As a boy, Jamie works running errands for Mr. Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery. Jamie is awkward, shy, and smitten with Grace. He often spends evenings at the Kinnear house playing his flute for Nancy and Grace. At Grace’s trial, Jamie testifies against her; he also points out that Grace is wearing one of Nancy’s dresses, which, according to both Grace and Kenneth MacKenzie, turns public opinion against Grace and directly leads to her guilty sentence. After Grace receives a pardon and is freed from prison, she is sent to live in Ithaca, New York, where she marries Jamie. Grown-up Jamie is fascinated by Grace’s life story and pressures Grace to relive her traumatic experiences by narrating them to him.
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Jamie Walsh Character Timeline in Alias Grace
The timeline below shows where the character Jamie Walsh appears in Alias Grace. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 23
...Mrs. Alderman Parkinson’s). She is introduced to a “shy and awkward” boy of fourteen named Jamie. She then spots Nancy cutting flowers in front of the house; Nancy waves to Grace...
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Chapter 24
...not overheard” Nancy laughing at him like this. Later on the tour, Nancy explains that Jamie Walsh is a neighborhood boy who runs errands for Mr. Kinnear. She also shows Grace...
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Chapter 26
...and grass stains out of one of Nancy’s petticoats. While she is admiring her work, Jamie Walsh comes around the corner; he tells Grace he’ll be running errands in town and...
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...tells Grace that he is just showing off, but Grace is still secretly impressed. Later, Jamie Walsh comes by with his flute and the women sit and listen to him play....
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Chapter 28
...cry, and Nancy shakes and slaps her and pushes her out into the yard. There, Jamie Walsh offers to kill the chicken and Grace gratefully accepts. Nancy comes out and teases...
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Chapter 29
...a man standing near her and screams, but then realizes the man is actually young Jamie Walsh. Jamie asks why Grace is sad, and she replies that she is without friends....
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Chapter 35
...him when he did it.” The next day, Friday, Grace claims “began right as rain.” Jamie Walsh came over to play the flute, and Nancy and Grace sang and drank whisky...
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Chapter 36
Simon tells Grace that, according to Jamie Walsh’s testimony, Grace was standing by the pump at the yard at eight o’clock in...
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Chapter 43
...began on November 3rd. She recalls searching the crowd for Jeremiah, who was not present. Jamie Walsh testified against her, which pained her because she “valued his good opinion of [her],...
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Chapter 52
Grace arrives in Ithaca and comes face to face with Jamie Walsh, who collapses at her feet. The two go to a hotel where Jamie explains...
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Chapter 53
...place I ever used to think of myself as going.” Grace has been married to Jamie for almost a year, and she describes the house they share; she specifies that she...
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...Jordan, since she has “no close woman friend [she] can trust.” She says that sometimes Jamie holds her hand and says, “To think of the sufferings I have caused you.” He...
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Grace adds that Jamie always begins to undress her after she finishes “a few stories of torment and misery,”...
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