Grace Clement Quotes

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In March, by Geraldine Brooks, a mixed-race slave named Grace Clement is introduced after a young, aspiring Reverend March visits her manor to sell books and trinkets to women as a peddler. Grace Clement is a complex key character that is a controlling force in March and exhibits a symbol of idealistic freedom to Reverend March during the Civil War. Her complexity is revealed through her tumultous past, and her strong façade that allows her to be virtuous and graceful through hard times. The importance of Grace Clement as a key character in March begins to unravel when March becomes infatuated by her during their first meeting. March is invited to stay in the home Grace works since by the owner, Mr. Clement since they bond over a love of education …show more content…

It is first seen when she convinces March to teach a young slave named Prudence, which is strictly prohibited by Mr. Clement and illegal. Although March fully understands that teaching slaves is not allowed, he tries to take the “heroic” path and do it anyways since it is the right thing under his principles. His idealistic views on life allow him take lofty and over-ambitious actions that ultimately lead to his misery, as shown when he watches Grace get whipped for his wrongdoing. When he meets Grace again after he is married with 4 children 30 years later, he allows himself almost cheat on Marmee to fulfill his desperate need for care. Her strong character stops him from doing so, leading them to only hug, but causes him to be forced out of the military unit and into a plantation where he educates freed slaves. After he is dangerously injured and ends up on the military ship, he meets Grace again as she tends to him and nurses him back to life. While doing so, she yet again catches his attention and love, seen by Marmee. When Marmee leaves and he decides whether to go back to his family, she tells him to pay more attention to real life: his wife, his sick daughter, Beth, and his duty to be reverend with his people in Concord. Grace’s character constantly tempts March, although she always tries to stop him from making rash

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