Light

Light comes to represent peace and healing for Grace. After witnessing her mother's "death," Grace feels light driving out the darkness inside her, because the closure she receives allows her to move forward, and let go of the tragedies of her past. The final scene in the novel occurs when Jim takes Grace outside to show her the way the forest looks in the light of the sunrise, and Grace is overcome by its beauty. This is the first time in the novel that Grace is overcome by a positive emotion, and it is the catalyst that causes her to speak her first words since losing her voice: "This life is light" (354). This shows that Grace has healed from her past traumas, and is now able to exist in the present, and appreciate the life she leads now.

Grace's Dream of Blood

Grace's dream of nearly...