Symbolism in The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

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Symbolism in The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence

A symbol is a literary device used by the author to portray an idea to the reader. In Margaret Laurence's, The Stone Angel, the stone angel is a symbol used to heighten the reader's understanding of the characteristics of Hagar Shipley. First, the stone angel is used to show Hagar's pride in the Currie family name. She prizes the stone angel because it is expensive and imported from Italy to honour a mother Hagar never knew. Similarly, the stone angel is symbolic of Hagar's inability to show emotions; like the angel, Hagar is hard and cold. Lastly, the angel is symbolic of Hagar's blindness, just as the angel; Hagar is doubly blind. The symbolism of the stone angel is first apparent in Hagar's pride in the Currie family name.

The stone angel is symbolic of Hagar's vanity in her surname. Hagar values the angel because it is an emblem of the Currie family. The angel was purchased by Hagar's father to honour her mother, but it appears more to honour their name than anything else. Hagar says, "...in memory of her who relinquished her feeble ghost as I gained my stubborn one, my mother's angel that my father bought to make her bones and proclaim his dynasty, as he fancied, forever and a day...She was not the only angel in the Manawaka cemetery, but she was the first, the largest, and certainly the costliest." (1-2). Hagar takes great pride in her family from this angel. It is a marker of her family's name that will be kept throughout the ages. When the angel has been vandalized, Hagar has John help her push it back into place and clean it off. Hagar, through marrying Bram Shipley has disgraced the Currie name. The angel being vandalized slso fails to honour the fami...

... middle of paper ...

... fact that she never gains a friendship with Lottie. It is not until it is too late that Hagar realizes that she has much in common with Lottie. Like the stone angel, Hagar stares blankly into the faces of those around her and never has an idea of what is truly going on.

A symbol is a concrete object used to heighten a reader's understanding of a character. In Margaret Laurence's, The Stone Angel, the symbol of Hagar's mother's grave marker, a stone angel, is used to illustrate aspects of Hagar's personality. The stone angel is symbolic of Hagar's pride in the Currie name, her inability to show emotions, and her blindness to those around her. Through the use of the stone angel Laurence portrays in Hagar a realistic and interchangeable character.

Bibliography:

Laurence, Margaret. The Stone Angel. Canada: McClelland & Stewart Inc., 1964.

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