Blog Repost- Shaun Tan- The Arrival

The arrival by Shaun Tan is a very personal approach to the characters feeling of isolation in a foreign land. The story is told through snapshot drawings of everyday life. Everything from the food that is eaten, to the different fauna and flora that can be observed in this place. Not only does Tan portray this feeling of alienation, but he also makes the reader feel the same way; the animals have some resemblance to earthly creatures but even they are highly stylized. This feeling loneliness is also being experienced by the reader.The rendering of the work is phenomenal, when I see the mythical creatures mixed with magical cities, and I am immediately awed. Even the language that is posted on boards in the piece looks like alien hieroglyphs.
Tan portrays the differences even in the cloud formations.He immerses us in his environments, so that we too might be awed in the same way as the characters in the book.In a way Tan portrayed the character as loosing his identity in this new world. Personally, I think these pieces represent the United States and all the prospects she has to offer, in saying this many of the customs are different and a culture shock is immediately noticed, in this instance I speak from personal experience.In certain scenes he shows the character as tiny, so as to further the feeling of insignificance, to where some of the birds are even larger than him. Tan has to communicate through sketches due to an obvious language barrier.
By showing flashbacks of the characters family, we the reader have a tendency to feel sad for him and share his feelings.Things in the city look surreal and promising, yet daunting at the same time due to his cultural obstacles.Even the very physics of his existence seem to be off, he doesn't fit in. This is most easily seen when there are ships in the sky going beneath bridges.Everything is larger than life, everything looks mysterious and industrialized.He does however get used to these unusual settings and adopts some of the strange creatures. Each moment of his life is documented so as to accustom himself to his new reality.In the end he his family joins him in his new life (presumably in New York City). The drawings in this book are spectacular, the essence of his surroundings are personified for the viewer which makes the read all the more enriching.The composition, lighting and value is really beautiful all around. This is really a magnificent work of art.