Oldal 63 [63]
THE RESONANCE OF MANAWAKA: LANDSCAPES OF RECONCILIATION
OUTER AND DOMESTIC LANDSCAPES
Margaret Laurence’s literary works consistently explore the symbolism of the
house as a powerful representation of belonging and home. The interplay
between the concepts of “home” and “house” exerts distinct influences on
identity and the sense of belonging, as noted by Mary Douglas, who argues
that “home” is “located in space” and involves bringing that space under con¬
trol, while “house” represents the physical structure (289). Both elements
significantly shape one’s self-perception. Moreover, as Karen Macfarlane sug¬
gests, the recurring motif of the house as a symbol of one’s identity resonates
deeply with Canada’s unsettled relationship with postcolonial tensions (223).
Just as postcolonial narratives are often characterized by binary oppositions
and contrasts, the protagonists’ perception of home within Laurence’s Manawaka
texts also oscillates ambivalently. Whether raised in grand brick houses of
pioneering ancestors or fringing-town shacks, Laurence’s characters experience
a sense of unbelonging and often escape to some kind of real or imaginary
landscape.
In The Stone Angel, Hagar wanders through various houses in her landscape
of memory, each embodying a different stage of her journey. From the impos¬
ing brick house of her childhood, through the worn Shipley place during her
marriage and Mr. Oatley’s house where she worked as a housekeeper, to the
Vancouver house she bought herself, each house contributes to shaping Hagar’s
identity. Her emotional connection to her own house is profound; she sees it
as an embodiment of her identity, as a repository of her experiences, memories,
and personal autonomy. Hagar, both angry and desperate when realizing that
she is losing her house and therefore the anchor to her identity, states: “If 1 am
not somehow contained in [...] this house, something of all change caught and
fixed here, eternal enough for my purposes, then I do not know where I am to
be found at all” (Laurence, The Stone Angel 34). Thus, when faced with the
impending sale of her house, Hagar’s fundamental sense of Self and belonging
is threatened. Unable to face this threat, Hagar flees to the wilderness where
she hopes to preserve her autonomy.
There is another layer of symbolism of the house in The Stone Angel that
underscores the significance of acknowledging history and fostering intergen¬
erational understanding. Hagar bought her house for the money inherited from
Mr. Oatley, her former employer, who made a fortune smuggling Chinese
women into Canada to evade the prohibitive head tax. In the hospital, where
Hagar recovers from her adventure in the wilderness, she encounters Sandra
Wong, a descendant of Chinese immigrants. Hagar suddenly realizes that
Sandra’s grandmother might be one of those women that Mr. Oatley assisted
in bringing to Canada. Hagar thus contemplates that she might “owe [her]
house to [Sandra’s] grandmother’s passage money” (Laurence, The Stone Angel
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