As Henson’s narrative progresses, the Japanese soldier’s sexual abuse begins to stretch beyond being defined by the details of their numbers and more towards the grotesque and bestial details of her rape. The Japanese soldiers, despite having no self-control over their sex drives, would seek ways to make sex more pleasurable for themselves at the expense of Henson’s humanity. In one instance, Henson illustrates how she would feel like a pig as some soldiers would tie her legs up to the wall with a belt as they raped her (40). The rape Henson experienced by these soldiers would not only be morally degrading to her, but also degrading to her as a human being. The soldiers would manipulate parts of Henson’s body as if she were an object, pinning …show more content…
Henson’s treatment during her rape made her appear less human as only her physical traits would be mentioned, used, and immediately disregarded when in regard to the Japanese soldiers, her emotions and fears never paid heed to. Another display of the Japanese’s bestial sexual impulses is portrayed when Henson describes how out of anger, a man “grabbed [her] hand and forced [her] to fondle his genitals,” (39). Henson’s body is treated once again like an object as the soldier only sees her at the moment as the vehicle for his sexual contentment. The words Henson uses to describe the man’s sexual actions towards her are forceful and invoke the feeling of the impulse being animalistic and crazed. This ‘unhinged’ behavior the soldier exhibits could be linked to the popular idea stated by Women and Asian Studies professors Margaret Stetz and Bonnie Oh that “[Japanese] fighting men often become ‘deranged’” (6). Henson, being a comfort woman, is the victim of his ‘deranged’ behavior in which he vents onto as we, much like the previous soldier, disregards her current emotions and