Humour


 * Humour**

What is the use / impact of this?


 * __Black Humour:__**

"We all wore helmets...And if a soldier didn't have one, we made him wear a bedpan" The ridiculous nature of this suggestion - that instead of a helmet, the patients wore bedpans on their heads - provides an extremely clear image for the audience. It is a comical image, like something you might see in a political cartoon, and it is one that sticks inside your mind. It is just another reminder of the desperation felt by a city that was totally unprepared for the destruction that was about to arrive.

"They were very considerate like that - the British" Bridie's sarcastic statement, in relation to the British considering killing army nurses to avoid rapings by the Japanese, is an example of black humour. Although her purpose is somewhat humorous, her tone is bitter, and highlights her anger and frustration at the situation in Singapore was handled so poorly by the British. Bridie's comments suggest the cheap value placed on their lives - adding to this image of a British Empire the neglected its citizens, sentencing them to 3 years of degredation and humiliation.