describes Toronto as flat and damp. And I suppose that the land is still flat but when I think of Toronto, I think of tall buildings and dry air from the pollution. It has changed so much from the time of Grace Marks's life around 1851 to present day, 2011.

(Grace to Simon) **"The people appeared to be very mixed as to the kinds of them, with many Scots and some Irish, and of course the English, and many Americans, and a few French; and Red Indians, although they had no feathers; and some Germans; with skins of all hues, which was very new to me; and you never could tell what sort of speech you were going to hear."** (P 142) This quotation shows that multiculturalism was very new to people who had never visited Toronto before. In present day however, most Canadians are born and raised while being surrounded by multiculturalism.

(Grace to Simon) **"Also his rages had returned, stronger than before my mother died. Already my arms were black and blue, and then one night he threw me against the wall, as he'd sometimes done with my mother, shouting that I was a slut and a whore, and I fainted; and after that I feared that he might someday break my spine, and make a cripple out of me."** (P 148) This quotation is frightening because Grace was younger than I am now (at this time in her story) and had to go through so much abuse from her father. She just lived and dealt with it but I can't even imagine how terrible that would be. She was such a strong girl, and I could never live like that. However, abuse from men was more common back in those days and I'm sure every woman is happy the times have changed.

(Grace to Simon) **"I was glad of it, because in this world you have to take your bits and ends of kindness where you can find them as they do not grow on trees."** (P 149) I like this quotation because it is sad how the world is so broken and sad that Grace says this. She knows that many people in this world are not kind and when you find kind people - which is rare - you have to appreciate them.

(Grace to Simon) **"It is always a mistake to curse back openly at those who are stronger than you unless there is a fence in between."** (P 149) I chose this quotation because it's funny and very simple. Grace says that it is foolish to say something bad to someone who is stronger than you unless there is a fence between you because otherwise they can hurt you.

(Simon's letter to Edward) **"Sooner or later I must set aside my scruples and obey the Biblical command to "be fruitful and multiply.""** (P 150) I think this quotation is interesting because although Simon doesn't have much interest in getting married or having children, he knows that he must eventually be obedient to God and follow the verse in the Bible that says "be fruitful and multiply".

(Simon thinking to himself) **"They hold dreams, like somnambulism, to be a manifestation of the animal life that continues below consciousness out of sight, beyond the reach of the will."** (P 161) This quotation is interesting because Simon thinks that the subconscious parts of our brains cannot be controlled and they are the most dangerous. Somnambulism is sleep-walking/sleep-talking which are sometimes when peoples' true thoughts can be revealed. Their actions and words happen without their control and if observed by others, can reveal things about them.

(Grace to Simon) **"...he was the shape of an apple with two sticks stuck into it for legs."** (P 169) I think this quotation is funny because I can just picture a person like this in my mind and it creates a funny picture for any reader.

(Grace to Simon) **"Mary said I had to wash my hair as well; and though it was true that washing it too much would take all the strength out of your body, and she had known a girl who had faded away and died from too much hair washing, still it needed to be done every three or four months; and she looked at my head, and said at least I did not have any lice, but if any appeared I would need sulphur and turpentine put on, and she had this done once and smelled like rotten eggs for days afterwards."** (P 175) I think this quotation is interesting because once again, so much has changed in the last 160 years. First of all, most girls/women in Canada today would not go even a few days without washing their hair and in those days you had to go three to four months. I can't imagine how gross that would be. Secondly, the way they dealt with lice was by using sulphur and turpentine, which would never be used as a method now.

(Grace to Simon) **"And then he began to curse and swear, and seized me by the arm; but Mary set the stablehands onto him. And he came back at the end of the second month, and I have him a quarter again, and Mary told him he wasn't to come any more. And he called her hard names, and she called him worse, and whistled for the men; and so he was chased off."** (P 181) This quotation shows Mary Whitney's extremely brave and strong character. She is only a girl of 16 and she is brave enough to stand up to Grace's father who is much larger and physically stronger than she is. Also, she is not afraid to call him bad names, I like that Grace says that her father called Mary hard names and Mary called him worse. I admire this quality in Mary Whitney

(Grace to Simon) **"...they were by their nature as useless as a prick on a priest - if you'll excuse me, Sir, but that was how she put it..."** (P 182) Although this quotation is kind of inappropriate, I thought it was really funny. It also shows more of Mary's audacious character. She isn't afraid to say things that would not be considered very lady-like.

