Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews October 3, 2023 September 26, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
West uses stones and rocks repeatedly in a variety of different contexts, defying simple definition or interpretation. Miss Lonelyhearts states the significance of stone to him when he reasons that man breaks stones "desperately, almost as if they [know] that the stones would someday break them." Violence is linked with the stone as a defense mechanism against nature, but the stone also takes on another natural association—that of cold insensitivity. Miss Lonelyhearts feels himself turning into a "rock" at the end of the novel, remaining emotionally dead even while he makes marriage plans with Betty (though his religious experience snaps him out of his stupor). But the stone also becomes a signifier of false hope: Shrike commands Miss Lonelyhearts to throw his readers their "daily stone" with his digestible advice column. When Miss Lonelyhearts tries to throw the stone that has formed in his stomach, however, he finds no target—perhaps a reminder of the Biblical phrase "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." The most graphic image of a stone occurs when Miss Lonelyhearts does throw one—on the head of the lamb after the botched sacrifice. He does so, however, out of mercy. This episode takes place in his youth, though, and demonstrates how far Miss Lonelyhearts's view of stone has fallen. His gesture may encapsulate all the above negative connotations of the stone—it is certainly violent, it is a way to end feeling, and the stone is thrown—but it is for an act of mercy, not destruction.
The lamb Miss Lonelyhearts sacrifices in his youth is an obvious symbol for Jesus. The Bible makes this symbolic link clear: just as Jesus died for man's sins, so does the unblemished, innocent lamb in a sacrifice. But when Miss Lonelyhearts tries to kill the lamb, the sacrifice goes awry, and the wounded animal escapes. West's implication is clear: religion fails in the modern world, and Miss Lonelyhearts cannot live up to his full Christian potential. Moreover, after the merciful Miss Lonelyhearts finally puts the lamb out of its misery, flies devour the lamb's carcass. The meek and innocent are not only killed these days, West shows in this account—which was originally intended to open the novel—but also brutalized.
Please wait while we process your payment