Margaret Atwood Novels - Two Fruits of the Same TreeComparative Essays of The Robber Bride and Alias Grace
... the war, physical abuse from her mother, and foremost sexual abuse inflicted by her uncle Vern drove her to develop what could be called dual identities. Karen was a flower-child who took a lot of comfort in her spirituality. The way she recounted her life with warm ethereal diction was a distant persona from her cold inactive persona when speaking to other characters. Subsequent to her Uncle Vern’s molestation, the theme of the divided self comes into play in this quote, When she feels those things she has to seal them off. She has to or else she will be destroyed. She splits herself in two and stays with the cooler part, the clearer part of herself. She has a name for this part now: she is Charis. Karen was gone” (336). This pivotal point where Karen changes her name to Charis echoes the same need Grace experiences when developing a separate personality. Both characters reason they have to amend their whole identity by creating a new one to retract the identities that were vulnerable to pain. In this case her change was a means to disassociate with her internal demons. As a result of Charis dual identity, she attempts to think idealistically. But her idealism evolved into naivety. Discarding her cold rational personality cost her when discovering her boyfriend Billy’s abduction impairing her severely. The trials Grace and Charis endure to change their being and the tribulations both characters experienced as a result of that is a clear indication that both novels share similar themes. Another topic encompassing both texts is the theme of jealousy. The fundamental truth is situated from one’s carnal desires. The main message drawn from this theme simply articulates that acting on jealous impulses leads to dire consequences. In Alias Grace, housekeeper and prisoner Grace Marks straggled through life with little material wealth to call her own. Throughout her days in the Kinnear estate she develops a fondness for Master Thomas Kinnear. Upon detecting the unmistakable romantic connection between Mr. Kinnear and rival housekeeper Nancy Montgomery, she begins harbouring feeling of spite towards her. Soon Nancy’s jewellery and clothing becomes a symbol of greed for Grace. It then becomes a reoccurring matter for Grace, now often jealous of Nancy’s material possessions exemplified in this quote, “She had on a very handsome pair of earrings, which I could tell were real gold, and I wondered how she could afford them on the salary of a housekeeper.” (pg. 246). This fixation is testimony of how acting on desire lead to bad things. Soon after this festering jealousy eventually develops into taking a part in a well planned murder. After taking the life of Nancy, jealousy took her a step further when she wore the sought after dress Nancy had once worn. Consequently that very same dress claims her capture when the authorities notice she is a wearing a dead woman’s dress. In the grander scheme of things her jealousy brought her a life of labour and isolated incarceration. Likewise in The Robber Bride, envy ensnares another victim in the form of character Roz. Although very practical, intelligent, effusive, as well as being an extremely rich and efficient businesswoman, she is for the most part insecure. Carrying a hefty physique, she dresses with a lot of care, puts on a lot of make-up and dyes her hair often. Very envious of former friend and present foe Zenia, Roz rests her solace on the materialism of clothing and make-up. This is why Roz always surveys Zenia‘s good looks with envy when walking in a room. Before long the expensive clothing and make-up she purchases becomes a symbol for her longing to look like Zenia. With spite Roz unwittingly criticizes Zenia’s lifestyle by reason of her being highly attractive. Criticisms grow more frigid as time progresses calling Zenia a selfless whore, which subsequently hurts Roz in the end. Her vilifications instigate irreparable damage when Zenia fights back and seduces her husband. As a result Roz becomes chronically depressed attributing her physical deficiencies to rationale her husband’s infidelity. In the end both characters from Alias Grace and The Robber Bride lose a piece of their existence all at the hands of jealousy. Grace loses her freedom and Roz loses her only love. Bearing in mind the similarities concerning both novels’ portrayal of jealousy, the characters in use make it evident that Alias Grace and The Robber Bride share comparable themes. Finally Atwood’s take on the theme of villainy can be largely seen in both novels. The underlying truth of this theme is taken from the idea that wicked actions are irrational and evasive of the facts of reality. Accordingly the message produced is that villains are incapable of generating or prospering on their own when left to their own irrational devices. In the novel Alias Grace, Grace Marks was a villainess with little bearing on the laws and facts of reality. Through Atwood’s writing style can the audience witness Grace’s inability to stay adhered to the real world. When daydreaming at a frequent rate she used many ethereal metaphors such as sheets rejoicing like headless angels which illustrated her irrational thinking. Being only 16 at the time of her murder, she was naïve and unwilling to look past the crime and into the consequences. Her lust for Mr. Kinnear was too much and by acting on her own rules, her butchery of Nancy Montgome...