(Grace to Simon) **"In the end, she said, we had the better of them, because we washed their dirty linen and therefore we knew a good deal about them; but they did not wash ours and knew nothing about us at all."** (P 183) This quotation shows that the servants could learn a lot about their masters by doing their dirty laundry. They could figure out deep secrets about them but it could not be the other way around. The masters could not find out secrets that way about their servants. That was one thing that any servant had against their masters.

(Grace to Simon) **"...the day could start fair and then could over all of a sudden, and thunder and rain; and the thunderstorms were very violent, with loud cracks of thunder and fiery flashes of lightning, so much that you would think the end of the world was come."** (P 183) I think this quotation is interesting because it is very descriptive and it shows how frightening thunderstorms were for Grace, as she had not experienced many of them before this time in her life. It's also interesting because I love big thunderstorms like this one and I find them exciting.

(Grace to Simon) **"And since that time I have thought, why is it that women have chosen to sew such flags, and then to lay them on the tops of beds? For they make the bed the most noticeable thing in a room. And then I have thought, it's for a warning. Because you may think a bed is a peaceful thing, Sir, and to you it may mean rest and comfort and a good night's sleep. But it isn't so for everyone; and there are many dangerous things that may take place in a bed."** (P 186) This quotation is interesting because Grace reveals another "side" to a bed besides the place where you get rest. Before I read this I always did think of a bed as somewhere you rested and got sleep. However, Grace explains that it is where you are born, where you die, and where you have children. It is really not a very peaceful place after all.

(Grace thinking to herself) **"The air outside in the courtyard was fresh; there was a pink glow in the east, and a pearl grey mist rising from the fields. Somewhere nearby a bird was singing - I thought it was a wren - and farther off there were crows calling. In the early dawn, it is as if everything is beginning anew."** (P 252) I like this quotation because it is very descriptive and it gives the reader a beautiful mental picture of this serene scene. It makes me feel like I want to be in this scene with Grace.

(Grace to Simon) **"I would never kill a spider. Mary Whitney said it would bring bad luck, and she was not the only one to say so. When I found one inside the house I would pick it up on the end of the broom and shake it off outside, but I must have killed some of them by accident, because I got the bad luck anyway."** (P 253) This quotation is interesting because Grace is reasoning how she has gotten a lot of bad luck even though she hasn't tried. It's also interesting that people were superstitious about things like that back then. Nowadays most people would kill any spider they found in their house without thinking about it.

(Grace to Simon) **"...I realized it must be McDermott, step-dancing on the bare boards of the loft. He sounded skilful enough; but why was he dancing all by himself up there, and so early in the morning?"** (P 255) This quotation is kind of funny because McDermott is dancing and I know that he commits murder later in the story. It's funny to think of an angry, disturbed, murderer step-dancing in a loft.

(Nancy to Grace) **"Oh I feel I am scarcely alive in the morning until I've had my cup of tea, she said, and so I poured it out for her."** (P 257) This quotation is kind of foreshadowing Nancy's death and is ironic as well. We know that Nancy is murdered and the fact that she says that she is "scarcely alive" it makes it ironic. Also the fact that Grace gives Nancy tea so that she becomes more "alive" but later in the story I know that Grace takes Nancy's life (or is accused of it).

(Grace to Simon about Mr. Kinnear) **"Then he said what did I think the moral of it was? And I said the moral was, that you should not take baths outside in the garden; and he laughed, and said he thought the moral was that you needed a clever lawyer."** (P 262) This quotation shows that Grace is very witty and that Mr. Kinnear appreciates her personality.

(Grace to Simon) **"And they do say that cleanliness is next to Godliness; and sometimes, when I have seen the pure white clouds billowing in the sky after a rain, I used to think that is was as if the angels themselves were hanging out their washing; for I reasoned that someone must do it, as everything in Heaven must be very clean and fresh."** (P 265) This quotation shows the innocence of simple childhood explanations to things in nature. Grace always thought that rain was from the angels doing their washing because she knew Heaven was a clean place. This is a new way of explaining rain that I've never heard before.

(Grace to Simon) **"I should have replied that my sweetheart was six feet tall and an expert at boxing; but I was too young to know any better, so instead I told the truth."** (P 268) This quotation shows that McDermott was not a man to be trusted and it shows how naive Grace was. It's funny that she thinks she should have lied and said that her sweetheart was a really tough guy so that McDermott would have been threatened.

