Grace Wheeler

Grace Wheeler is the daughter of William Wheeler and Gretta Wheeler, separated from her parents while staying with Gretta’s parents. The story presents her chiefly through the adults’ conflicting accounts: William makes her part of his hope for a restored family, while Gretta describes her and their dead daughter Agnes as people William believes belong to him. Grace’s absence from the exchange leaves her own perspective unspoken, even as the adults’ choices turn on her future.

Identity and Family

William’s plea to Apollo Kagwa establishes Grace as his daughter and as part of the family he wants back. He asks Apollo to speak to Gretta, explain that he no longer blames her for Agnes’s death, and convey his wish for Gretta and Grace to return home. His appeal is bound up with grief for Agnes, whom he says he has not named aloud in almost a year, and with his longing for what remains of his family to be whole again.

Gretta’s account places Grace with Gretta’s parents when Apollo arrives with news that William is there. The scene thus makes clear that Grace is not with either parent at that moment, without specifying a formal custody arrangement or explaining how long she has been staying there. Her whereabouts mark the practical separation within a family William hopes to reunite.

Separation and the Attempted Return

William asks Apollo to carry his message because he believes Gretta will not be allowed to see him while he is still in a condition to speak. He presents the meeting as his only remaining chance: if Gretta forgives him, he thinks, he might be allowed to go free. Grace is part of the homecoming he imagines, but William’s immediate request is directed to Gretta; the evidence does not show Grace receiving his message or responding to it.

Gretta’s response to Apollo frames William’s return very differently. She says that he repeatedly finds his way back into her life and believes that she, Grace, and Agnes are his. When she names Agnes, she whispers the girl’s name. The contrast is sharp: William describes a family he wants restored through mutual forgiveness, while Gretta describes a claim on her family that persists despite their separation.

Narrative Significance

Grace’s role in these scenes is conveyed through her absence and through the adults’ competing accounts of family. William invokes her as part of the life he wants to recover; Gretta includes her in a pattern of possession she fears will continue. Because Grace is not given dialogue or an independent action here, the story does not establish what she thinks about her father or about returning home. Instead, her location with her maternal grandparents and the opposing meanings William and Gretta attach to her make the unresolved family conflict concrete.