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Alias Grace

            In the passage from the novel Alias Grace by Margret Atwood, the author uses many narrative techniques to convey the feelings and thoughts of the main character Grace Mark. Atwood uses a great mixture of metaphors, similes and motifs to describe what is happening to Grace and her point of view through her ordeal. .
             Grace, an obviously troubled girl narrates the passage and though metaphors the reader has a better understanding of her confusion. Throughout the entire piece Atwood uses fantastic metaphors that illustrate vivid mental images. "It's not easy being quiet and good, it's like hanging on the edge of a bridge when you've already fallen over, you don't seem to be moving, just dangling there, and yet it is taking all your strength". This quote is used to portray Grace's feeling of sad desperation and hopelessness.
             Atwood also uses similes to make the reader feel the same emotions and sensations that Grace feels. The sentence, "Huge dark-red flowers all shining and glossy like satin." gives the reader an image of gorgeous, soft peonies in full bloom just before the petals "burst and fall to the ground". Atwood's use of imagery with the peonies prepares the reader to use the connection of Grace's past and present.
             The image of the beautifully bloomed peonies stays with the reader throughout the passage and shows Grace's former connection with society and life before her imprisonment. The motif of the peonies represents Grace's beauty and innocence lost because of her connection with the murder of her friend Nancy. The use of peonies as the continuing motif is critical because most people can picture the beauty of the flower and can use it to compare and visualize what exactly the flower represents. The use of motifs also helps the reader to connect the places and times of Grace's deranged scattered thoughts and emotions.
             The author obviously put a lot of thought and effort into the novel because the imagery is incredible and her narrative techniques convey Grace's unsteady state of mind and obvious delirium.


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