English ( Standard ) The Shoe Horn Sonata Notes
Friendship
Point:Friendship grows out of adversity allows each person to see each other at their most vulnerable, this creates a closeness that can not be broken:
Dramatic Technique
Example/Quote Effect: What does the viewer understand know about the distinctly visual?
Sacrifice for each other
Direct speech Line delivery Sound affects
Sheila- You were screaming. And he went and got the quinine. For you. He showed the tablets to me- and pointed to the barracks- where his mates were waitingIn the background there is a noise of crickets
The reader comes to understand that Sheila made a huge sacrifice for Bridie. The two women care for each other and Bridie constantly mothers Sheila, yet it is Sheila that makes the grown up sacrifice that Bridie is not capable of making.
Unlikely friends, yet they know each other very well
Direct speech Line delivery
Sheila- Cartwrite is an Irish name. Mother wouldnt have approved.Bridie- another stuck up pom I thought. But I talked to her
The two women are from different backgrounds and cultures as well as having completely different
(2012) All Rights Reserved 1 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
anyway. personalities. Despite this they learn to get along
Hurt, after 50 years of silence
Stage directions
Stage directions: SHEILA looks and BRIDIE with surprising intensity- but not with affection It is clear that there something is still going on between these two women- even after fifty years seperation.
Bridie is hut after being ignored from Sheila for fifty years and wants to know why. There is tension between the two women that has stretched their friendship
Closeness and understanding
Direct speech Line delivery Stage
directions Question
Birdie- sighing) All right (fondly). Excuse me Miss Richards. I have heard a somewhat convincing rumour that the Japanese army has surrounded to the Allies. (With sincerity). Which means- I believe- that the war is over. And you and I are free would you care to join me in celebrating peace?
Despite the hardship that they have been through the two remain friends, they both know and understand each other very well and are very close.
Birdie mothers Sheila
Direct speech Line delivery dash
Birdie- She kicked a fuss, believe me. Said she wanted to flat with some school chums. Thats when I put my foot down. A child like her- unsupervised- with Japanese all around. She fought at first but he soon leaned
Birdie acted like a mother to Sheila as her own mother was not there and she had no one else to look after her. Sheila at first resisted this but later accepted Bridie as her friend
(2012) All Rights Reserved 2 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
who was in charge
Survives the hardship
Direct speech Line delivery Stage
directions Question
Sheila- I was thinking- at Christmas- I might come and feed your chooks.Bridie- (surprised) You mean- visit?
Despite everything they have been through they are still friends, they manage to remain close even after fifty years of separation
(2012) All Rights Reserved 3 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Attitudes to Women
Point Dramatic Technique
Example/Quote Effect: What does the viewer understand know about the distinctly visual?
The English attitude to women:The women are innocent and harmless and need to be protected and left out of the war.
Line delivery Direct speech Exclamation
mark
Get up! Stand up! Let the Japanese see youre just women and children
The British believe that women should be left alone. They saw them as insignificant and weak, they believed the Japanese would have the same perspective.
Ellipsis Direct speech Line delivery
Sheilas mum- Sheila, you and I are English women. We do not run away from a few Orientals
English women saw themselves as superior to other races, as they were part of an empire
The Japanese attitude to women:The Japanese saw women as weak. They treated them badly, putting them to work (not the same as the mens work), wanted sexual favours, starved them and left them to die.
Direct speech Line delivery elipses
Bridie- Twelve army nurses were ordered to attend the opening night of this glorified brothel. We had no choice but to go.
The Japanese expected sexual favours from the women who had no choice but to comply. The Japanese saw them merely as objects.
Rhetorical question
Directs speech Line delivery elipsis
Bridie- Die? Many women did and quite a few went out of their minds- so the Japs took them of and killed them.
The Japanese had no problem killing the women. They saw them as inferior to them.
(2012) All Rights Reserved 4 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Histories attitude to women:History ignored their plight- their story has not been told properly or given respect. The government did not properly acknowledge what they went through or help them (e.g. they only got one shilling for each day in the camp and could not ask for more), compared to the men injured at war who got a pension.
