Page 60 [60]
CANADIAN LANDSCAPES/ PAYSAGES CANADIENS
Dudek views Hagar’s act of peacefully imprinting her finger on nature as
“simultaneous marking and being marked,” signifying Hagar’s growing accep¬
tance of her identity as a part of the surrounding world (250). The moment of
reconciliation with the landscape parallels Hagar’s inner transformation — she
starts to acknowledge, but also to question, her past, her experiences, and the
environment that shaped her. Decorating her hair with dead June bugs further
underscores Hagar’s willingness to embrace the beauty of the natural world
and to be transformed by it. Hagar moves from the Pioneer’s perception of the
landscape as an enemy that must be dominated to understanding that the
natural landscape can enrich her life and be an integral part of her Self and
vice versa.
Hagar’s escape to the wilderness is not just a physical journey but also a
psychological and emotional exploration of her identity and past experiences.
Through Hagar’s story, Laurence challenges the notion of settler supremacy
and emphasizes the importance of embracing diversity and different perspec¬
tives. Hagar’s dual journey through the material world and a landscape of
memories unfolds in the present, with past recollections triggered by details
like colours or scents. These recollections serve as portals to crucial moments
of her life, allowing her to revisit and reconsider her past actions and beliefs,
leading to her eventual reconciliation with her past self. This process resonates
with the concept of “life review”, the term coined by Robert Butler for a natural
process involving the resurgence of past experiences and conflicts to be “sur¬
veyed and reintegrated” (66). Through this introspective journey, Hagar rec¬
onciles with her past mistakes and unresolved conflicts, facilitating personal
transformation even in advanced old age. Amid wilderness, where Hagar
confronts the challenges of nature and her own internal conflicts, her memories
intertwine with the landscape, offering a space for self-discovery and reconcil¬
iation.
ANCESTRAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES
Unlike Hagar in The Stone Angel, who grew up in a pretentious brick house
symbolizing Pioneer pride, Morag Gunn, the protagonist of The Diviners, had
a starkly different childhood. Orphaned and raised by foster parents near the
Manawaka town dump, Morag grapples with feelings of outcast status anda
yearning to connect to her roots. Christie Logan, her foster father, weaves
imaginative tales of mythical ancestors for Morag — Piper Gunn and his wife
Morag, who led their people from Scotland to the new country -, a narrative
steeped in the “legends of dispossessed newcomers [...] wandering people
seeking deliverance in a new land” (Foster Stovel 200). Christie’s storytelling
provides little Morag with a sense of belonging, cultural heritage, and family
mythology, nurturing her desire for a different life. Morag hopes to escape her
« 58 «