The narrative account of Grace's background and
upbringing, which she herself supplies, always keeps the presence of Irish immigration
at the fore of the reader's mind. Historically, the facts of this Irish immigration are
truly shocking. By 1867, for example, almost a quarter of the entire population of
Canada was Irish, and these immigrants were transported over to Canada in appalling
conditions. The majority did not know about the length of the journey and they were not
told that they would have to provide their own food, resulting in many dying on the way
to Canada and all Irish immigrants arriving malnourished. So many people died that these
ships were referred to as Coffin Boats. Once they arrived in Canada, all new immigrants
had to be kept in quarantine in poor conditions, and this meant disease was rife in such
locations. The treatment of Grace and the question of her guilt or otherwise is
explicitly related to how the Irish were treated in the following
quote:
He is
talking to people in Toronto, trying to find out if I am guilty; but he won't find it
out that way. He doesn't understand yet that guilt comes to you not from the things
you've done, but from the things that others have done to
you.
Grace here talks about
the difficulties in discerning whether somebody is guilty or not. For her, guilt is not
a result of the actions you have committed, but it is something that comes from how you
have been treated in the past. Grace's actions therefore are linked to the situation
facing Irish immigrants in Canada, which is why so much of the narrative occupies
Grace's own background and story. For Atwood, Grace's actions in Canada and her own
identity as an Irish immigrant are indivisible. This certainly heightens the reader's
sympathy towards Grace Marks.
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