Shoe-Horn Sonata
Shoe-Horn Sonata
Compare the ways the distinctively visual is created in The Shoe-Horn Sonata and in
ONE other related text of your own choosing.
John Misto’s play “The Shoe-Horn Sonata” is a text that was written to acknowledge and honour the women who were once forgotten prisoners of war in World War 2. The play uses distinctively visual images and dialogue to create visual images of dehumanisation and the small idea of hope during this time. “Schindlers list” directed by Steven Spielberg also used the movie to acknowledge the names of the Jewish that had been forgotten. A range of techniques are used in both texts to help understand the visual aspect of the texts such as the plight of the protagonists in each text.
The Shoe-horn is a metaphor of both hope and dehumanisation. Birdie sees her beloved “shoe-horn” as a symbol of hope, whereas Sheila sees it as her fear and dehumanisation of the war. The Shoe-Horn is also a symbol of their friendship, “Just a gentle tap with my shoe-horn” says bride, as these too women are floating in the cold ocean, bride is trying to keep her new friend sheila awake, so she does not die, therefore this quote symbolises the start of a friendship and what is would have been like in the POW camp. Act 1 Scene 3 – “Large Japanese flag, blood red rising sun is risen” this implements fear for the audience and displays a distinctively visual image of what the emotions and dehumanising aspects of what their time was like in the Japanese war camps. “We forgot the Japs- we forgot our hunger – our boils- barbed wire – everything” the repetition of “we forgot” emphasis the little hope that the women had in the camp - it also shows the distinctively visual aspect of how these women lived and the way they were treated.
Lists are used throughout the movie, as they are also a metaphor of dehumanisation and hope. They are also used to acknowledge the Jewish forgotten names, as they were dehumanised and were given numbers, instead of
Compare the ways the distinctively visual is created in The Shoe-Horn Sonata and in
ONE other related text of your own choosing.
John Misto’s play “The Shoe-Horn Sonata” is a text that was written to acknowledge and honour the women who were once forgotten prisoners of war in World War 2. The play uses distinctively visual images and dialogue to create visual images of dehumanisation and the small idea of hope during this time. “Schindlers list” directed by Steven Spielberg also used the movie to acknowledge the names of the Jewish that had been forgotten. A range of techniques are used in both texts to help understand the visual aspect of the texts such as the plight of the protagonists in each text.
The Shoe-horn is a metaphor of both hope and dehumanisation. Birdie sees her beloved “shoe-horn” as a symbol of hope, whereas Sheila sees it as her fear and dehumanisation of the war. The Shoe-Horn is also a symbol of their friendship, “Just a gentle tap with my shoe-horn” says bride, as these too women are floating in the cold ocean, bride is trying to keep her new friend sheila awake, so she does not die, therefore this quote symbolises the start of a friendship and what is would have been like in the POW camp. Act 1 Scene 3 – “Large Japanese flag, blood red rising sun is risen” this implements fear for the audience and displays a distinctively visual image of what the emotions and dehumanising aspects of what their time was like in the Japanese war camps. “We forgot the Japs- we forgot our hunger – our boils- barbed wire – everything” the repetition of “we forgot” emphasis the little hope that the women had in the camp - it also shows the distinctively visual aspect of how these women lived and the way they were treated.
Lists are used throughout the movie, as they are also a metaphor of dehumanisation and hope. They are also used to acknowledge the Jewish forgotten names, as they were dehumanised and were given numbers, instead of