The Tin Flute essay round 2 PDF

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Kirk Niergarth CNST 1113- 001 Britnee Litzenberger

The Evolution of Safe Contraceptives

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Kirk Niergarth CNST 1113- 001 Britnee Litzenberger

“The Tin Flute” by Gabrielle Roy is set in the time of the 1940’s, during the second world war. A family that lives in Saint-Henri neighborhood of Montreal and are struggling in poverty during the second world war. Their struggle was to overcome poverty and ignorance, in search for happiness. Rose-Anna and Azarius Lacasse are parents to twelve children. Throughout the book we follow the lives of the Lacasse family and see what they must overcome to survive. Some of which are unbearable to hear about such as malnutrition, child labor and many more. In the 21st century families having twelve children is almost unheard of, however back in the early 1900’s it was the social norm. This is because of the lack of contraceptives available back then. Safe contraceptives such as birth control were not invented till 1960. This is why there was such a high number of children in families prior to the 1960’s, such as the Lacasse family in “The Tin Flute”. People back in the 1940’s had no choice to use safe contraceptives to protect themselves from getting pregnant. If they had intercourse they were risking the chance of having a baby. The only reliable source of a safe contraceptive back then was abstinence. This form of protection is hard when you are married or in a relationship. Therefore, this is the cause of why the Lacasse family had so many children. The more children the more expensive the cost for necessities. The Lacasse family was suffering from higher level of poverty because they had to provide for twelve children. Present day it costs on average $16,000 a year to raise a child. So the Lacasse family now of days would be spending around $194,000 a year for twelve children (Vallis) .This puts it into perspective how this would be problematic for a middle-class family, at any point in life. The cost of children was higher than the amount of money they were earning, causing them to live in poverty. Safe forms of contraceptives and beliefs have evolved to help prevent families from living like the Lacasse family. In the 21st century there is less risk of unwanted pregnancy because of the

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Kirk Niergarth CNST 1113- 001 Britnee Litzenberger

choice to use safe contraceptives. It is also socially accepted now of days. Whereas in the 1940’s it would be immoral to use contraception. The social acceptance of safe contraception’s has prevented unsafe sex, which in turn creates babies. Due to the evolvement of safe contraceptives such as condoms, birth control, IUD, etc., the struggle that the Lacasse family went through could have been prevented (Burkman). The Lacasse family would have had the opportunity to make the informed choice to choose how many children they would want. Which would prevent, dangerous actions, relationship conflicts, and poverty presented in the novel “The Tin Flute”. Over many years new methods of contraception have been invented. This has promoted the action of “safe sex” giving people the option to enjoy sex without the risk of pregnancy. If the Lacasse family had this opportunity then they might have chosen to have less children, reducing their poverty level, and ultimately allowing them to live a better life. In the 1940’s contraceptives did not always work and they were not very accessible. The Lacasse parents had twelve children because , they did not have a reliable form of contraceptive protection to depend on. Since the development of contraceptives in the 1960’s there has been many advantages to having such products, it prevents woman from going to other means, such as an illegal abortion (Criag). Illegal abortion happened often in the 1940’s because people had no other way to avoid having a baby (Craig). The progression and promotion of easily accessible safe contraceptives has given people the opportunity and option to have intercourse without a high chance of having a baby. Although, present day contraceptives still have risks, however the risk is significantly lower than it used to be. Intimacy is a huge part of a relationship. It can change the meaning of a relationship from a “friend” to a “girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse” and without intimacy there truly is no

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Kirk Niergarth CNST 1113- 001 Britnee Litzenberger

difference between the two. Intimacy provides a special bond and feelings between two people to grow and to define the difference in their relationship from others relationships they have. In the 1940’s the only really safe form of protection was abstinence. Evidently Rose-Anna had to make a choice between her relationship with her husband and the quality of life for her children. It was obvious what choice Rose-Anna had made when she states “Now there’s eleven” (Roy 86). If contraceptives would have been available in the 1940’s then Rose-Anna would not have to choose one over the other. The Lacasse parents would have a had choice to have children or not, without sacrificing intimacy in their relationship. Safe contraceptives are an advantage to people's relationships. Enabling people to have a choice, and prevents unwanted pregnancies, such as in the situation of the Lacasse family, from happening. One of the many struggles that could have been prevented in the book “The Tin Flute” was the poverty of the Lacasse family. This family did not have enough money to provide each child with good nutrition. They could not afford to feed twelve children and it caused them to go hungry most of the time. In the 1940’s it would have costed around ten cents for a loaf a bread (Weeks). Putting that into perceptive it would cost $36.60 a year just for bread. The amount of money to feed all twelve kids with a balanced meal everyday would be very expensive. A balanced meal would have meat, fresh fruit and veggies, dairy products, and wheat products. The average paying job in the 1940’s would make $956.00 a year (Weeks) .With this amount of children, you can see why the Lacasse family was in poverty and could not provide enough nutritious food for their children. Having twelve children was a huge disadvantage to their quality of life. Safe contraceptives could prevent this disadvantage and give them the opportunity to choose to have a child, and if that decision was in the best interest of their family. If the Lacasse family had access to safe contraceptives, they could have

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Kirk Niergarth CNST 1113- 001 Britnee Litzenberger

chosen to have less children therefore preventing malnutrition in their family and creating a better quality of life for each and every child. Safe contraceptives have given us a choice to the number of children we should and can have. Not that all people make the correct choice. You should not have a child if you can not sustain a good quality of life. Unfortunately, Rose-Anna did not have the opportunity to choose this for her and her children. She truly had no way to prevent these children from being born, unless she turned to other dangerous ways such as, illegal abortion, and dangerous drugs. The evolution of safe contraceptives has provided society with the opportunity for choice. The choice to have a child is a huge advantage to our society and the well-being of our future children. Preventing women from taking dangerous means to terminate a pregnancy or have to give their child up for adoption. Relationships can flourish without having to sacrifice intimacy and affection to prevent pregnancy now of days. It enables one to choose a better quality of life for their family, allowing them to stay within their financial means. . Overall, the development of safe contraceptives has helped improve the quality of life for families enabling them to live a better life. If safe contraceptives were available back in the 1940’s the Lacasse family would have had the opportunity to choose their future and live a better life.

Bibliography Burkman, Ronald, et al. “The Evolution of Combined Oral Contraception: Improving the Riskto-Benefit Ratio.” NeuroImage, Academic Press, 24 Dec. 2010, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782410006426. Craig, Layne P. When Sex Changed : Birth Control Politics and Literature Between the World Wars. Rutgers University Press, 2013.

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Kirk Niergarth CNST 1113- 001 Britnee Litzenberger

Roy, Gabrielle. The Tin Flute. McClelland & Stewart, 2009. Vallis, Mary. How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Family. Vol. 24, Rogers Media Inc., 2007. Weeks, Linton. “The 1940 Census: 72-Year-Old Secrets Revealed.” NPR, NPR, 2 Apr. 2012, www.npr.org/2012/04/02/149575704/the-1940-census-72-year-old-secrets-revealed.

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