Lots of people are disenfranchised, and it matters.
Laurence chooses to liken her frustration to the plight of the native peoples in light of the past colonialism of Canada. This draws attention to the fact that the dominant class, primarily white men, has historically mistreated many people. This makes the story less about the particular person and more about injustice itself.
Writing is a spiritual and psychic process, as well as an act of the mind.
By describing Morag Gunn's relationship to writing, Laurence also explains the premise of the novel in a way. Basically, it's Laurence indicating to the reader that a life of artistic creation is a difficult, lonely, emotional path, and it causes her to face the emotions that she might otherwise avoid. It's out of love for the novel that this novel is born.
Men and women have a precarious relationship.
Conceptually, the reader might have expected Gunn and Torrerre to last as a couple, since their identities share common elements, but actually, Laurence chooses for Gunn to leave Torrerre, citing the difficulties of the relationship, even though he was a muse to her. Basically, the picture is that even a good relationship is made worse by the unfortunate social systems that limit their involvement.
Even women are not allowed to be part of each others' teams.
Poor Morag Gunn doesn't even get to take solace in her relationship with her daughter, because the daughter has a difficult time understanding Gunn and her decisions. Part of the reason certainly seems like Gunn trying to rationalize her opinions so she can maybe feel some community after all, but because of the systems she cites, even her relationship to her own daughter, or to femininity by proxy, is strained.
