As I began reading The Stone Angel I didn't think I would be able to enjoy the novel just because it is not really the type of book I would read. But I have found something fascinating about the life of Hagar Shipley, about a ninety year old woman who is looking back over her life near the end of it. Hagar seems very set in her ways and is not about to change her mind when her son Marvin and his wife Doris attempt to put her in a nursing home, she refuses to go and runs away. She is angered that they want her to leave her house and her things just so they can sell them, or so she believes. Doris and Marvin tell her about things she does that she just cannot remember doing so she thinks that they think she is senile, which is funny because she cannot remember the little things but she can relive her past through her memory and tell how her life was. The book takes you from present to past in a second and is well written to do so, it does not confuse you or really leave you lost in the middle of something because it picks right up in the present where you left off. You start to wonder if all older women think like Hagar and worry about the same things and have the same attitudes. Although Hagar does not seem like a very pleasant woman to live although as the reader you can see where she is coming from whereas the people who actually live with her probably cannot see her point of view. A lot of things like the choices Hagar made while she was young do not really make sense but you know she did them for her own reasons, like marrying Bram Shipley, for the life of me I cannot understand how she could marry that man but she did and it cost her the price of her Father. Since Hagar married Bram she never spoke to her Father and he never saw her again or his two grandsons, which was a shame. Hagar always thought her Father would have adored John, her second born. This book will take you on a journey through the life of an old woman and her thoughts and feelings about her life and what has happened as she is living the end of her days.
"The Stone Angel," by Margaret Laurence, is a novel written through the eyes of Hagar, the ninety year old protagonist who battles with a constant fear of being forgotten in her remaining years of life. ... Steven and Tina play a subtle, but powerful role in "The Stone Angel," as their relationship with Hagar are critical to her revelations during her last years of life. ...
The Way The Plot Develops The Meaning Of The Title In The Stone Angel In The Stone Angel, Margaret Lawrence portrays a woman attempting to understanding herself and her life. ... These characteristics and those of the stone angel, which was made of stone, was erected out of pride, and has no eyes, are strikingly similar. ... At this point Hagar realizes that her heart is made of stone, and that she has been hard and has never opened up to anyone, like the stone angel. ... Hagars blindness is comparable to the stone angel because the stone angel never had any eyes ...
The literary purpose of the beginning part of Stone Angel is to provide expository information on the main characters, the setting, and the situation through the use of symbolism. ... The symbols of the stone angel, the cemetery it is in, and the flowers found within allow us to glimpse into the main characters head before she is formally heard or discussed. ... The stone angel stood not as a tribute, but rather as a means for self-advancement in the eyes of the town. ... Just as those who cared not at all about her carved the stone angel in a distant place, so does this woman seem to h...
Can we become angels? ... What is the origin of angels? ... Can we become angels? ... Angels rolled away the stone from the front of the tomb. ... This angel" final words here close the door on angel worship he says, "Worship God." ...
Margaret Laurence's, The Stone Angel is a powerful journey of the life of a 90-year-old woman . ... Angel is a compelling journey seen through the eyes of a woman nearing the end of her life. ... The Stone Angel is an excellent example of the realism and compassion present in all of Margaret Laurence's writing. ...
Hagar Shipley is the metaphorical stone angel of the novel. ... (The Stone Angel, 57) She fears that Marvin and Doris merely want her house and things in the house. ... (The Stone Angel, 242) At this point she became an emotionless, inanimate object. ... (The Stone Angel, 87) Hagar comes to pride herself on her self-restraint and emotionless ness. ... As a result she turns out to be just as hard and unyielding as the stone angel itself. ...
Biblical Archetypes in The Stone Angel In many great novels, the author alludes to religious annotations or other fictional and non-fictional works to increase the overall dramatic effect. ... In The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence's characters refer time again to religious proverbs and Biblical stories. ... Margaret Laurence takes an article out of the Bible about an Egyptian bondwoman named Hagar, and uses her as the archetype for Hagar Shipley in The Stone Angel. ... Taking a look at The Stone Angel, we can see how Margaret Laurence plays skilfully with her symbolism. ... The p...
In The Stone Angel, Margaret Lawrence portrays a woman attempting to understanding herself and her life. ... These characteristics and those of the stone angel, which was made of stone, was erected out of pride, and has no eyes, are strikingly similar. ... At this point Hagar realizes that her heart is made of stone, and that she has been hard and has never opened up to anyone, like the stone angel. ... Hagar's blindness is comparable to the stone angel because the stone angel never had any eyes carved into it. ... These characteristics revealed through out the story describ...
