In the novel, The Stone Angel, by Margaret Lawrence, the author constructs the
main character, Hagar, with a deep, unique personality. The journey through Hagar’s life
begins in a cemetery in the summer where the blossoms hanged, the disrespectful wind
blew, and once and a while, the scent of the cowslips would rise. The flowers and
graveyard seem to act as a parallel between the good and bad events of Hagar’s life.
Margaret Lawrence describes the struggles and obstacles this tragic hero has to face
through the mistakes of the past and the problems of the present.
Hagar’s character is very strong because she struggles with emotion with the people around her. We can see this because she tries not to show emotion when her father slaps her hand but didn’t want to let him see her cry. She also refused to hold her dying brother because she didn’t want to show fear and portray her mother, Hagar stated “I can’t, I’m not a bit like her”. Instead of trying to deal with her problems, she runs away from them making her weaker, both physically and mentally. The reader can strongly relate to Hagar’s life problems about aging, marriage, and family disputes because the feelings she expresses are feelings many people experienced. As Hagar escapes her problems, she creates a barrier through her own wall of strength and refuses to let anybody break through it. This barrier represents her free will and the experiences in the past that shapes her current character in the novel.
Hagar’s life is tragic and depressing because of how she was raised and the people she communicated with. Her father was a bad example of a good parent. Deep down, her father most likely wanted Hagar to have a good life, but went too far and did...
... middle of paper ...
...oes Hagar. On her deathbed, she remembers flashbacks of her past and the mistakes she has made, She was too focused on building a strong and proud character when she should have been alive, and open to others.
"I take off my hat - it's hardly suitable for here, anyway, a prim domestic hat sprouting cultivated flowers. Then with considerable care I arrange the jades and copper pieces in my hair. I glance into my purse mirror. The effect is pleasing. They liven up my gray, transform me."
The reader can learn that no matter how far you go or what you do to escape your problems, they will always come back and you will have to face it on your own in order to grow spiritually and mentally. Hagar finally reaches her independence when she accepts Marvin and takes the water into her hands. The tragedy is that when Hagar realizes her mistakes, it’s already too late.
...f Hulga’s attitude towards life and other people. She may be smart, but she has low self-esteem and to make her feel better about herself she treats everyone around her with distain. By acting like this she feels like she has control over her life.
Hulga has been to college for many years, earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy. Coming from such a rural background, she feels that her education raises her status in the intellectual world, and therefore life in general, above anyone not as educated as she is. "You poor baby…it’s just as well you don’t understand"(404). The young woman fails to see that there is much more to life than what you can learn in a book. Due to a heart condition, however, Hulga is forced to remain home on the farm, instead of being in an academic setting where her education would be recognized and encouraged. This attitude that she is above most other people isolates Hulga from everyone around her. Even her mother c...
Under the bluffs that overhung the marsh he came upon thickets of wild roses, with flaming buds, just beginning to open....
...er obligation to her children, and is unable to flee from her problems as she did in the past. The final paragraph is proof of Helga’s inevitable doom. As it would seem throughout Helga’s life, she has struggled to be free of her sexual and racial confusion. Becoming pregnant for the fifth time explains with a bold certainty the title of Larsen’s novel. It seems that the more Helga struggles to be free, the more she sinks herself deeper into the quicksand.
Independence is something most humans strive for, although some are not lucky enough for it to be an option for them. When a person loses their independence they lose the faith in themselves that they are even capable of being independent. Once the right is taken away, a person will become dependent on others, and unable to function as they used to. Most people would sit back and let their right be taken, but not Hagar Shipley. Hagar loses her independence as most do, because of her age. Doris confronts Hagar about an accident she had when she wet the sheets, and Hagar begins to feel the vice slowly closing down on her already tiny slice of independence. Feeling threatened, Hagar snaps, “That’s a lie. I never did any such thing. You’re making it up. I know your ways. Just so you’ll have some reason for putting me away.” (Lawrence 74) As if Hagar wasn’t having a difficult enough time wat...
...ventures on a dangerous journey to mollify some of the regret Amir has inside of him. Thusly he finally gains his courage and stands up for what is just. After thirty-eight years of disappointment and regret, he finally made his father proud.
Ultimately, these underlying antagonists prove to be too much for Helga Crane to endure. It seems that the more she struggles to be free, the more she sinks herself deeper into the quicksand.
An interesting comparison to this quote and the one previously mentioned, “She had snatched their trophy, / Grendel’s bloodied arm […]”, is the mention of hands. This reference shows the readers that Grendel’s mother’s actions were truly out of revenge, as she could have killed anyone, but she specifically killed one of Hrothgar’s closest ‘friends’. At this point in the poem, Grendel’s mother has disrupted whatever sense of stability, peace and happiness the other characters are feeling: “Rest? What is rest? Sorrow has returned” (l. 1322). This quote truly highlights the impact of Grendel’s mother’s revenge on this poem. It is evident that the mood of this poem has completely changed after the attack and that the people of Heorot are no longer in the same state of mind as they were a couple of hours previously. This sudden withdrawal of happiness in the poem is emphasized through the repetition of the word “rest” in Hrothgar’s
O?Connor continues to establish theme through her characterization of Hulga. She describes Hulga as being cynical about the world and the people she knows. The irony here is that she sees these people as being simple ?country people,? she doesn?t see them as they actually are, full of hidden feelings and motivations. She views herself as superior to her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, and her mother?s tenant, Mrs. Freeman. Her opinion of the other characters as less than herself, because of their tendency to see their world through the eyes of southern women, limits Hulga?s interaction with them. She...
...this through her initiative to have Hagar as a surrogate mother, her immediate jealousy, her harsh treatment of Hagar, her selfishness, and her continual dissatisfaction until Hagar and Ishmael were removed from her household once and for all.
To many people stories are just a way to pass time, to escape from reality, that they do not serve any real purpose. However in Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie If there are no stories then many of the characters lives would be changed drastically
While growing up into her late teens and early twenties Higgs led a very troublesome life. Her family tried to raise her as a very down-to-earth and wholesome girl, but somewhere down the line, she veered off-track. She often found herself in bars many hours of the week as well as finding companionship with different men around
Hagar is a maidservant, and therefore is only supposed to be treated like such. This is the impression I received from the book, Abraham and All the Families of the Earth by Gerald Janzen. Janzen opens the commentary expressing, “Male and female are called to help one another. Abraham and Sarai are peer
through the landscape with a cold that ached in the bones. Every blade of grass was held
In “The Stone Angel” by Margaret Laurence Hagar is her own tragic hero. Hagar Shipley unfulfilled life is the result of her tragic flaws. Hagar flaws are that she is filled with pride that overcomes her in a negative way that impacts her relationships. Also, that she is very stubborn and will never show her true emotions, which leaves her life with many missed opportunities. As well as, her insensitivity toward everyone that has come and gone in her life and never willing to change for anything or anyone. Through out the whole novel Hagar most represents the stone angel.