The Shoe Horn Sonata Character Analysis Essay

It has been said by many including Vera Harms and Martin Luther King Jr. that the times that are tough, seem unclear and challenging bring out the power of the human spirit, friendship and the instinct to survive. John Mistos play The Shoe Horn Sonata is a perfect example of these things. Misto uses his characterization skills to portray the deep friendship between Sheila and Bridie. The music throughout the play was very influential in conveying the power of the human spirit and the stage directions showed the amazing amount of instincts the women had to survive.

Paragraph 1: friendship – characterization

In the play the characterisation of Sheila and Bridie showed their very deep friendship, this is evident through Mistos detailed characterization.

Again if I had to and I wouldn’t think twice – cause Bridie’s my friend and that’s all there is to it” (Misto, 1996 2: 13, p 86)

The friendship between Bridie and Sheila was very close in the war camps but it is seen from the beginning that there was obvious tension between the two women. Misto used the women’s predicament as a metaphor for life that one cannot move on with life until one’s past is resolved. Through the characterization the audience interprets that Sheila has not been able to get past the war because she was hiding a major part of her life away from the world. When she was finally able to let that go her character changed and that is very clear through Mistos

He has been able to do this with the aid of music. By using the music he has showed that although one can sing alone, singing in a group like in the camp can cause a bigger noise and represent a thirst to be heard. In scene three, act one young Sheila is singing Jerusalem. She sang it as a cry of help to have to strength to continue and to just hold on until she was found. The lyrics bring her hope that she will be found and saved because Britain will be victorious and take care of their people. Music was also used in the camps where the women formed the choir. This was a shining hope for the other people in the camp that it was possible to get out and gave spirit and fire back within the camp.

“- even though we were starving we were all in tune. And while we sang there wasn’t a war. There was only peace on earth” (Misto, 1996, 1:7, 53).

When the prisoners formed the choir it was the first act in the ‘rebel’ against the Japanese and brought all people hope in the camp that even if they were there and things happened they would not let it bring them down. The power of the human spirit was so strong that all the prisoners in the camp were filled with hope and a joy that the detainers could not take from them.

Paragraph 3: Instinct to