The Imagery of the Stone Angel
In her novel, The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence successfully uses the statue of the stone angel to represent the Currie family pride, Hagar's inability to relate and share her emotions, and the blindness and ignorance that results from refusing to consider any other point of view than your own.
The Stone angel is symbolic of the Currie family pride because it does not seem to serve it's purpose, which is to honour Hagar's mother who had died giving birth to her. Hagar describes Mrs. Currie to be a "meek woman" and a "feeble ghost", whereas she describes herself to be "stubborn" and "practical". The statue was bought in Italy and brought to the Manawaka cemetery "at a terrible expense . . . in pride to mark her bones and proclaim his [Mr. Currie's] dynasty, as he fancied, forever and a day" (p. 3). Mr. Currie bought the angel "in pride" rather than in grief for someone he considdered his possesion, his "dynasty". The stone angel is also a symbol of Hagar's pride as she inherrited it from her father. It was this pride that kept her from speaking up and fighting for her brother when Mr. Currie sent her away to college to become "more civilized". She knew Matt deserved to go more than her, but she never stuck up for either him or herself. In an attempt at freedom, or maybe just to spite her father, Hagar married Bram Shipley soon after she came back from school. From day one, Hagar's marriage to Bram was a complete embarrassment to her and her family: "When i'd listen to Bram spinning his cobwebs, then it would turn my stomach most of all, not what he said but that he made himself a laughingstock" (p. 114). Upon hearing about their plans to wed, Hagar's father disowns her. Bram was not a rich man by any means, he drank heavily, always spoke in slang, and caused a scene on a regular basis. Hagar thought she'd be able to change him and coax him out of his wild ways, but when he proved her wrong, she just accepted the fact that she'd have to live with it or lie about it to save face. When applies for a job to get away from Mananawka and her husband, she lies to her boss as to her real relationship with Bram.
Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’ rotates around the notion of our vision as humans being limited, and only being exposed to a certain extent of knowledge within our surroundings. The Allegory of the Cave presented a rare case where prisoners were trapped in a cave for all their lives with hands, neck and feet bound to look at a wall with shadows beings casted by a fire that lies behind them. Once a prisoner breaks free of the binds, his curiosity allows him to follow the light that then exposes him to the real world where he is blinded by the sun. Each of the elements in the allegory are symbols that can be related to modern day situations as metaphors. Though society has evolved drastically, many struggles that we face today resemble the allegory.
The main concept behind Plato’s Allegory of the cave is to show how individuals perceive the world due to factors such as education. Throughout the video, Plato’s main consensus is strictly focused on the changes that an individual experiences after he or she is exposed to the philosophical reasoning behind a situation, rather than mere interpretations. This can be seen in the opening and middle portions of the video. The video starts with all three prisoners being tied up looking in a dark cave, simply seeing shadows and hearing echoes of ongoing events that are happening outside the cave. At this point, all three prisoner are completely naive to to what is happening, and they believe everything that they are told, because they have no reason to doubt the truth behind
The Great Depression can be a tough subject for most people, but still inspiring to others. The Great Depression was a very difficult time for America as well as women. The women of the Great Depression struggled through many trials, as did many others in the United States, but they were able to get through it all. The women of the Great Depression worked their hardest to stay true to themselves, and their family, as well as, to keep a job, a stable household, and for some, a strong marriage.
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.” This maxim applies to the poet Dante Alighieri, writer of The Inferno in the 1300s, because it asserts the need to establish oneself as a contributor to society. Indeed, Dante’s work contributes much to Renaissance Italy as his work is the first of its scope and size to be written in the vernacular. Due to its readability and availability, The Inferno is a nationalistic symbol. With this widespread availability also comes a certain social responsibility; even though Dante’s audience would have been familiar with the religious dogma, he assumes the didactic role of illustrating his own version of Christian justice and emphasizes the need for a personal understanding of divine wisdom and contrapasso, the idea of the perfect punishment for the crime. Dante acts as both author and narrator, completing a physical and spiritual journey into the underworld with Virgil as his guide and mentor. The journey from darkness into light is an allegory full of symbolism, much like that of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which shows a philosopher’s journey towards truth. Therefore, Dante would also agree with the maxim, “Wise men learn by others’ harms; fools scarcely by their own,” because on the road to gaining knowledge and spiritual enlightenment, characters who learn valuable lessons from the misfortunes of others strengthen their own paradigms. Nonetheless, the only true way to gain knowledge is to experience it first hand. Dante’s character finds truth by way of his own personal quest.