(Grace to Simon) **"And there we were, in a kind of harmony; and the evening was so beautiful, that it made a pain in my heart, as when you cannot tell whether you are happy or sad; and I thought that if I could have a wish, it would be that nothing would ever change, and we could stay that way forever."** (P 272) This quotation is pleasant because it's showing how at peace Grace was in that moment and all she wanted was to stay there. For her it was one of the best moments in her life.

(Grace to Simon about the fireflies) **"...it flashed slowly, with a cool greenish fire; and I thought, if I could have two fireflies on my ears, for earrings, I would not care at all about Nancy's gold ones."** (P 273) This quotation is neat because it describes the natural beauty of the fireflies overruling the beauty of manmade things like Nancy's gold earrings.

=__Section 3__=

By: Elizabeth Kuenzel
Grace, when speaking to Simon about McDermott: **"If I wanted to put poison into a bowl of porridge, Sir, why would I have needed any help from such as him? I could have done it all by myself, and put some in his own porridge too, into the bargain. It would not take any more strength than adding the spoonful of sugar."**

I chose this quotation because I thought it was a very valid point: Grace would be able to kill her masters with the most ease of anyone in the house, and she would not even need the help of McDermott if it was her desire to do so. This might mean that perhaps Grace was forced to go along with McDermott and was not a willing party to the murders.

Grace, when speaking about McDermott: **"I suppose he wanted to shift the blame, I say slowly. He never did like being put in the wrong. And perhaps he wanted me to keep him company on the journey. The road to death is a lonely highway, and longer than it appears, even when it leads straight down the scaffold, by way of a rope; and its a dark road, with never any shining moon on it, to light your way."**

I found this speech by Grace to be very profound. She has pity on McDermott, and appears to be very wise about what constitutes a human being. She realizes that the overriding need of a person is to have someone with them, and not be alone. She also notes that being sentenced to death is extremely trying and difficult for any one to have to go through.

Lydia, when speaking about Dr Jerome Dupont:**"He has such dark eyes, she said, they burn right into you, as if he could see inside. But I'm not sure if I like him. Of course he's old. He's like Mama and the rest of them, I suppose he goes to the table rappings and seances. I do not believe in him and neither does Dr Jordan."**

I thought that this quotation was interesting because as the reader later discovers, Dr Jerome DuPont is really Jeremiah the Peddler. I thought Lydia accurately described Jeremiah; he seems very mysterious and there is something powerful about him, but as the reader I am unsure what his motives are and whether or not he is truly good.

Grace, when speaking about having to kill a chicken: **"But I could not bear the thought of it, and began to cry; and I am very sorry to say - for it is wrong to speak ill of the dead - that she gave me a shake and a slap, and pushed me out of the kitchen into the courtyard, and [Nancy] told me not to come back without a dead bird, and in a hurry too, as we did not have time to prepare, and Mr Kinnear liked his meals on time."**

This seemed important to me because it shows two things: 1) that Grace was not violent by nature and could not even bear to kill a chicken for supper, and 2) that Grace had many reasons, this one included, to resent Nancy, conscious of it or not.

Grace to Simon**: "...and Colonel Bridgeford said what had Tom Kinnear done with Nancy, was she locked up in a cupboard somewhere with the rest of his Turkish harem; and Captain Boyd said I should look to my fine blue eyes, or Nancy might scratch them out, if old Tom so much as winked at me sideways. It was all in fun, but I still hoped that Nancy had not heard."** This helps to demonstrate the fact that Nancy was very protective of Mr Kinnear, and that anyone could see that she felt threatened by Grace. For this reason, it is easy to assume that she would abuse or mistreat Grace in different ways. It also shows that Grace was aware that Nancy was jealous of her, and did not want to encourage Mr Kinnear to show her affection.

Grace to Simon: **"Nancy and I were not greeted warmly by any as we went out, but rather avoided; although some of the poorer sort nodded; and there were whisperings as we went past..."** This shows that Nancy was an outcast, although Grace is not sure why yet. The reason, she later discovers, is that Nancy and Mr Kinnear are sleeping together out of wedlock. This is also the reason why Grace's last mistress advised her not to take the position at Thomas Kinnear's house in the first place.

