Alex Lotti

“I said, What do you want here, but he did not answer, he just kept on being silver, so I went out to milk the cow; because the only thing to do about God is to go on with what you were doing anyway, since you can’t ever stop him or get any reasons out of him. There is a Do this or a Do that with God, but not any Because.”

So far throughout Alias Grace, Marks has shown she possesses the fearful respect of God expected of Christians. This quote stood out to me because here she speaks of God almost testily, as if she is instead referring to a bossy child. On multiple occasions she assures herself that everything will work itself out because it is the best thing one can do when powerless, but this is a weak faith, one that is resigned rather than active. Marks often mentions God, and the more she does the more her devout persona peels back to reveal a woman who is less than impressed with his work. Here she describes frustrations similar to those the servants of the novel have of their masters, the afflicted have of their doctors, and the women have of the men. As Marks recounts the downward spiral that was her life, she increasingly sees God like all the other men who had their way with her just because she was powerless to resist their unwelcome advances.