Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
Grace observes at one point that "it is more important to be a murderess than the one murdered," because she is still being discussed but Mr Kinnear is fading from memory, even her own. She is self-identifying as a murderess, but I don't get the impression this is a confession, it is more a sort of acceptance of the label she has been given; she is a murderess whether she did the deed or not.
Grace, in herself, seems to have evolved a malleable identity, but something she is aware of: "I could see that she felt some tears were in order, and I shed several." and "It calls for a different arrangement of the face; but I suppose it will become easier in time." Again, it didn't feel to me like these were deceptions as much as they were conscious adaptations she knew she had to make. She still kept her own sense of what was right and wrong, but within that she would consciously adapt to her circumstances.
Self-awareness seems to be one of Grace's particular strengths, and it is this that gives her the advantage over the young and naive Dr Jordan.
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Yes, Grace seems almost disconnected from any spontaneous feelings, but produces what others expect. Given her life, I suppose that is hardly suprising - whether guilty or innocent, she would have had to be detached in order not to be crushed by the conditions and feelings of utter despair.