The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence is a heart-warming story of a
             ninety year old woman who is nearing death and who has very little to look
             back on with pride. Her life had been ruled by her concern of outward
             appearances and manners. Although she often felt love and happiness, she
             refused to show it fearing it may be viewed by others as a weakness. Hagar
             inherited this strong pride from her father, Jason Currie, along with other
             poor qualities. Throughout her life, Hagar is desperately trying to escape.
             First, she tries to escape from her family, mostly her father, but in so
             doing she also cuts herself off from her brother, Matt. She also ends up
             leaving her husband, Brampton. Secondly, Hagar tries to escape from her
             own poor qualities to which she is captive; attempting to fill the
             emptiness within her. Finally and futilely, she tries to escape death. All
             of these attempts fail dismally. Throughout the narration of the novel many
             images are put forth repetitiously to aid the development of Hagar's
             character and the main themes. The Stone Angel is a very effective story
             due largely to the biblical, water, and flower imagery.
             The biblical imagery is very strong and can be found numerous times
             throughout the novel. The name of the main character, Hagar, is also the
             name of a hand maid in a biblical story. Many parallels are made between
             Margaret Laurence's Hagar and the biblical Hagar. The Hagar in the bible
             was to conceive a son with the husband of her owner, Sarah, who, herself,
             was unable to conceive. Hagar did bear a son but Sarah became very jealous
             of Hagar and had her thrown out into the wilderness. Hagar's son was born
             and they both returned to the place where Sarah and her husband, Abraham
             (Laurence's husband to Hagar was named Brampton to echo Abraham), lived.
             Hagar and her son were cast into the wilderness once again when Sarah bore
             a son of her own and Hag...