Grace to Simon: **"I am sorry to say that after this I lost much of the respect I'd felt for Nancy, as being older, and the mistress of the house; and I let my scorn show, and answered her back more that was wise, and there were arguments between us which came to raised voices, and on her side a slap or two; for she had a quick temper and a flat hand. But I so far remembered my place as not to strike her back; and if I'd held my tongue my ears would have rung less often. So I take some of the blame upon myself."** quotation further shows that Grace and Nancy were not the best friends Grace had hoped they would be, but were in fact beginning to despise eachother. However, it also shows that Nancy was being more abusive of Grace because she was the one in power, and that if Grace fought against Nancy with equal strength she would lose her position.

Grace to Simon about Mr Kinnear: "**And he would tell me I was a good girl and a brisk worker. And once I was lugging a bucket of water up the stairs, for Mr Kinnear's bath which he'd asked to be filled in his dressing room...He wanted to take the bucket from me, amd carry it up himself, and put his hand over mine on the handle. Oh no Sir, said I, I cannot allow it; and he laughed, and said it was up to him what would be allowed or not, for he was master of the house, was he not? Which I had to say yes. And as we were standing thus, close together on the stairs with his hand on mine, Nancy came into the downstairs hall, and saw us; which did nothing to improve her disposition towards me."** I found this quotation to be interesting because it shows that Mr Kinnear is attempting to win Grace over and possibly seduce her, as he is not a very moral man. Because Grace is his servant, she finds it difficult to reject his advances while keeping her job. Meanwhile, she is also caught in the crossfires as Nancy is jealous of Grace and all of the attention she is receiving from Mr Kinnear.

Grace, to Simon about McDermott: **"At these times he would say that he hated all Englishmen and though Kinnear was a lowland Scot it was the same thing, they were all theives and whores, stealers of land, and ground down the poor wherever they went; and both Mr Kinnear and Nancy deserved to be knocked on the head and thrown down into the cellar, and he was the man for the deed.** I thought this quotation was important because it justifies how Grace could hear McDermott threatening to kill people without actually believing that he would cause them harm. Especially considering that he was drunk, and on bad terms with Nancy, it is understandable that Grace could hear these threats and not take them seriously. If I heard a drunk person say they were going to kill someone, it is probable I would assume that they were not a guenuine danger to them.
 * But I thought this was just a way of talking, as he was always a boaster, and saying what great things he would do; and my own father when drunk had often threathened to serve my mother in this way, but had never in fact done so."**

Grace to Simon: **I had been at Mr Kinnear's almost two weeks, but it seemed a good deal longer, for time was hanging heavy on my hands, as it does tend to do, Sir, when a person is not happy."**

I thought this quotation was sad because Grace has lived such a difficult life, with a drunk for a father, the early death of her mother, followed by the death of her only friend. Her entire life has been completely terrible, and even in her new situation where she thought she would have a new friend turned out to be an awful. In addition, after that she is convicted for murder, and has spent the rest of her life so far in prison.

Grace, speaking about her dream: **"Then two arms stole around me from the back, and began caressing me. They were a man's arms; and I could feel the mouth of the same man on my neck and cheek, kissing me ardently, and his** **pressed up against my back; but it was like the game of blind man's bluff, that children play, as I could not tell who it was, nor could I turn and look...And then I felt it was not any of these three, but another man, someone I knew well and had long been familiar with, even as long as my childhood, but had since forgotten; nor was this the first time I'd found myself in this situation with him."**

This quotation is important because it follows with the theme of dreams, and their hidden meanings. In this case the dream is even more significant because not only does it foreshadow the fact that death will soon come upon the house, but it also depicts the skewed relationships that Grace has with McDermott, Jeremiah and Mr Kinnear. Once we realize that there is the possibility that Grace, in fact may not be dreaming, the dream becomes even more significant.

Grace to Simon, after she wakes up from her dream: **"But after I rose - for it was already dawn - I found that the hem of my night dress was wet, and my feet had marks of earth and grass on them..."**

This is the first suggestion that Grace is not in fact dreaming, but in reality sleep walking, although she could not remember what she was doing. This becomes very important when it comes to Grace's innocence or guilt in the murders of Nancy and Mr Kinnear.

