Stone Angel by margaret Laurence

Hagar , the protagonist of the story , is a lonely , isolated 90 year old woman . Much of her loneliness is her is her doing , however she was in constant battle against all persons she encountered . she is prideful and unwilling to compromise . And she does not acknowledge anyone else 's opinion . She is an old dog ' with a blinding pride , and is very set in her ways

Even as a young girl Hagar was already very adept at hiding her true emotions for the sake of appearing always strong , and she brought this

ability into her old age . As a child , being punished by he father , she wouldn 't let him see me cry , I was so enraged ' You 've got backbone , I 'll give you that (p . 10 ) is what her father finally says , something that she would try to live up to for the rest of her life

Hagar was always concerned with being able to hold up her head in town ' Hagar 's relationship with Lottie Dreiser-Simmons also exemplifies this unwavering pride . As a young girl Hagar considered Lottie her best friend , and they would even walk to school together . But at this time Hagar already had an awareness of her superiority ' her higher social standing compared to Lottie . Lottie was called No-name Lottie (pertaining to her ancestry ) behind her back , and Hagar would laugh with the boys when Lottie was called such . Hagar is very much conscious of what she believes to be her high social status , and she keeps this belief well into old age , even when she experiences poverty The irony is that while Hagar wants to be seen as strong , independent and unaffected by anyone else 's opinion , the very fact that she does makes it obvious that it is all show , that she is very weak in character , dependent and psychologically vulnerable

There was one time in their childhood , when they were together along with some other girls , that they come upon some discarded eggs that had hatched in the heat of the sun in the town dump . The chicks were frail and weak , and sure to die miserably . Hagar refused to touch them with a ten-foot pole ' to which Lottie angrily replied "All right . Don 't then (p . 27 . Lottie proceeded to kill the chicks with a stick , and then with the soles of her patent leather shoes . Everyone else could only gawk and retch

Hagar remembers this occurrence during her scheming with Lottie on separating John and Arlene . However , Lottie , upon being questioned by Hagar about it , says that she does not remember it : Chicks " Lottie said , amused "I don 't remember that at all (p . 213 . It could be that Lottie was lying because she did not want Hagar to have a chance to bring up another aspect of her disreputable ' origins . It could also be that Lottie had truly forgotten because the occurrence was not as significant to Lottie as it was to Hagar . Hagar resented the fact that...