Hagar Currie Shipley
Hagar is the narrator of The Stone Angel and the events of the story unfold through her eyes. Hagar is from a small Canadian prairie town called Manawaka; she is the daughter of a wealthy shop owner, Jason Currie. In her old age, Hagar has outlived her husband and her son John. When she discovers that her son Marvin and her daughter-in-law plan to put her into a nursing home, she runs away into the woods.
The titular angel can be seen as a representation of Hagar, her stony rigidity, and her tendency to suppress her emotions as a way to have power over others. Hagar's tragic flaw is pride: she believes herself to be superior to everyone she encounters and isn't afraid to show it. She is often impatient and judgmental with even those trying to help her, such as the nurses or minister, and she often assumes the worst in other people, continually casting herself as the victim. It is only through old age and losing control of her physical abilities that Hagar begins to show an inkling of humility, softening her lifelong coldness and recognizing that life without love is not worth anything.
Bram Shipley
Bram Shipley is the local farmer Hagar marries at the expense of her relationship with her father and brothers, who disown her. Bram is rough, lazy, and ill-mannered, not caring about the upper-class sensibilities that Hagar takes so seriously. Over time, Bram develops a drinking problem, which is aggravated by Hagar's constant biting criticism of him. Bram rarely shows affection to Hagar except in their nightly sexual encounters. He is also a distant and apathetic father, valuing his sons more for how they can help out on the farm than who they are as people. Bram and Hagar eventually part ways and only see each other again when Bram develops some sort of dementia, which develops rapidly and leads to his death. Despite his flaws, the reader can infer Hagar still has a soft spot in her heart for her husband, sometimes talking to him as if he were still alive.
Marvin Shipley
Marvin is the eldest of Hagar's two sons. He is by far the more loyal and patient of the two, even though Hagar inexplicably favors his younger brother John. Marvin becomes a paint salesman and marries a woman named Doris, who is Hagar's sole caregiver. As Marvin and Doris also age, they begin to find it more and more exhausting to care for Hagar. Accordingly, Marvin makes the very difficult decision to move his mother to a nursing home, despite her protests. Marvin is portrayed to be a calm man who sometimes struggles to express his feelings, leading to sudden frustrated outbursts towards his mother or wife.
John Shipley
John is the younger of Hagar's sons. John is Hagar's favorite child and one of the few people in her life whom she holds in high esteem. This is perhaps because she sees in John a resemblance to her father, and puts hope in John that he will take after the intelligence and hardworking ethic of Jason Currie. Hagar brings John with her when she separates from Bram and tries to encourage him to continue with school. However, as a young man, John moves back with his father and soon shows to take after him in his drunken and slovenly habits. John falls in love with a young woman named Arlene, but they both die in a drunken car accident. John rejects the path set before him by Hagar, a reality which Hagar has a hard time accepting in the present day.
Jason Currie
Jason Currie is Hagar's father. A wealthy, self-made man, he has high standards for his children. Jason tries to imprint in his daughter and two sons the same shrewd business ethic that has made him so successful. He prides himself in being an upper-class member of the town and frequently talks down to those whom he deems lower-class. As a single father, he has Auntie Doll do most of the mothering and household work that he is unable to provide—not only because he is busy, but also because he lacks any nurturing sensibility. He disowns his daughter when she insists on going through with what he believes to be a bad marriage. Hagar comes to have the same domineering, controlling attitude that her father displayed. It becomes clear throughout the story that she has partly derived her self-destructive pride from her father.
Lottie Dreiser
Lottie is a former friend and schoolmate of Hagar. For most of her life, Hagar has seen Lottie in a condescending way, judging her for being born out of wedlock. She particularly remembers one time that Lottie brazenly killed mutilated chicks to end their suffering; it is an image that remains with Hagar. Lottie and Hagar's paths cross again in middle-age when their children, Arlene and John, become a couple. After Arlene's death, however, their relationship is broken.
Doris Shipley
Doris is Hagar's daughter-in-law. She is responsible for caring for Hagar, cooking, helping her change her clothes, and taking her to doctor appointments. Yet Hagar regards her as inferior, constantly thinking about how Doris wants her to die so that she can inherit her house. In reality, Doris is a rather kind woman whose patience is tested by Hagar's combined neediness and thanklessness.
Murray Lees
Murray is a stranger who comes to the cannery to sit alone and drink quietly. He and Hagar have a deep conversation in which they both share their life stories and find that they have something in common: they have both lost a son. Murray comforts Hagar when she has a bad dream; in the morning, he fetches Marvin and Doris to save Hagar.
Matt and Dan
Hagar's brothers, Matt and Dan, are described somewhat briefly, both having died at a rather young age from disease. We learn that Dan is a more sickly boy who has a hard time following in his father's footsteps, while Matt is more miserly and reserved. Even Hagar acknowledges that she barely knew her brothers.
Elva Jardine
Elva is a woman Hagar encounters in the public ward of the hospital. At first, Hagar judges her for being scrawny and weak. Yet in the hospital, as Hagar begins to realize her fragility and imminent death, she becomes more humble and opens up to Elva. They discover things they have in common, and Hagar is touched by the old woman's kindness. Their brief connection is perhaps one of the few genuine relationships Hagar has in her whole life.
