In the Skin of a Lion

This chapter centers on the construction site of Toronto’s Prince Edward (or Bloor Street) Viaduct (the eponymous “Bridge”) around the time of its completion in 1918. Patrick does not appear in this chapter. The protagonist is Nicholas Temelcoff, a Macedonian immigrant laborer on the viaduct and one of the novel’s two secondary heroes (along with Caravaggio, who appears briefly in this chapter but becomes a central figure in Chapter 6). The chapter opens with the image of workers riding in a truck, acting “as if they don’t own the legs or the arms jostling against their bodies” (25). This quotation offers a pithy introduction to the dehumanization of workers and the exploitation of their bodies as tools that belong to the bourgeoisie. In other words, “A man is an extension of hammer, drill, flame” (26).

The chapter also introduces Caravaggio, another immigrant laborer who is later revealed to be a professional thief, and Rowland Harris, the commissioner of public works, who will reappear in the final chapter as the master of the waterworks. “Water was Harris’ great passion,” the narrative emphasizes (29).

The chapter’s central drama is when a group of nuns accidentally wanders onto the bridge one night before it has formally opened.