The analysis process
you need to follow
for the essay task:
Key Scenes which show
distinctively visual images of
different forms of conflict in
The Shoehorn Sonata
Definitions of conflict:
• military warfare between opposing forces,
especially a prolonged and bitter but sporadic
struggle
• a disagreement or clash between ideas, principles,
or people
• a psychological state resulting from the often
unconscious opposition between simultaneous but
incompatible desires, needs, drives, or impulses
“bickering”: to argue in a bad-tempered way
about something unimportant
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bantering
Squabbling
Wrangling
Nit-picking
Criticising
Hairsplitting (“splitting hairs”)
Picking-on (“picking at’”)
Quibbling
Being finicky/fussy
Key Scenes
From Shoehorn Sonata which show distinctively visual ideas about various forms
of conflict.
Scene 2: quote / image
Techniques
Effect (visual or imagined
Idea about personal / social /
cultural conflict
“Pulling out pages of the
Bible for cigarette papers”
•
•
Creates visual image of the
Holy Bible being reduced to
nothing more than a
cigarette. Sheila and Bridie’s
make several references to
their respective religions
(hymns* – churches - prayers)
The contrasting images of the
bible and the cigarette is a source
of tension, particularly for Bridie.
The audience visualises the wilful
destruction of significant cultural
beliefs. It shows that – in times of
struggle and extreme hardship the women made decisions which
conflicted with their spiritual and
cultural principles.
Bickering
image)to Unity
•
Contrast
Biblical
allusion
alliteration
Sheila’s gloves:
“______________________
________________”
Motel room:
“______________________
___________”
communal space to
share
Images of “conflict” in key scenes
Scene 4
In this scene, the tension in the relationship between
Bridie and Sheila is contrasted with the friendship they
shared in the face of the atrocities of the POW camp.
Scene 4: quote /
image
Techniques
“BRIDIE deliberately
ignores SHEILA’S rising
anger. Indeed, she holds
up some little motel coffee
sachets and looks at
them”
•
“it was the biggest debacle
since the Greeks took
Troy. And I bet you at
Troy there was some
British general’s forbear
saying [mimics cruelly]
‘What a smashing wooden
horse! I say chaps, wheel
her in!”
•
•
Effect (visual or
imagined image)
Body
language
Emotive
language
Symbol
Idea about personal /
social / cultural conflict
The contrast between Sheila’s
heightened emotional state and
Bridie’s unemotional interest in a
trivial object shows ____________
_______________________ (cont.)
Bridie’s allusion to the
wooden horse of Troy creates
an image of the futility of
war. The British vernacular
and emotive stage direction
creates a sarcastic parody of
British Imperial foolishness
The sarcasm also creates an
image of the Australian
cultural sense of larrikinism
and sarcastic sense of
humour. The vitriolic
“cruelty” in the stage
direction positions the
audience to observe the
fragile tension between the 2
women.
p.
quote
Technique and how it creates a “distinctively visual”
image
37
“BRIDIE deliberately
ignores SHEILA’S rising
anger. Indeed, she holds
up some little motel
coffee sachets and looks
at them”
The body language in this stage direction states
“________________________”. Bridie ignores Sheila
and focuses on small, insignificant details.
This shows tension between Sheila and Bridie. It
seems they are unable to communicate freely about
the intense and looming issues of their experiences
since being in the POW.
38
“it was the biggest
debacle since the Greeks
took Troy. And I bet you
at Troy there was some
British general’s forbear
saying [mimics cruelly]
‘What a smashing
wooden horse! I say
chaps, wheel her in!”
Bridie’s allusion the wooden horse of Troy creates an
image of the futility of war. The British vernacular
and emotive stage direction creates a sarcastic parody
of British Imperial foolishness. This is a dig at Sheila’s
cultural connection to the traditions and power of the
British Empire. The sarcasm also creates an image of
the Australian cultural sense of larrikinism and
sarcastic sense of humour. The vitriolic “cruelty” in
the stage direction positions the audience to observe
the fragile tension that stems from the different
cultural and social attitudes of Bridie and Sheila..
Scene 8
With the revelation of Sheila’s sacrifice in Scene 8, the
tension between Sheila and Bridie reaches a climax,
Scene 14
This is the final scene in which we see Sheila and Bridie
finally begin to leave the war behind.