Within a deceptively simple plot, Atwood manages to address an amazing array of themes. According to the New York University Medical School, which maintains a web site providing commentaries on major works of literature that involve the medical profession, Alias Grace at least touches on the following: Abandonment, Abortion, Acculturation, Adolescence, Catastrophe, Child Abuse, Communication, Death and Dying, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Domestic Violence, Empathy, Family Relationships, Freedom, Grief, History of Medicine, Homicide, Human Worth, Hysteria, Individuality, Institutionalization, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Patient Experience, Physician Experience, Poverty, Power Relations, Pregnancy, Professionalism, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Religion, Sexuality, Society, Suffering, Time, Trauma, and Women's Health.

Of course, there is not enough space in this essay to discuss how Atwood deals with each of these concepts, any of which can lead to important themes, but a glance at the major plot elements of Alias Grace indicates how such a wide range of topics...