Philosophers once believed that "Wisdom comes through suffering alone." Margaret Laurence shared this same belief when she wrote the story, "To set our House in Order." In the story, Margaret Laurence suggests that a person's path to maturity and awareness comes with conflict and suffering. This is illustrated through Vanessa's sufferings due to the thought of her mother in pain, the pain of possibly losing a child, discovering that her grandmother was not as crucial as Vanessa believed her to be, and all along the effects of the great depression are evident.

It can be hard for a ten year old to see their mother in pain. This is the same to Vanessa who as undergone the hardship of losing her mother. This can be shown in a nightmare Vanessa dreams, when she hears "the sound of [her] mother crying" (252). She also understands the possibility...