Character Analysis Of Grace In Lee Smith's Saving Grace

In Lee Smith’s Saving Grace, we are introduced to a girl named Florida Grace Shepherd. She takes us on her travels through her childhood and adulthood. We see her transform, follow her on her adventures, and are inserted into her relationships. Gracie did not have a normal life at all, and most of this was largely due to her father, because she was used to this kind of preachy, dysfunctional, untrustworthy relationship with men. In an article a psychology professor at Wake Forest University, Dr Linda Nielsen states that, “ When women don’t grow up affirmed and acknowledged by their fathers, they’re like hungry shoppers. They generally make bad choices. If you had a father who’s cold and distant, you don’t know how to relate to men in another
“This boy looked like daddy, I could see it in his face, and in the cocky way he held his head” ( Smith 90). Right off the bat Lamar is a somewhat shady character, which is something that Grace is intrigued by. Not only does Lamar look like her dad, but Virgil is also getting him into their church and hopes that he will get the calling to even take up snakes. “Nobody else I had ever seen looked anything like our daddy, except for Lamar Shepherd” ( Smith 96). Grace not only falls for him because he looks so much like her dad, but also at times acts like more of one than her own father, like when he always gets on to her about how she needs to go to school. Lamar pretty much forces himself on Grace the first time they ever had any sexual contact, much like how Grace's dad forces his religion on all of them and that if it's not his way then it's the highway. Lamar and Virgil are both selfish, distant, and lying characters. It’s not a big surprise to me that she was with someone who is almost exactly like her dad, especially since she’s always had some kind of special feeling for her dad even though she knew that he didn't deserve
Travis is older like Grace's dad and is most definitely the preachiest man, even more so than her dad. God is not the only thing that Travis and Virgil have in common, even Travis would take God’s work into extremes like when after they had sex he would get down and pray so that they would be cleansed, even though they were married. When Grace went into labor, “Travis took this opportunity to go all around the hospital visiting the sick and their families” (Smith 248). In this moment Travis abandons her in her time of need, much like her dad would abandon her time and time again. Gracies dad would take things to the extremes too by holding fires up to his face, praying constantly, or fasting for long unhealthy periods of time. Travis is too busy with the “Lord's work” that he kind of neglects his family, and is a sort of cold and distant father figure that Grace knows and loves. Virgil often gets involved in the “Lord work” as well by always traveling around and leaving his family to fend for themselves while he goes and preaches. We that when Grace is married to Travis, she is still not able to do what she wants. When Grace was offered a job as a teacher, which is what she wanted to do, but ended up not doing it because, “Tavis and his sisters hit the roof”, she goes on to say that, “they called me ungrateful, while Travis just looked sorrowful and said didn’t I have everything in the world I