"The Stone Angel" Essay
The Stone Angel
Margaret Laurence's story of The Stone Angel is about the life Hagar Currie an emotionless, stubborn and proud woman. Margaret Laurence uses this stone angel, originally bought by Hagar's father, to embody the qualities of Hagar. These virtues are often identical to those one assumes are possessed by the stone angel and are paralleled many times by Laurence. Throughout the novel, Hagar relives her life through her memories.
Over the course of the novel, one realizes that Hagar's loneliness and depression are, in fact, brought on by her pride, detached emotions, obstinacy and ignorance which she uses, subconsciously or not, to push those who love her most away. Hagar Currie was incapable of loving others, much like the stone angel which had been so inappropriately bought to mark the death of Mrs. Currie. The statue, however, can also represent the characteristics of Hagar's father, Jason Currie, whom Hagar undoubtedly inherited her personality from. The pride she inherits from her father seems to be the root cause of most of her problems throughout her life.
One of the most dominant themes in The Stone Angel is pride. Pride is a proper sense of own value. Most of the solitude on Hagar's life comes from her firm belief that she is socially better than everyone else, regardless of what obstacles and choices she makes, regardless of how many times she errs, or fails. This trait is inherited from her father as he also believes that he stands, socially, and often financially, above most people in the town. Even the stone angel was bought from Italy to show the wealth and power of Jason Currie. "She was not the only angel in the Manawaka cemetery, but she was the firs, the largest, and certainly the costliest. The others I recall were a lesser breed entirely, petty angels, cherubim with putting stone mouths, one holding aloft a stone heart, another strumming in eternal silence upon a small stone stringless harp " (Page 4) Perhaps it was he who
Margaret Laurence's story of The Stone Angel is about the life Hagar Currie an emotionless, stubborn and proud woman. Margaret Laurence uses this stone angel, originally bought by Hagar's father, to embody the qualities of Hagar. These virtues are often identical to those one assumes are possessed by the stone angel and are paralleled many times by Laurence. Throughout the novel, Hagar relives her life through her memories.
Over the course of the novel, one realizes that Hagar's loneliness and depression are, in fact, brought on by her pride, detached emotions, obstinacy and ignorance which she uses, subconsciously or not, to push those who love her most away. Hagar Currie was incapable of loving others, much like the stone angel which had been so inappropriately bought to mark the death of Mrs. Currie. The statue, however, can also represent the characteristics of Hagar's father, Jason Currie, whom Hagar undoubtedly inherited her personality from. The pride she inherits from her father seems to be the root cause of most of her problems throughout her life.
One of the most dominant themes in The Stone Angel is pride. Pride is a proper sense of own value. Most of the solitude on Hagar's life comes from her firm belief that she is socially better than everyone else, regardless of what obstacles and choices she makes, regardless of how many times she errs, or fails. This trait is inherited from her father as he also believes that he stands, socially, and often financially, above most people in the town. Even the stone angel was bought from Italy to show the wealth and power of Jason Currie. "She was not the only angel in the Manawaka cemetery, but she was the firs, the largest, and certainly the costliest. The others I recall were a lesser breed entirely, petty angels, cherubim with putting stone mouths, one holding aloft a stone heart, another strumming in eternal silence upon a small stone stringless harp " (Page 4) Perhaps it was he who