Symbloism In The Stone Angel
Margaret Laurence’s novel, The Stone Angel is a compelling journey of flashbacks seen through the eyes of Hagar Shipley, a 90 year old woman nearing the end of her life. In the novel, Margaret Laurence, uses the stone angel to effectively symbolize fictional characters.
The term symbolism in its broadest sense means the use of an object to stand for something other than itself. In The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence uses the stone angel to sybmolize the Currie family values and pride and in particular, the pride and cold personality traits of Hagar Shipley. There are three primary areas where the stone angel is used to symbolize characters in the novel. They are: the Currie ...
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is the largest and most expensive memorial in the cemetery. Although the stone angel is intended to be a memorial for Mrs. Currie, it was not really suitable because Hagar describes her as being meek and a feeble ghost. The angel is not intended for Mrs. Currie, but in fact, represents the materialistic and egotistical values that characterizes Jason and later, Hagar. Jason purchases the stone angel in pride and not in grief over the death of this wife: "bought in pride to mark her bones and proclaim his dynasty, as he fancied, forever and a day." (Laurence 3) Jason’s strong ego is emplasized when, at this death, he leaves money to the town for a memorial park that would continue his family name.
The angel is symbolic of Hagar’s pride. Hagar seems to be madeof stone, like the angel. Hagar’s strong pride does not allow her to express her true emotions for fear that she will appear to be soft and weak. As a child, when Jason punishes her, she is determined not ...
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with the strong emotions of others:
"She’s everything in the world to me," Lottie said…"I lost two
before I finally had her… you don’t know -"
And then I did know, and cursed myself for my meanness
before, for thinking myself the only one. (212)
3
In this quote, Hagar realizes that she has been very unappreciative of Lottie and her
feelings. Hagar recognizes that she is only thinking of herself. When their brother Dan is dying and needs comfort, Matt suggests Hagar wear their mother’s shawl to comfort Dan. Hagar’s pride prevents her from doing this:
But all I could think of was that meek woman I’d never seen,
the woman Dan said to ...
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"Symbloism In The Stone Angel." Essayworld.com. October 2, 2006. Accessed December 2, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Symbloism-In-The-Stone-Angel/53319.
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