In The Stone Angel, Margaret Lawrence portrays a woman attempting to
understanding herself and her life. Hagar is the narrator of the book.
She is ninety, and is trying to avoid an old aged home where her son
Marvin, and MarvinÕs wife Doris want to put her. During this her attempt
to move to Shadow Point and live alone, Hagar remembers the many parts
of her life and her life story is revealed to the reader in that
fashion. Hagar grew up in Manawaka, in the prairies. HagarÕs mother died
while giving birth to her, and her father Jason Currie had a great stone
angel brought from Italy at a great expense for Mrs. CurrieÕs grave.
Hagar had two brothers, Matt and Daniel. Daniel was a lazy boy, and was
very delicate physically. Daniel died at eighteen of pneumonia. Matt
intended to go to university, but Hagar was sent by her father. Matt
married, but never had children, and died of disease without putting up
a fight in his death bed. Hagar eventually goes to university and
returns to marry Brampton Shiptley, against her fathersÕ will. At that
point she loses contact with her father. Hagar eventually regrets
marrying Bram, who often embarrasses her. Hagar and Bram have two boys,
Marvin and John. Hagar never really loves Marvin, and when he moves out,
she moves out with John. She loves him, and does everything for him.
They eventually return to Manawaka when Brampton is dying. At that
point John is in love with Arlene, something Hagar does not understand
nor approve of. John tragically dies while performing a stunt while
drunk. Hagar moves to the coast, buys a house, and ends up living her
last days with Marvin and his wife Doris. Shortly before her death Hagar
realizes many things about herself. First of all that her heart is made
of stone, secondly that she has a lot of pride like her father, and
thirdly that she is blind, or in other words she can only see things
from one perspective...