Book Review: THE ARRIVAL by Shaun Tan

1.     BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007.

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

The Arrival is a graphic novel consisting entirely of illustrated panels. The panels depict the immigration of a family from a home oppressed by darkness to a strange land marked by strange customs and strange creatures. To heighten the difficulties, the family isn’t able to immigrate together so the mother and daughter proceed first with the father following later. Once the father arrives in the new land, however, he is distraught to learn he isn’t able to find his wife and daughter. He searches and searches while gradually becoming accustomed to the newness of his life, finding a job and a place to live. When he has almost given up hope, he is able to find his family again.

3.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This graphic novel masterfully depicts the complete strangeness many immigrants encounter when moving to a new country. Many illustrations depict fantastic and outlandish images designed to help the reader feel how unsettling it is to find everything around him or her to be different. The images of animals, foods, occupations, and languages are masterfully done and leave the reader slightly uneasy.

Each panel is done in sepias, grays, whites, and blacks making the story reminiscent of earlier eras when people immigrated in droves. Yet there is no feel for specific countries or peoples. The characters in the novel could come from anywhere and are going to what is definitely an unfamiliar place. Even the time period is uncertain thanks to Tam’s use of surrealism. Some panels leave the reader feeling as though they have peeked into a historical occurrence. Others are very futuristic in how the buildings appear, or in the objects people have. All of this adds to the feeling of uncertainty and unfamiliarity. Even in its strangeness, though, the reader can relate to the story. The father finds comfort in a pet – a stray animal he takes in. He writes letters with recognizable stamps and the telltale symbols of airmail envelopes. He hangs his laundry to dry near the window. In short, Mr. Tan has created a very tangible interaction between the reader and the feelings of immigration.

Perhaps the final link in this story is the pictures inside the front and back covers of immigrants. Were they real people? Were they not? Where were they from? Where were they going? The depiction of those immigrants is a final reminder of the many people who have left homes and even families for the promise of something better.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred Review, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: Tan captures the displacement and awe with which immigrants respond to their new surroundings in this wordless graphic novel. It depicts the journey of one man, threatened by dark shapes that cast shadows on his family's life, to a new country. The only writing is in an invented alphabet, which creates the sensation immigrants must feel when they encounter a strange new language and way of life. A wide variety of ethnicities is represented in Tan's hyper-realistic style, and the sense of warmth and caring for others, regardless of race, age, or background, is present on nearly every page. Young readers will be fascinated by the strange new world the artist creates, complete with floating elevators and unusual creatures, but may not realize the depth of meaning or understand what the man's journey symbolizes. More sophisticated readers, however, will grasp the sense of strangeness and find themselves participating in the man's experiences. They will linger over the details in the beautiful sepia pictures and will likely pick up the book to pore over it again and again.”

Starred Review, BOOKLIST: “Recipient of numerous awards and nominations in Australia, The Arrival proves a beautiful, compelling piece of art, in both content and form. Tan (The Lost Thing, 2004) has previously produced a small body of off-kilter, frequently haunting stories of children trapped in surreal industrial landscapes. Here, he has distilled his themes and aesthetic into a silent, fantastical masterpiece. A lone immigrant leaves his family and journeys to a new world, both bizarre and awesome, finding struggle and dehumanizing industry but also friendship and a new life. Tan infuses this simple, universal narrative with vibrant, resonating life through confident mastery of sequential art forms and conventions. Strong visual metaphors convey personal longing, political suppression, and totalitarian control; imaginative use of panel size and shape powerfully depicts sensations and ideas as diverse as interminable waiting, awe-inspiring majesty, and forlorn memories; delicate alterations in light and color saturate the pages with a sense of time and place. Soft brushstrokes and grand Art Deco–style architecture evoke a time long ago, but the story's immediacy and fantasy elements will appeal even to readers younger than the target audience, though they may miss many of the complexities. Filled with subtlety and grandeur, the book is a unique work that not only fulfills but also expands the potential of its form.”

5. CONNECTIONS

*Graphic novels are exceptionally popular among young readers at present. The Arrival is a great way to introduce graphic novels that depict real events from history. Many graphic novels focus on fictional stories, but more and more often, graphic novels tell real stories of real people in a way that invites young readers to explore them.

*Other historical graphic novels for young adults:

Jacobson, Sid. THE 9/11 REPORT: A GRAPHIC ADAPTATION. ISBN: 0809057395.

Spiegalman, Art. MAUS I: A SURVIVOR’S TALE: MY FATHER BLEEDS HISTORY. ISBN: 0394747232

Spiegalman, Art. MAUS II: AND HERE MY TROUBLES BEGAN. ISBN: 0679729771