The Stone Angel is a good titlefor Laurence's novel not only because of its reference to the angel in Hagar's vision but also to Hagar herself. Although some critics find her an unsympathetic character, she embodies many of the classic prairie virtues of self-reliance and stoicism. She is "stony" in her refusal to yield to the weakness of age and to carry on in difficult circumstances, but she is also angelic in her steadfast adherence to her own code of behaviour, to keeping these running, and to doing what is the great characteristic of stone, enduring.