How remiss to have neglected to mention the quilt as the leit-motif in Alias Grace, but it seemed so obvious that I find it hard to believe that a writer such as Atwood would use it to imply any hidden meaning since it is so prevalent throughout the book.
Grace Marks, all the while she is in session with Dr. Jordan, is working on quilting pieces. Some conversation as to the patterns has been mentioned, as each specific design has a name such as Rocky Road, Star of Texas, Snake Fence, etc. Each grouping of chapters is preceded by one of these patterns, and it signifies the period of time in Grace’s life that it is appropriate to, such as Hearts and Gizzards as we enter the scenario of the murders. This book is loaded with quilts, the making of them as was usual in that day as a wedding hope, a gift for a particular event, and so on.
Quilting, and I must add in here that I myself have made five or six of them in my lifetime, along with tablecloths and placemats and other items that were made in the quilted form, was usually pieced together from worn-out clothing cut into geometric forms and then pieced together into these larger bedcovers to make serviceable secondary use of the material. Thus, each quilt held pieces of lives that were patched together into a whole.
While I find the use of the quilting motif to thread the book into a chain of events interesting, I would suspect, as I say, that Atwood had not held it to be any more meaningful than that of its common concept. We are hearing Grace’s story in pieces, patched together for a whole; the quilt held a special place in a woman’s heart at the time because the work was tedious and time consuming (one of my quilts had over 2500 pieces involved–though I cheated by using a sewing machine), but the quilts in Alias Grace are made for the wealthy by the servants; not by the eventual owners themselves. Could be another commentary on the division of social status that is so obvious in this era. Certainly, the servants who wished for quilts for themselves would neither find the time nor the material available to make many quilts for their own use.
More to it than that, I don’t see. Unless of course, I am again overlooking the obvious.
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