Even though Florentine is the protagonist of this story, let's begin by discussing her brother Daniel, because Daniel's story helps to explain the meaning of Florentine's. In a way, the novel is a dilemma of hope, and the central drama of the story is that no characters in the story get to have what they want. The title suggests this, because in the story, the tin flute represents what Daniel wants but cannot have. What he really wants is to be healthy, but when leukemia leaves him hospitalized, he suddenly realizes that compared to his difficult, impoverished home life, hospitalization might actually be preferable.
This is not unlike Florentine's ultimate decision to accept Emmanuel's proposal, because the hint is that her life will be much, much better with this established officer than with her more childish, capricious boyfriend, Jean. This decision comes at a price, no doubt, but ultimately, the end of the novel leaves everyone in a better situation than they could have hoped for otherwise.
Look at Azarius, a wayward man whose passionate nature makes him somewhat inconsistent. When he borrows the truck from his company, he seizes what he wants with no regard for the future, and it costs him his job. But, by following his passion, he ultimately finds a better employment making way more money, fighting for a country he loves.
Each person in the novel was challenged by life, each decided what they wanted most, each found out that they couldn't have what they wanted, and then, each character ends up blessed in some strange way. Rose-Anna gets a breath of fresh air and a visit with her family. Daniel gets to fight his illness from a hospital paradise, instead of a dingy apartment in a slum. Florentine ends up with a respectable man instead of Jean, who mistreats her when he finds out how poor her family is. And, Azarius gets to earn almost $100 per month from his new employment in the war (over three times what their son earns in the army).
