The Shoehorn Sonata by John Misto“On the other side of our barbed wire fence were twenty or thirty Australian men – thin like us – wearing hats floppy. Unlike the Japanese, they had hairy legs. And they were lined up, serenading us." John Misto created a written visual image that emerges in Act 1, Scene 7 (Page 52). This is brought up in the show when Bridie and Sheila are interviewed by Rick (presenter), initially they were talking about the conditions they were in, how they were starving and the lack of nutrition, then it moves on to how they sang. through Christmas hunger. The Japanese then allowed the Australian men to visit the nurses, while the nurses sang them a Christmas carol. “The Japanese let us do it.” Misto created this image so that the viewer can understand the separation between men and women in war; it was the image created that was used to show the division of the Australians by the Japanese. The Japanese wanted to be able to control the Australians while they were in prison camps. In this quote the audience uses their imagination to imagine this division of Australians. The separation of the sexes serves to take away the feelings of the prisoners; Not allowing them to communicate or be together means blocking the emotions they would normally feel. The Japanese are simply stopping them from feeling emotions, stopping this would be dehumanizing the Australians to make them do the work, like a robot, just a number for the Japanese to count. Simply giving orders from the Japanese and receiving no response, comments or rebellion would lead to death. The visual language used emphasizes the effect on how the audience understands what is being said, "- thin like us -" is giving a side note for the audience. This simply provides the public with the information needed to understand the plight of Australian men, as the public already knows the plight of nurses; the relationship lets the public know the state of men. The dash gives the reader or viewer a space to stop and think about what is being said, this helps the viewer understand what is being said due to the emphasis placed on the quote.