Shoe Horn Sonata Visual Analysis

Distinctive images can portray a wide range of ideas that individuals have on themselves, others and the world around them. Such images can influence the way of which we view themes and other individuals around us. This concept is demonstrated in John Misto’s ‘Shoe-horn Sonata’ through the use of the themes of music and symbolism. Themes of symbolism and visualisation are explore in the music video of Missy Higgin’s ‘Oh Canada’ (directed by Natasha Pincus). Both of these texts discover the ideology that distinctive images can offer a vast array of perceptions of the world around us. The texts look deep into the challenges against societal normalities of human relations and ideas of the ramifications that conflict has on individuals all around …show more content…
In act one, scene three of Misto’s play, the audience is able to visualise a younger Sheila in petrification when the Japanese aircrafts had a spotlight on their vessel. With the symbolism of the spotlight and the descriptive tone used throughout the scene it is clear to the audience what was happening at the time. This theme and technique of lighting brings the audience into the world of the text and they are able to have their perceptions of others changed by visualising what has happened to individuals in the past. This is supported by the stage direction, “Sheila stands, fixed in by a very, very bright spotlight”. Where yet again Sheila is fixed by a spotlight when she is retelling her story of her boat vessel journey. In summary, through the preceding example given it is reasonable how the theme of symbolism alongside with the technique of lighting can lead to metaphorical distinctive images and they can influence an individual’s new understanding of the world around …show more content…
In the poem, a persona, who is symbolically the parental figure, is watching a ferry (symbolically their child) leave them and enter modern society, in other words, maturity. The poem demonstrates the discovery of a lack of individuality in the modern world. This idea is supported by the quote, “The ferry wades now into the broad open harbour, to be lost soon amongst a silver blizzard of light.” This suggests that the tranquil ferry will get lost into the blindness of the city lights, symbolising how an individual can have a challenging life, but leading to a better outcome. The simile used in the poem, “a sound like touches of the brush on a snare drum,” supports the fact that the movement into adulthood is gentle, on the contrast it is also hesitant which portrays challenges along the way of maturity. In summary, through the preceding examples given in the text, the themes explored definitely show how a discovery can lead to new understandings in life and symbolise the difficulty of reaching moments in life such as