Direct speech Line delivery
Bridie- the Japs began raiding our huts. Ransacking everything- searching for diaries. They wanted no record of what theyd been doing
Any evidence of their struggle was removed so that no one would know how they struggled
Line delivery Direct speech
Sheila- They removed the remains of the army nurses but they left the women and children behind. There are more than 300 of them buried in that jungle. Not a headstone or memorial anywhere. Not even a cross survived the war.
To this day the women and children have still not received recognition for their ordeal during the war. They have not been given the respect they deserve.
(2012) All Rights Reserved 5 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Survival
Point Dramatic Technique
Example/Quote Effect: What does the viewer understand know about the distinctly visual?
Mutual support through bonds of friendship:
Direct speech Line delivery
Bridie- And on our four wobbly legs we went down to the village. Sometimes I dragged Sheila. Sometimes Sheila dragged me. The main thing is we got there. And we could have never done that alone
By keeping to together they are able to get through the war. They both support each other and make sure each of them survives.
Direct speech Line delivery
Sheila- fifty voices set us free
The singing religious songs as a group provides them with hope through religion as well as uniting them in a group. It allows them to rise above their captivity
Direct Speech Line delivery Ellipsis Stage directions Voice over
Sheila- And then- one wonderful morning Lipstick Larry comes strutting out to tenko- wearing some of our handiwork beneath his baggy shortsStage directions/voice over- On the soundtrack we hear lipstick Larry yelling from a stab
Through acts of defiance and rebellion the women were able to keep moral high and hide their fear. These rebellious acts helped them to survive through their harsh treatment
(2012) All Rights Reserved 6 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
of excruciating pain. BRIDIE and SHEILA laugh
Direct speech Line delivery
Sheila quoting Japanese- your emporer Mr Curtin sends his greetings. And orders you all to keep smilingSheila- Well they smiled all right. They laughed to much they couldnt control it there was even laughter after bed time- instead of the usual sobbing and quarrels
The women use humour to lift moral and get them through the war. They use laughter to prevent themselves from sobbing and loosing hope.
Direct speech Line delivery Stage directions Conversation
Sheila- I couldnt bring myself to throw it away.Bridie- (fondly) Wed chew on this every night before bed. We called it Old Reliable
They both survived the war through positions that were symbols of hope. The chop-bone reminded them of their old life and they hoped that they might return to it.
Strength of character:Resourceful CourageousHeroic (Misto describes them as heroic)
Line delivery Direct Speech Voice over
Birdie- if she fell asleep, shed have slipped away and drownedThe interviewer then asked how Birdie kept Sheila awakeSheila- She hit me. Thats how
The audience sees the significance of the show horn and as a result come to appreciate its symbolic worth. They also become more aware of how resourceful Birdie was and
(2012) All Rights Reserved 7 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
how strong her character was.
Direct speech Line delivery Elipses
Sheila- She kept on saying that we werent animals and that shed rather die than be treated like one. It was the bravest act I have ever seen
Acts of bravery and courage played a major part in their survival. If not for acts of courage like this many more would have died.
Their survival depended on their ability to survive the harsh war crimes that the Japanese inflicted upon them
Direct speech Line delivery Quoting
Sheila- Captain Siki stood on a box and shouted-The Geneva conference says: All prisoners must have culture. You womens have just had yours.
Nearing the end of the war the Japanese had realised that they were loosing. They were concerned of what would happen at the end of the war if the allies realised how cruelly they had treated their women and children in direct violation of the Geneva convention. As a result they decided to either wipe them all out so no one could ever find out what would happen or to treat them better.
(2012) All Rights Reserved 8 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Loss of Innocence
Point Dramatic Technique
Example/Quote
Effect: What does the viewer understand know about the distinctly visual?
Sheila was just a teenager when she had to evacuate Singapore. She lost:
Her teenage years
Direct speech
Line delivery
Dash Descrip
tion Symbol
ism
Sheila- I remember these toys came drifting by- tiny boats that really sailed and dolls with eyes that opened and stared
The toys drifting by symbolise her childhood drifting away. She is not able to have the childhood that she could have as she spent these years in a POW camp.
Her English values and pretentious attitudes
Direct speech
Line delivery
Dash
Sheila- It was Friday night and there I was- drenched, without gloves, and alone on the sea.
