Margaret Laurence's novel The Stone Angel is a story which revolves around a

ninety year old protagonist, Hagar Currie Shipley. Hagar lives with her son, Marvin, and

daughter-in-law, Doris, both in their sixties. Because Hagar is now in need of professional

care which Marvin and Doris cannot provide, they have decided to put her in an old age

home. When Hagar learns of this decision, she runs away from them and hides in an

abandoned fish cannery by the sea.

Although Hagar has thought about her life many times before, the time she spends

at Shadow Point gives her the opportunity to do a serious search of her past in order to

discover why her life has been so empty. During this review, she focuses on the events

surrounding her son John's death and discovers, with the help of Murray Lees (someone

she meets at the cannery who shares a similar experiences with Hagar), that she has been

indirectly responsible for her son's death.

Also, while at Shadow Point, Hagar sees many similarities between her and the old

mariner in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. She asks

herself what albatross has she slain for mercy's sake and quotes a line d

degree of the Mariner's greed, he did not enjoy the fact that the albatross was taking the

she associates with the death bark from the poem. Hagar meets Murray Lees at Shadow

to do the thing he asked, but unable to do it,

discovered by the dogs. The dogs do not find Hagar it is Murry F. Lees finds Hagar

the water snakes, feels salvation from the albatross, yet he must forever walk earth telling,

"You're talking just like your father," I said. "The

arrangements, goes back to Manawaka to work for his father and quickly sends word that

Dan, Matt, Bram and even her father had all passed away without a fight and that she

crime, punishment, repentance and salvation.

entire crew die and have each one stare at the Mariner before death. Therefore, the

her from taking pleasure in anything, like her husband's affection.

(SA, p.174)

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3294
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)