The Tin Flute Analysis

“La pauvreté est comme un mal qu'on endort en soi et qui ne donne pas trop de douleur, à condition de ne pas trop bouger. On s’y habitue, on finit par ne plus y prendre garde tant qu’on reste avec elle tapie dans l’obscurité; mais qu'on s'avise de la sortir au grand jour, et on s'effraie, on la voit enfin, si sordide qu'on hésite à l'exposer au soleil.

(Ch. XIII)” ― Gabrielle Roy

Throughout her book, The Tin Flute, Gabrielle Roy illustrates the harsh, gritty, yet realistic aspects of urban life with the dilemmas that threatened to overwhelm French Canadians in mid century Montreal.

Canada was just emerging from the economic hardships of the Great Depression and heading straight into the global turmoil that was World War II. As the growing hub of Canadian industrial societies, Montreal quickly became a centre of great diversity. Lifestyles were dependant upon the socio-economic class to which you belonged. In a district comprised mostly of the affluent Anglophone bankers and industrialists, we see how they shaped the socio-economic system that oppressed Quebec’s working classes. Men’s and women’s experiences in their daily routines during the mid twentieth century in Montreal were very different from one another. They were often defined by not only gender, but urban structures and processes. The divide between Francophones and Anglophones shaped the development and planning of the city, as well as several provincial policies. Ethnic and racial tensions often dictated the types of jobs that people were permitted to hold, the places they could go and their participation in various activities. Through use of the stark contrast between the poor, decaying environment of Montreal’s French Canadian slum, St. Henri, and the orderly, m...

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... The city was still developing, the entire country was still young and Canada had not yet established itself as we know it in this present century. Women were oppressed - all across the country and particularly in Quebec. It was not until 1940 that they were given the right to vote. Even then, they were forced to deal with a heavily male dominated, patriarchal society. The parameters of where they went, what they could do, who they were, even what jobs they could hold, were all regulated through socially constructed notions of gender, class and race.

The Tin Flute is especially important for French Canadian history. Roy takes a much different approach to her presentation of city life than did most other authors. Unlike some, she portrayed Montreal exactly as it was during these time periods…desiring sophistication, but actually quite rough around the edges.