Sheila is in a dire, life threatening position yet she is still concerned about not having her gloves. This indicates how thermally she believed in the values entrenched in her by her parents and her upbringing
Her sexual innocence
Direct speech
Line delivery
Stage directions
Dash
Sheila- (haunted) Every night when I fall asleep, Lipstick Larrys waiting. He calls me and I go to him- and no one can
Sheila was scared by her loss of sexual innocence in the POW camp. This has affected her for the rest of her life and she was unable to move on.
(2012) All Rights Reserved 9 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
change that
She was haunted the rest of her life and was unable to more on for the net 50 years
Stage directions
Symbolism
SHEILA reaches for the suitcase in time to help BRIDIE
Sheila was unable to move on and get on with her life after the war. With the help of Bridie and the cathartic experience of going on the TV show she is able to move on. Her and Bridie lifting up the suitcase is symbolic of the way that together they are able to get rid of their baggage, but on their own this is not possible.
Bridie willingly joined the nurse corp/army. Yet she was unprepared for the experience of being a prisnor of war. Birdie:
Had not seen much of the world before
Direct speech
Line delivery
Elipsis
Bridie- Id never been outside of Australia before. Id never been further than Woy Woy.
Bridie had not experienced the world before this, she did not know what to expect. Through this experience she lost her incense and became less nave
Sees a side of war that she was not expecting
Direct speech
Line delivery
Ellipsis
Bridie- For the first time in months I started to long for quiet little
Bridie was not expecting to be in actual danger in the war. Although she had seen the wounded
(2012) All Rights Reserved 10 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Chatswood
and dead she was just expecting to care for them, not become a prisoner of war.
(2012) All Rights Reserved 11 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Imperialism/Colonialism
Point Dramatic Technique
Example/Quote
Effect: What does the viewer understand know about the distinctly visual?
British colonialism They were unprepared for and unwilling to accept that Japan would invade
Direct speech
Line delivery
Bridie- No one thought the Japs would get within a coo-ee of us. So the English didnt bother to fortify the shorelines. They said barbed wire would spoil their beaches. All of Singapores lights were fully ablaze when the Japanese bombers came
The British did not see the Japanese as a threat at all. They decided that the appearance of there beaches and other superficial things were more important than the threat of the Japanese
British were arrogant etiquette in their attitude to Australians
Direct speech
Line delivery
Re telling of racist comment from a British officer
Bridie- My dear, he said. They have got slanty eyes. If they cant see properly, how can they shoot
The British had a racist and pretentious view of the Japanese. They saw them as inferior and incompetent. An image is created of a snobbish British officer with snobbish attitudes
(2012) All Rights Reserved 12 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
British handled the evacuation of their women and children badly
Direct speech
Line delivery
Bridie- The British had refused to evacuate civilians. They just couldnt believe that the far east would fall. So they waited till the last- till the Japs had landed in Singapore. Then they threw their wives and children onto anything that would float
The British refused to admit threat the Japanese were a threat. They waited until the last moment to evacuate everyone. They did not ask the women and children what they wanted to do as they saw them as inferior.
The Japanese imperialism
They were a rising power that had the power and resources to invade Singapore
Stage directions
Slide show
Stage Directions: As the chorus is sung, the Japanese flag fades and we see photographs of the Japanese invasion of SingaporeIt is a most disturbing sight. For this photo has captured the very moment when the British empire teetered
The Japanese had a large and powerful empire that was capable of defeating the British. They were a rising power.
(2012) All Rights Reserved 13 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
and fell
Powerful fleet that sank the British fleet, executed allied forces, they set up prisoner of war camps
Direct speech
Line delivery
Dash
Bridie- I can still see those Zeros flying over, hundreds of them- in V formation- their engines rattling our hospital windows.
The Japanese were far more powerful than anyone suspected. They had the power to attack the British, execute their forces and set up POW camps.
Attitude/cultural philosophy that looked down on anyone who allowed themselves to be captured, they saw it as shameful. This lead to war crimes
Direct speech
Line delivery
Exclamation mark
Quote from Japanese
Sheila- theyd look at us and say Mati! Marti- Dead! Dead!
The Japanese saw the women as inferior because they had surrender. They believed that the women should have killed themselves rather than become prisoners
(2012) All Rights Reserved 14 of 14 For more info, go to www . hscintheholidays . com . au
Top Related