Working-Class Women in the Great Depression

Working-Class Women in the Great Depression (A Comparison of the “Tin Flute” by Gabrielle Roy and “Breadwinning daughters” by Katrina Srigley on the experiences of Working-Class Women in the Great Depression in Canada) Name: Course title: Instructor: Institution: Date Due: (A Comparison of the “Tin Flute” by Gabrielle Roy and “Breadwinning daughters” by Katrina Srigley on the experiences of Working-Class Women in the Great Depression in Canada) Introduction The great depression during the 1930s in Canada was a time when economic conditions were the worst state. During this time, employment opportunities were scarce and the wages were lowly paid. A study conducted by Association catholique de la jeunesse canadienne in 1933 established that the unemployment rate was at 30% and for women, the percentage was even higher. All sectors in the economy were strongly affected (Ascah, 1999). The origin of the great was in USA and spread to other countries around the world. In the year 1929, its effects started to be felt in Canada. In the year 1929 to 1939, the economy in Canada declined greatly; the situation became more serious in 1933. The depression reached its climax in 1939 when it finally bowed down. Women were provided with 35% of the job opportunities in the urban centres. Some of the sectors which women could be employed included clothing and food industry, a few vacancies for women were allocated at heavy firms, railway stations or construction sites. Some worked at the household, restaurants or businesses entities. Those who were educated held jobs such as teaching and clerical. Most of the women who were employed were those who were unmarried, once married, such women were expected to resign or rather abandon their job (Ascah, 1999). In order to counter with the lack of jobs and economic depression at the time, many women designed different ways to cope with the situation. These women had to be both creative and flexible with regard to the type of work they had to perform. Family care was also part of their responsibilities. The period altered the way of life for many families. It also altered the cultural aspects of the Canadian peoples’ lives to an extent of causing conflicts between wives and their husbands, daughters and their parents or women and their and their siblings (Srigley 2010). This paper compares Gabrielle Roy’s work on the “Tin Flute” and Katrina Srigley’s “Breadwinning daughters” on the experiences of these women during the great depression. “Tin Flute” by Gabrielle Roy “Tin Flute” which can be translated as second-hand happiness is a fictional novel written by Gabrielle Roy. The writer wrote this novel following her experiences of the great depression in Canada. The story is about a struggling family in one of the slums in HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal" \o "Montreal"Montreal. The family in question consists of Florentine Laçasse, her mother Ann Rose, her two siblings and the father. This depiction of poverty and suffering by this family gave a real picture of what the people in Montreal were going through at that time. The story was written in 1940s at the time of the Second World War, and at which time the great depression was ending. However, in essence Québec was still feeling the effects of the great depression. Lacasse Florentine who works at the "Five and Ten" hotel is looking forward in assisting her parents who are facing poverty to cope with the situation. While in her workstation, she falls in love with one, Jean Lévesque who is an electrician cum mechanic, and a relationship ensues. However, due to unclear reasons, the relationship does not last long and it eventually dies. Lévesque introduces Florentine to his friend Emmanuel Létourneau who is a solder. They start another relationship together. However, Florence continues to have affection towards Jean (Roy, 1959). The main focus of the story centres on the economic conditions of Florence Lacasse’s family. “Breadwinning daughters” by Katrina Srigley “Breadwinning daughters” is an examination by Katrina Srigley on the repercussions of the great depression in Canada especially on the women. In this book, the writer presents her analysis based on the responses on the interview she conducted involving eighty women in Toronto, Canada concerning their experiences during the great this period. In her study, she focused on home situation, work environments and women’s perspectives with regard to entertainment. In this account, the writer noted that women especially young ones were depended upon both in the in the job market and in their families. This is because many jobs that existed at that time were mostly meant for youths; married women were not supposed to seek employment and men’s jobs were scarce. This translates that if they failed to seek work, their families would continue to languish in poverty due to the economic situation that was straining the families in that era. Her account of the Canadian histories explains how these women were given “space” by their culture to seek opportunities. The writer portrays how factors of marital status, gender, race and class influenced the lives of these women and how they conducted themselves with regard to their jobs, family obligations and in entertainment. The story also explains how through the experiences of the great depression, how these women changed their perspective concerning their culture, employment and family responsibilities. Similarities between Gabrielle Roy’s “Tin Flute” and Katrina Srigley “Breadwinning daughters” on the Experiences of Working Class Women During the Great Depression In her analysis on the experiences of women during the great depression, Srigley observes that the integration of the different cultures in Canada had greatly shaped the identity of these Canadian people with regard to the cultural aspects. As such, the people’s perspective concerning racism had greatly changed. Another aspect for this changing trend was the 1982 rights and Freedom of Charter bill established by the Canadian government. Ideas on the significance of acquiring wealth and class placed upon the Canadian society were also an influence to these women (Srigley 2010). Srigley observes that the consequences of world war 11 brought with it many economic effects including the downfall of the international stock market. Canada was among the greatest casualties. The increased prices for good and services caused a lot of strain on the Canadian families. The downfall of the construction industry, which provided employment opportunities especially for men, further worsened the situation. The Canadian government offered no much help as it only concerned itself in providing relief assistance to these citizens. NGOs also emerged to help the people. In essence, the pinch of the great depression was being felt all over the country (Srigley 2010). Gabrielle Roy also portrays the same sentiment of poverty during that time of the great depression in the story of the “Tin Flute”. Roy explains that the economic conditions of these people were not favourable and even the urban condition in which people they were living were even worse; cases of unemployment were also depicted in this story such as when Florence Laçasse’s father is mandated to stay at home since he could not find any employment (Roy, 1959). The scene in Gabriel Roy’s novel is centred on an urban centre with a lot of congestion, noise, smoke, people odd and menial jobs and impersonality. For her, life in the city appears to be a complicated one in comparison to the simple and uncomplicated rural environment. Despite this, the urban dwellers seem to be embracing city life with all the problems (Roy, 1959). The government of Canada did not take seriously the issue of mass unemployment experienced at that time. The government had poor planning mechanisms in alleviating poverty and economic decline for these poor citizens. In an attempt to keep people working, Canadian’s authorities established civic unemployment relief project committee in 1930s, to oversee the creation of jobs for the unemployed. The main aim for establishing the project was discouraging laziness, which the government authorities saw a...