Carol Shields-The Stone Diaries

A detailed Summary of Carol Shields-The Stone Diaries

Through the writings of Carol Shields, "one is not only reminded of why literature matters, but also why individual lives, and forces which make up those lives, matter a great deal"(Jacobs). Carol Shields, a woman born and educated in Oak Park, Illinois in 1935, and immigrated to Canada in 1957, has marked herself in history through her award winning novel, The Stone Diaries. Through her style of writing, use of characterization, and use of theme and symbolism, Carol Shields has earned herself the recognition as "the master of the perfect sentence"(Rabinowitz 1996).

One cannot read The Stone Diaries without being struck by the various styles in which it is written. From an autobiographical point of view, Shields has created a character named Daisy Goodwill, who narrates her life story by flipping back and forth between first and third person: "Her gentle diction, her matter-of-fact delivery and almost emotionless tone are reflective of Daisy's life. The presentation style skillfully mirrors the tone and feeling of the text"(AA.B). Through this form of narration, the reader is kept in between the internal and external life of the character. Shields use of narration is amplified by her u

2. Rabinwitz, Sima. Hungry Mind Review, "Carol Shields Interview". February/March 1996. http://www.bookwire.com/hmr/hotp/interviews/96-02/sima.htm

The symbolism, theme, and life of Daisy Goodwill, is well related to the novel The Stone Angel. In The Stone Angel, the symbolism of stone, death, and flowers, are not only used through the similar titles, but the uses of the stone itself. In both novels, the stone was related to death. In The Stone Diaries, a loving husband made a stone monument, in the cemetery, in memory of his wife. In The Stone Angel, there was also a structure that was placed in a cemetery in memory of a wife by a loving husband. Laurence and Shields both created characters with similar qualities, while both basing similar settings of Manitoba, Canada. Hagar Shipley, compared to Daisy Goodwill, was a remarkable woman that, like Daisy Goodwill, loved being in the presence to flowers. Both characters were woman well aware of their bitterness towards life, when Hagar reviewed her life from present to past, and Daisy reviewed her life from past to present. When both characters came to there final mome!

dship and women versus themselves. In The Stone Diaries, Shields uses the character of Daisy Goodwill, to demonstrate the changing roles of women in society throughout the years. Through Carol Shields use of characterization, she "pushes the ideas of autobiography to different levels by the fictional-imaginative reconstruction of the "facts" of human life"(Delese 1995).

3. A.A.B. ĶAudio File, Portland, Maine. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ts/book-reviews/014023313X/102-5748313-3920948

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Approximate Word count = 1105
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels