The stone engel

            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 Marvin's 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. Hagar's 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. Currie's 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 Shipley, against her fathers" 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, her own. 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.