At the conclusion of Part X, while hovering between waking and sleeping states, Grace has a vision that she understands as a sign of her possible innocence. Grace’s vision superimposes two images. The first involves waves on a lake resolving back into a smooth and undisturbed surface. The second involves Grace’s footsteps, which disappear behind her as she walks. Both images contribute to a sense of self-erasure—that is, a feeling that all signs of Grace are fading, as if she never existed at all. As her mind fades from consciousness toward sleep, Grace conflates these images of self-erasure with a notion of innocence: “It is almost the same as being innocent.” On one hand, Grace’s mind may be working to convince her of her own innocence. On the other hand, her conclusion has a mark of hesitation. The images of self-erasure don’t confirm her innocence, they only simulate it: it is almost the same as being innocent, but not quite. Seen from this perspective, Grace’s double vision may actually confirm her guilt.

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