Summary:
Margaret Lawrence's novel The Stone Angel is a tale of Hagar's life. We experience her getting older while looking back at important aspects in her life that shaped what she is today.
The novel "The Stone Angel" by Margaret Lawrence is a tale about everything. As readers we follow Hagar through her journey into death, as she looks back at her life. In Hagar's eyes we see everything, death, sex, irony, joy and despair. Hagar is a very proud woman and she never showed weakness during even the toughest times.
Hagar Shipley is the main character and narrator in this novel. She grew up in an upper-class family, with two brothers, Dan and Matt. Her father, Jason Currie, owned a convenience store. Her mother had died when Hagar was young. The first thing that started to shape Hagar's personality was the event that her mother died when she was giving birth to her. Hagar always blamed herself for this and never once realized that it wasn't her fault. Another incident that shaped Hagar was watching her brother Matt die from the flu. This effected her because it was someone who she was close to and there was nothing she could do to save him, and the one thing she could have done to somewhat help him she refused. Hagar was married at the young age to a man that was 14 years older than her. Her husband was very lazy and improper, he was married once before and has two daughters, and he hangs around half-breeds. She was ashamed of him her whole life, she didn't like to be seen with him at all, she even stopped going to church just so people wouldn't see them together. Hagar's father shaped her personality when she was younger, he always made sure she was looking her best and was using proper manners all the time, that's why when she married Bram it was such a surprise because she was so prim and proper and he was like the town slob. Her father didn't like the fact that they were getting married so he didn't go to the wedding. And to not have her father at her own wedding would have been hard on her. The death of her son John is what finally transformed her into stone. Hagar had two sons, and John was the only one she loved. After John died she developed the attitude that anything she gets close to God takes away from her, so after John died she pushed everyone away, she never let anyone get close to her. Her husband Bram had a huge effect on Hagar. Bram was basically the town slob. She ended up marrying him; I guess it was her way of rebelling. Her marriage to Bram affected her because she couldn't be the prim and proper woman and dress nice like her father had always wanted her to be and that bugged her, she felt like she was doing something wrong all the time. She couldn't dress nice and be the prim and proper woman she wanted to be because Bram couldn't afford to live like that. Bram was also always embarrassing her; it was so bad that it got to the point where she didn't want to be seen with Bram in public so she didn't leave the house a lot. John also had a huge impact on her, he was wild and rebellious and she never understood him, but yet he was the son that she loved. She never cared much for Marvin but she loved John to death, and when John died, it crushed her and she said that was the day she turned to stone.
One of the themes in the novel is, no matter how down you get or if you think you have lost your faith, it's always there when you need it the most. Because Hagar has lost so many people close to her in this novel she loses her faith, she believe God is cruel and he is just playing a game with her life and emotions. She begins to lose faith, one by one as each person close to her dies. She even stops going to church, but that's partly because she is embarrassed of her husband. But at the end when she is sick and in her hospital bed, she is so scared that she is going to die, her faith returns to give her some sense of peace. There are some other themes in the novel, the seven deadly sins. One of the sins is Pride. Through out the whole book Hagar is to proud to show or accept that she needs help, she can't do everything by herself anymore but she still insists of trying because she to proud to show any weakness. The second sin is Envy. Hagar was always envious of the life she used to have before she met Bram. She always wanted that higher-class life she once lived back. She hated living the way she did in the social class she did when she lived with Bram. Another sin is gluttony. Hagar is a glutton because she does not want to go to the nursing home, both Marvin and Doris are also getting older, and do not want to take care of their mother any longer. There are worse things in the world that being waited on in a home, but Hagar is selfish and doesn't think about anyone else. Also she wants to take all of things to the nursing home and she's not willing to give anything up. The fourth sin is Lust. Hagar's initial relationship with Bram was lust, she was attracted to him because he was everything that she wasn't and her father wouldn't approve of him. It was lust because she was crazy about him but never loved him. Hagar also has a lust for smoking. That is one of her favorite things to do. Anger is another sin that Hagar comes into. Throughout the entire story Hagar expresses her anger about everything. Most of her anger is at God because he took everything she loves away from her. The sixth theme is Greed. Hagar is a greedy person; she doesn't want to move into a home because she won't be able to take all her stuff with her. She doesn't want to give it up because she worked so hard to get the things she has, but now she doesn't need everything and needs to let go of her things, and only take what she needs. The last theme and sin is Sloth. Hagar is a sloth because she avoids God. She stopped going to church and she stopped believing in him. The only thing she believes is that he had played a cruel game with her life, and because of all the deaths she has had to experience, she avoids him.
In the novel "The Stone Angel" Margaret Lawrence deals with the issue of social class. In the beginning of the novel Hagar, was part of the higher social class, her family was well respected, she was always dressed beautifully as a little girl, she spoke properly and had very well manners. Her father instilled these values into her, and they stayed with her all her life. But when she married Bram she went from living like a queen to, living like a poor woman. Bram didn't have much for money and he lived like a slob, he whipped snot on his pants and swore in church. He was the complete opposite to Hagar, and Bram's behavior never sat well with Hagar. She always remembers the values that her father taught her and it bugged her that she was living the way she was. And she was ashamed of Bram and the way he lived, and made her live.
The novel shows how our family affects our personalities. In the novel Hagar's personality was formed all because of things that happened with her family. She blamed herself for her mother's death and always felt bad for it. The death of her brother Matt changed the way she acted because she watched him die and there was nothing she could do to help him out and the one thing that she could have done she didn't and I think she regretted not doing it for the rest of her life. Her father was very strict with her and wanted her to be a very respectable little girl, and to always look and act proper in the eyes in the community, when she married Bram she still wanted to look respected in the eyes of the community but because she was married to the town slob it brought her image down and she hated that. Her personality also changed when her father didn't come to his own daughters wedding because he disagreed with whom she was marrying. I think that hurt Hagar a lot and was another thing to add to her becoming a bitter woman. The death of her son John, the son that she actually loved, finished her off making her the bitterest woman, you would ever come across. Because of all these tragedies that happened in her life she began to shut everyone out and keep to herself. She never wanted help and insisted on being left alone and to do everything on her own. She began to feel god was against her playing a cruel game with her life. So she shut everyone out and never got close to anyone because if she did God would take him or her away from her.
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In conclusion, Hagar got her bitter and crabby personality, because she lost everyone that she loved, and she ended up living poor and looked down upon when she was brought up as respected and wealthy. I think anyone would be bitter if everyone you were close to died, and you lived poor when you weren't raised that way. It would be very hard to accept things like that.
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