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dear sake,
Nancy Montgomery."
The fact that she is portrayed as asking him outright emphasises the point that she is cold and brutal.

Before each section of the novel there are a number of epigraphs, to show a little about that section of the novel, cryptically. They vary from poems, letters, and essays, to quotes from books, haikus and newspaper clippings. They are there to give the reader an idea of what the section is about, in terms of themes, character, and sometimes narrative. A strong example of this is in the first section, and shows the ambiguity of Grace as a character. It is a haiku by Bash which gives the reader an idea as to what they may see in the first section. The haiku is;

"Come, see
Real flowers
Of this painful world."
Atwood uses it because it is ambiguous towards Grace's character. She could be using the haiku to show that Grace is an innocent victim of her past, and that she may be a murderess, but she is only this way because of the way society and her past have shaped her. She could also be saying that Grace has done it, but because she has stood up for herself and not let people walk all over her, she is something rare, something to treasure.

Grace's character is also portrayed through the way that the Governor's wife, her daughters and her friends discuss her, as well as the many reports that had been given of her in the Governor's wife's scrapbook.
We are told of how the Governor's wife sees Grace through Grace's narrative. According to Grace, the Governor's wife likes to make the most of "her social position and accomplishments" and that Grace is one of those accomplishments, working as a maid during the day for the Governor's wife and her daughters. She says that Grace is "a wonderful seamstress, quite deft and accomplished," and that "under happier circumstances she could have made an excellent milliner's assistant." She also says there is another side to Grace, a more insane side to her, a side which even she is afraid of;

"sometimes she talks to herself and
sings out loud in a most peculiar manner."

"The keepers conduct her back in the evenings and
lock her up properly, otherwise I wouldn't sleep a wink."

Despite the fact that the Governor's wife lets her work during the day, she doesn't trust Grace enough to let her live like a maid, in her home.

The Governor's wife's friends see Grace as an object of fear. They say that the Governor's wife must have "nerves of iron" to allow "that woman" to walk around the house, and that their own could

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