“A sensible man will remember that the eyes may be confused in two ways- by a change from light to darkness or from darkness to light; and he will recognize the same thing happens to the soul” (Plato 3). In a literal meaning, the term dark is defined as, “with little or no light,” and the term light is defined as, “the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible” (Dictionary.com). However, when used in a piece of work, such as this one, darkness and light can be associated with an endless amount of meanings. For instance, by using imagery, any author can write a story about one event that’s happening, but have a deeper, more meaningful message that isn’t so straightforward. For example, in both Oedipus the King and “The Allegory
Research projects in down syndrome. (2014). Retrieved January 26, 2014, from Center for Mind and Brain website: http://mindbrain.ucdavis.edu/labs/Rivera/research-areas/down-syndrome
Children with Down Syndrome have distinct physical characteristics. They are short in stature and have a small, round face with a high flattened ...
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is the most comprehensive and far-reaching analogy in his book, The Republic. This blanket analogy covers many of the other images Plato uses as tools through out The Republic to show why justice is good. The Allegory of the Cave, however, is not the easiest image that Plato uses. First, one must understand this analogy and all of it’s hidden intricacies, then one will be able to apply it to the other images Plato uses such as the Divided Line, or Plato’s Forms.
There are always problems in every relationship, in every marriage. With strong communication, acceptance and a love for one another, these challenges can be overcome. In Margaret Laurence's Manawaka Cycle, the characters all have enormous problems in their relationships. In the books The Stone Angel, The Fire-Dwellers, and The Diviners, the characters' marriages all have varying degrees of trouble. However, through hard work and perseverance, the partners survive and grow. Each relationship in these books has two or three problems, that when combined, become daunting. However, the characters' real problem is that they are alone in their marriage. Margaret Laurence states that "men and women suffer equally; the tragedy is not that they suffer, but that they suffer alone."1 These men and women are alone, not communicating nor respecting each other, which leads to personal problems in and in their confidence in themselves and each other.
This rebellion and punishment simply repeat the cycle of the power struggle between God and Mankind that the Old Testament is based on. It is a book of lessons for living a life in a time when societies were still learning how to function. Through the story of Lot, three rules of society are re-stressed. They are to obey authority, be hospitable, and avoid incest.
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance” –George Bernard Shaw. The bodies politic in Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and the Bible, the Commonwealth and Israelites, both have shallow beliefs and believe what they know to be true. The Platonic Prisoner, from Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”, and Moses, from the Book of Exodus in the Bible, both attempt to influence others with their newfound knowledge and wisdom because they feel the obligation to do so.They end up with different overall responses from their body politic as their relationships undergo change. For relationships to function, the bodies politic need to trust each other as well as courage. Relationship also need perseverance to last.
In the classic Canadian novel The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence tells the story of an elderly woman named Hagar Shipley. Hagar may seem like any other stubborn, difficult old woman. But the life and memories of Hagar are what make The Stone Angel a truly provoking and tragic tale. Since the very beginning of her life, Hagar had been raised and surrounded by men.
...sek J. (2009). Language Characteristics in Individuals with Down Syndrome. National Institutes of Health. pp.112-132.
In Plato’s Republic, Socrates argues that for the perfectly just city to be realized in practice, philosopher must become kings and kings must become philosophers. In order to prove his point I will discuss the metaphor of the divided line and the allegory of the cave to explain Socrates’ theory of knowledge. Finally the questions of whether what a person knows make him or her better person? Does it qualify him or her to rule? Will get answered.
Stango, C. (n.d.). A Study of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, His Requiem, and Its Influence on Conducting. Retrieved from https://www.misericordia.edu/honorus/CStangoPaper.cfm