Limitations of Upward Social Mobility in the Tin Flute and Canada
Stuck in the Slums:
Examining the Causes, Options, and Limitations of Upward Social Mobility for Women in Canadian Society pre World War II
Colin May
ENG 222
March 17, 2011
University of British Columbia
Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute (originally titled Bonheur d’occasion) is a quintessential novel of Canadian social history. While Gabriel Roy’s first novel is a work of fiction, it very carefully and accurately depicts the times, circumstances, experiences, and feelings of Canadian society before World War II. Set in 1939 and 1940, during the first year of Canada 's contribution to World War II, The Tin Flute is a harsh depiction of the all so common life in poverty found throughout Canada. The Tin Flute is a dark, tragic story in a world where women search for well-to-do men to help them escape the burdens of lower class and men sign up for military service and put their lives at risk on the warfront just to escape from their poverty. Throughout the novel we see through Florentine and other main characters the trials and tribulations of what appears to be an impossible process by which to ascend the socioeconomic ladder of class. Roy’s novel depicts the futility of upward social mobility found throughout Canada and the world in the first half of the Twentieth Century, especially for women. By examining the struggles of the characters in The Tin Flute with support from other literature pertaining to pre-war Canadian society the causes and desires for upward social mobility, available options to obtain upward movement and, most importantly, the limitations of social mobility for women can be defined and proven as fruitless. Social mobility, in terms of sociological and economical studies, is defined as the degree to which someone’s status or class is able to change in terms of position on the social ladder. It mainly refers to material wealth and the capacity of a person to move up in the class system. Upward social mobility is an
Examining the Causes, Options, and Limitations of Upward Social Mobility for Women in Canadian Society pre World War II
Colin May
ENG 222
March 17, 2011
University of British Columbia
Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute (originally titled Bonheur d’occasion) is a quintessential novel of Canadian social history. While Gabriel Roy’s first novel is a work of fiction, it very carefully and accurately depicts the times, circumstances, experiences, and feelings of Canadian society before World War II. Set in 1939 and 1940, during the first year of Canada 's contribution to World War II, The Tin Flute is a harsh depiction of the all so common life in poverty found throughout Canada. The Tin Flute is a dark, tragic story in a world where women search for well-to-do men to help them escape the burdens of lower class and men sign up for military service and put their lives at risk on the warfront just to escape from their poverty. Throughout the novel we see through Florentine and other main characters the trials and tribulations of what appears to be an impossible process by which to ascend the socioeconomic ladder of class. Roy’s novel depicts the futility of upward social mobility found throughout Canada and the world in the first half of the Twentieth Century, especially for women. By examining the struggles of the characters in The Tin Flute with support from other literature pertaining to pre-war Canadian society the causes and desires for upward social mobility, available options to obtain upward movement and, most importantly, the limitations of social mobility for women can be defined and proven as fruitless. Social mobility, in terms of sociological and economical studies, is defined as the degree to which someone’s status or class is able to change in terms of position on the social ladder. It mainly refers to material wealth and the capacity of a person to move up in the class system. Upward social mobility is an
Cited: Baillargeon, Denyse. “Beyond Romance: Courtship and Marriage in Montreal between the Wars.” Rethinking Canada: The Promise of Women’s History. Eds. Adele Perry, Veronica Strong-Boag, and Mona Gleason. 4th ed. Toronto: Oxford UP, 2002. 203-219 Moyes, Lianne. “Writing the Montreal Mountain: Below the Thresholds at which Visibility Begins.” Canadian Literature 192 (2007): 45-66. Roy, Gabrielle. The Tin Flute. Translation by Alan Brown. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1980. Print. "social mobility." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551322/social-mobility>. “Women’s Rights.” Human Rights in Canada: a Historical Perspective. Web. 4 Mar. 2011. http://www.chrc-ccdp.ca/en/browseSubjects/womenRights.asp