Grace's Tree of Paradise consists of one large tree upon a background of white. The Tree itself is created by a montage of triangles, where the leaves are purple and the fruits are red. But there are three triangles that stand apart from the rest. The first one of them is white and it comes from Mary Whitney's petticoat. Another one comes from Grace's own prison nightdress and is colored a faded yellow. The last triangle, once belonging to Nancy, is decorated with pink and white flowers. In order to complete her Tree, Grace decides to "embroider around each one of them with red feather-stitching" (Atwood, 460). Grace says that she wishes to blend these three very unique pieces into her pattern, "so we will all be together" (Atwood, 460). But why would she want this? Why would she want these three extremely different women to be together?
             One explanation for this could be that all three of these women, Grace, Mary Whitney, and Nancy, all shared the same story. Although Grace says that she "thought that she was well past the time for childbearing," she suspects that she is pregnant (Atwood, 459). But, Grace also makes a very interesting comment when she says that "it is strange to know you carry within yourself either a life or a death, but not to know which one" (Atwood, 459). Why would she say something like this? She may have said this because of Mary Whitney's and Nancy's horrific experiences. Both of these women were pregnant, but neither of them had the opportunity to enjoy the gift of having a child.
             Grace also mentions that there are two different trees in the Bible, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. However, Grace decides to only create one tree, because she believes that the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are one. She even says that "the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Good and Evil wer
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