Theme  

   The importance of storytelling is a major theme in Alias Grace. Grace maintains her power by withholding information in her conversations with Dr. Jordan as a way to communicate her experiences in her best interest. This is the only power she has in this situation because they rely on her detailed account of what happened with Nancy and Mr. Kinnear. During this time, women were more vulnerable to having their stories skewed because of men altering the details to their own interests. This emphasizes the importance of her taking control of the narrative and what information needed to be said to Dr. Jordan.  Through her speech and mannerisms, she represents herself as someone who is stable and innocent, but it also raises question of the reliability of her narration.