The Reality Between Men And Women In The Stone Angel By Hagar Shipley

The world today is starkly different from the 20th century. Equality is quickly becoming reality between men and women including those that may not fit into the stereotypical box set by society. The creation of the internet has created a space where we can hide our deep feelings or view content that only furthers our own ideology and beliefs. The book The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence follows a ninety-year-old woman named Hagar Shipley as she reflects on her life. It focuses on how not having a mother can have a ginormous effect on a child’s entire life especially for girls without a role model. She was never taught how to develop and maintain sustainable relationships whether it be friendship or romantic. As a result, Hagar spends most

As a result, she struggled with understanding what it meant to be female and has a hard time connecting with other females later on in her life. This was shown quite early on after one of her brothers, Dan got sick and her other brother, Matt asked Hagar to take the position of her mother by wearing a shawl and Hagar respond with “I can’t, oh Matt, I’m sorry, but I can’t, I can’t. I’m not a bit like her.” (Laurence 25). Here Hagar is admitting that she doesn’t have the skills that mothers usually teach their daughters to be compassionate and look after people close to them. This explains how she acted later in adulthood when she had her own children and lacked the connection to Marvin who tried to constantly reach out to her from asking her for chores to later when he looked after old Hagar. When Hagar’s father suggested she move out east and go to school she was hesitant at first, but then he said to her “There’s no woman here to teach you how to dress and behave like a lady.” (Laurence 42). This makes it clear that her dad was aware of the effects that having no mother role model would have on Hagar’s development. His prediction was quite accurate as Hagar’s actions didn’t fit into the women stereotype which will be discussed in a later paragraph. Reflecting on Hagar’s relationship to her childhood friend, Lottie she proclaimed that “She was a silly girl. Many

Being locked into this cave caused a distorted view of the society around her and those closest to her. This was apparent when she reflected on Regina Weese who was buried in the same cemetery as her mother. Hagar viewed Regina’s death with no sympathy and simply believed that it was her own damn fault; “And yet I always felt she had only herself to blame, for she was a flimsy, gutless creature, bland as egg custard.” (Laurence 4). This shows that whatever Hagar believed that Regina did or did not do before she died made Hagar view her negatively instead of considering the people around Regina that would be impacted by her death. Next, the ignorance of Hagar was probably the most visible between her relationship with John and Marvin as she always viewed John as her pure son instead of Bram’s; “I always thought John took after the Curries… I hadn’t any doubt of it, until he came back here and started living like a hobo.” (Laurence 202). By the end of Hagar’s life, she recognized her ignorance by telling Marvin that “You’ve not been cranky, Marvin. You’ve been good to me, always. A better son than John.” (Laurence 304). Clearly, Hagar was blind to Marvin constantly trying to take care of Hagar when she just saw it as being needy and after her money when in fact Marvin and Doris sacrificed much of their life to keep Hagar safe which she finally