__ Section 4 __ By: Rachel Lee and Amanda

Grace to herself, talking about how Dr.Jordan has gone to Toronto: **I hope its not very long, as I have become quite used to him somehow, and fear that when he goes away, as he is bound to do sooner or later, there will be a sad emptiness in my heart (424)**

Grace to herself, she is talking about her time in prison: **Outside, the seasons changed, but all I know of it was the difference in the light that shone through the small barred window, which was too high on the wall for me to see out of it; and the air that would come in, bringing the scents and odors of all I was missing (429)**

Grace: **I prayed to God but got no answer; and I consoled myself by reflecting that this silence of his was just another of his mysterious ways. I tried to think over all of the things I'd done wrong, so I could repent of them; such as choosing the second-best sheet for my mother, and not staying awake when Mary Whitney was dying. (430)**

Grace to Mary (her spirit) on her first night in prison: **Oh Mary, I would say, how I long to be back in our cold bedroom at Mrs. Alderman Parkinson's, with the cracked wash bin and the one chair instead of here in this dark cell, in danger of my life (430).**

Dr. Simon Jordan talking to himself about the gratitude of women: **He's coming to hate the gratitude of women. It is like being fawned on by rabbits, or like being covered with syrup: you can't get it off. It slows you down, and puts you at a disadvantage (436).**

Grace is hoping that she was named after the song "Amazing Grace": **I hope I was named after it. I would like to be found. I would like to see. Or be seen. I wonder if, in the eye of God is amounts to the same things. As it says in the Bible, for now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. If it is face to face, there must be two looking (455/456)**

Mackenzie to Dr. Simon Jordan, talking about Grace's innocence: **"On the contrary," says Mackenzie. He sips at his sherry, wipes his lips daintily, smiles a smile of gentle reminiscence. "No. In my opinion she was guilty as sin." (454)**

Simon thinking to himself about his ideal spouse: **It comes to him that Grace Marks is the only woman he's ever met that he would wish to marry. It's a sudden notion, but once he's had it he turns it over, considering it (466).**

Dr. Simon Jordan thinking to himself about Grace Marks as a person: **Madness, of course; a perverse fantasy, to marry a suspected murderess. But what if he;s met her before the murders? He considers this, rejects it. Before the murders Grace would have been entirely different from the woman he now knows. A young girl, scarcely formed; tepid, bland, and tasteless. A flat landscape (467).**

Grace reveals to Dr. Dupoint, Simon Jordan, and the Governor's family that she did finish off Nancy: **"The kerchief killed her. Hands held it." Says the voice. "She had to die. The wages of sin is death. And this time the gentleman died as well, for once. Share and share alike!" (481)**

Grace also hints to the audience that she is actually possessed by Mary Whitney: **I told you it was //my// kerchief, the one I left to Grace, when I, when I..." She begins to sing again: "Oh no, 'twas the truth in her eye ever dawning, That made me love Mary...'" (482)**

Simon's mother writes Miss Humprey a letter about Dr. Jordan's state after the war: **He does not yet remember her in her proper person, but persists in believing that she is called Grace - an understandable confusion, as Faith is very close to it in concept... (515)**

Janet says to Grace after she has been declared innocent and set free from the Penitentiary: **And then she began to cry, and when I asked her why she was doing that, she said it was because I was to have a happy ending, and it was just like a book; and I wondered what books she'd been reading (534).**

Grace thinks to herself after being released from the Penitentiary: **The sun was shining and every stone of the wall seemed as clear as glass and lighted up like a lamp, it was like passing through the gates of Hell and into Paradise, I do believe the two are closer together than most people think (536).**

Grace to herself as she is travelling to her new home in New York: **On such days I think, This is like Heaven. Although Heaven was not a place I ever used to think of myself as going (543).**

Grace thinks about Jamie Walsh and his behaviour towards Grace: **The more watery I make the soup and the more rancid the cheese, and the worse I make the course talk and proddings of the keepers, the better he likes it. He listens to all of that like a child listening to a fairy tale, as if it is something wonderful, and then he begs me to tell him more (547).**

Grace to herself about her life and the long, hard journey she has been through while making a Tree of Paradise quilt: **One will be white, from the petticoat I still have that was Mary Whitney's; one will be faded yellowish, from the prison nightdress I begged as a keepsake when I left there. And the third will be a pale cottom, a pink and white floral, cut from the dress of Nancy's that she had on the first day I was at Mr. Kinnear's, and that I wore on the ferry to Lewiston, when I was running away. I will embroider around each one of them with red feather stitching, to blend them in as a part of the pattern. And so we will all be together (552).** This illustration shows that because of Mary Whitney's betrayal towards Grace, she was accused of the murder that she did not committ.