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Grace
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Grace, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Morality, Redemption, and the Catholic Church
“Grace” begins with Tom Kernan bleeding at the bottom of a staircase in a bar, having fallen down it during his latest drinking binge. Following this event, three of Mr. Kernan’s friends come together to stage an intervention for him, arranging for the four of them to attend a Catholic retreat where Kernan can make a fresh start. It’s understandable that they would assume the Catholic Church is the answer to Kernan’s problems: in early…
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Catholicism vs. Protestantism
Religion heavily underpins the characters’ motivations in “Grace”—in order to save their friend Tom Kernan from spiraling into alcohol abuse, Jack Power, Martin Cunningham, and Mr. M’Coy decide to take him to a church retreat where he will hopefully find God and reform his ways. However, Christianity in “Grace” is strictly divided into two strains of belief: Catholicism and Protestantism. On a broader scale, the opposition between these two belief systems has brought about…
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Community, Isolation, and Gender
“Grace” begins with Tom Kernan lying bloodied and alone at the bottom of a flight of stairs, having fallen down them during a bout of heavy drinking. Eventually, a kind stranger in a cycling-suit comes to his rescue and helps bring him home, along with Kernan’s friend Jack Power. Beginning from this initial rescue, the story emphasizes the importance of community to support individuals and their particular struggles. However, Mrs. Kernan’s character…
read analysis of Community, Isolation, and Gender
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