Shoe Horn Sonata Analysis

Commemoration of Australian Nurses (Nurses POV)
After the completion of WWII, survivors that were still being held captive were pedometerly Australian Nurses in Japanese prisoner camps. Not only did the nurses survive the brutality and horrific traumatic experiences of war they also survived the brutal and unimaginable living experiences of the Japanese prisoner camp. Little to no food or water and the sleeping and living conditions were next to unbearable. There were Australian nurses in prisoner war camps in, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and other Asian countries.

Shoe Horn-Sonata
‘Shoe horn-sonata’ is a play and a book with the book being published in the mid 1990’s. John Misto’s main purpose of the publishing of the book ‘shoe

horn-sonata’ was to commemorate those who were traumatized and those who had suffered from the Japanese prisoner war camps. The play is based on 2 women named Bridie and Shelia. They play Australian nurses who had been separated for almost 50 years. They portray their POV’s in their different Japanese war camps in a documentary, the stories are true story’s.

Hardship & Suffering of War
The brutal conditions for taken in war challenges anyone involved in war, especially P.O.W when they are brutally beaten and starved.

When the two Australian nurses were evacuated from Singapore they were put into a camp run by the Japanese where they prisoners were treated like wild animals who have been captured and tortured, this meaning that they were not allowed food, medicine and water. Act One, Scene One ‘[Bridie raising her hands, clapping them twice sternly] the guard cries out ‘Keirei’! the female stands complete attention then bends her upper-body. This is kowtow to the emperor of Japan.’ In this extract the P.O.W (Bridie) is being made to show her respect to the emperor of japan against her will, after she’s been starved, beaten, dehydrated and burnt from the sun. ‘They’d make us stand like that for hours, in the afternoon sun in the middle of the jungle. I’d stare at the dirt and ask myself why I ever left Chatswood in the first place.’ The way that bridie portrays the hardship and the suffering of standing in the sun being burnt and had her questioning herself why she left Chatswood, the sorrow and the pain of being forced to cook in the sun and stare at dirt for hours.

Lasting Effects of War
War is a horrific sight for anyone, it has damaging and detrimental effects on an individual’s well-being / mental state. This occurs in ‘Shoe horn-sonata’ when sheila returns to Belalau and is reminded of lipstick Larry. “They told us we were on our own” this shows how much

the government cares about us (P.O.W). the way that misto depicts the way that P.O.W were treated is through techniques such as juxtaposition, similes and others. Misto’s purpose was to give the women and children the voice that they didn’t have.

Heroism & Courage
Heroism and courage is something that the prisoners of war would struggle to posses due to the constant abuse and belittling they had to take from the Japanese. This is portrayed when sheila gets given quinine tablets to give to bridie. “Bridie look I’ve got tablets don’t leave me” this is a flash back of when Shelia tried to save bridies life, this is an attempt of trying to engage the audience to feel empathy or sympathy for bridie in the dire time of sickness and close to death.
Rules of Summer
(Related Text)
The fear of being alone is not only just scary but is also sad. In the text “shoe horn-sonata” There are many examples of hardship, heartbreak and courage. In the text “Rules of Summer” by Shaun Tan, two young boys, whose friendship is tested by many challenging situations, although there being little text the pictures portray a strong message 'Never step on a snail', 'Never argue with an umpire', 'Never leave the back door open overnight' or 'Never leave a red sock on the clothesline'. As each rule is broken not always by accident comes with surprising consequences.