Stone Angel Questions
Chapter 1
1. Explain the significance of the Stone Angel.
2. What were Hagar’s feelings as a child like towards her dead mother?
Chapter 2
1. Where did Hagar’s father send her to go to school? Why send Hagar and not Matt?
2. What did Hagar want to do when she got back from school? Why did her father not want
her to?
Chapter 3
1. Bram was crazy about horses (83). How did Hagar feel about them and what did she say
to cover up her feelings?
2. How did Hagar feel when she was pregnant with Marvin? Could this be another reason
why she doesn’t feel a connection with her son? Explain.
Chapter 4
1. What is the significance of the barium? How did Hagar describe the flavor?
2. Marvin would stand in the kitchen threshold (113). What was he waiting for and why
this the important?
Chapter 5
1. Hagar told Bram that she was leaving him. He told her to take “hard boiled eggs” with
her (141). What was Hagar’s reaction to this? Why is this important?
2. What did Hagar do when she heard John and a girl outside in the middle of the night?
Chapter 6
1. Why did John take care of Bram?
2. Give an example of how John acts just like Bram when he was young (174).
Chapter 7
1. What does Hagar mean when she says, “water water everywhere nor any drop to drink”
(186)?
2. Why did Hagar go to Jess’ house? What did she give her (193)?
Chapter 8
1. A sea gull flew into the shack that Hagar was hiding in. She said “A bird in the house
means a death in the house” (217). Why is this important and who is the victim?
2. Why does Hagar say, “I hope you’ll excuse my appearance” (220)?
Chapter 9
1. What does Hagar ask Marvin to tell Doris to bring her (263)? Why does she want them?
2. Name a few examples why Hagar doesn’t like the hospital at this point.
Chapter 10
1. How did Hagar describe the young nurse that took care of her (283) and why is she
important?
2. Hagar always seemed to put up a fight and was a very strong lady. How old was Hagar
when she died? How did she die? What is the significance of her death?
Answers
Chapter 1
1. The Stone Angel is a symbol of Hagar’s mother at the first of the novel because it was the
biggest headstone in the graveyard in Manawaka. The Stone Angel now represents Hagar
because of how old it is getting and how old Hagar looks.
2. Hagar thought her mother must have been weak because she didn’t fight through the birth
of Hagar, she just let go.
Chapter 2
1. Hagar’s father sent her to school out west for 2 years. He sent Hagar and not Matt
because she was smarter and had the brains to do it. Jason was very proud of Hagar but
would have done better had she been a boy.
2. When Hagar got back from school she told her father she wanted to be a teacher. Her
father did not approve of this because he wanted her to stay and help him with his
business and his home.
Chapter 3
1. Hagar was actually afraid of horses because they were big and strong and muscular. She
said that they stunk to cover her feelings.
2. Hagar said that she always felt cold and cheerless when she was pregnant with Marvin. I
think this another reason why she doesn’t connect with Marvin because she wasn’t even
happy with him when she was pregnant let alone when he was born.
Chapter 4
1. The barium is used for x-rays. You have to drink it to help show the organs in an x-ray.
A doctor told Hagar that it was going to taste like a milkshake but Hagar described it as
chalky oil and she gagged on it.
2. Marvin you wait for his mother to tell him to come in from outside. He was always
waiting for his mother attention and approval. He only ever wanted Hagar to proud of
him like she was with John.
Chapter 5
1. Hagar’s reaction was she didn’t want to look like a hick and she was surprised that that
was all Bram had to say. It’s important because it shows that Bram wasn’t surprised but
you could tell that he still cared for Hagar but he knew he couldn’t stop her from leaving.
2. Hagar thought that it was a prowler so she went to go see and didn’t turn the lights on.
She heard John and a girl and didn’t feel comfortable but didn’t say anything the next
morning. She just let it go.
Chapter 6
1. John took care of Bram because he cared very much about his father and he was very ill.
It also gave John a place to live and Bram company.
2. John acts just like his father because he was talking of a girl he thought was good
looking. Hagar asked if he liked her and he said “Are you kidding? I’d lay her if I got the
chance, that’s all.”
Chapter 7
1. Hagar means that there is lot of water but it is all sea water that has salt in it so she can’t
drink it.
2. Hagar went to Jess’ house to give her a box that was her mother’s. The box said “No
Cross No Crown” and had jewelry in it.
Chapter 8
1. This is important because it gives the clue that someone else is going to die, that person is
Hagar.
2. Hagar says that because she is hiding and has bugs in her hair and it’s messy and she
looks really bad and normally she keeps herself clean and tidy. This is not a big deal
because she is with a stranger and strangers usually don’t judge.
Chapter 9
1. Hagar asks for two nightgowns, a bun for her hair, hairnets, and some hairpins. She
wants them at the hospital so she can be more comfortable because hospital gown is “like
sackcloth, and so heavy, and they itch.”
2. She doesn’t like the hospital because there are so many people and it’s loud. She can’t
sleep and there is no privacy.
Chapter 10
1. Hagar described the young nurse as “a concave stomach, and her breasts are no bigger
than two damson plums…her hips are so narrow.” She is important because she one of
the first people Hagar opens up to at the hospital.
2. Hagar was 90 years old when she died. She died drinking a glass of water. The
significance of this is she always put up a fight and died fighting to take a drink of water
on her own. She came into this world fighting and she left it fighting.