In Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, the vivid illustrations within the graphic novel color the journey of a young immigrant who leaves his family behind in order to venture out and make a living in the great unknown. Throughout his stay in the foreign world, the man encounters various figures in learning how to adapt to his new surroundings; in particular, an elderly man who shares the protagonist’s job in the factory. The old man’s tale of his war-ridden voyage back home, only to find it in complete destruction, creates a powerfully saddening yet nostalgic undertone at that point in the novel. However, the image that follows that anecdote, and the one that rang most potent to me, was the image of the protagonist and the elderly man surrounded in a field of white, bird-like creatures, illuminated by vibrant sunlight.
This image struck to me for several reasons. First, the image marks as a significant turning point in the novel because of the shift in color scheme. In the previous parts, the novel is colored in primarily gray, black, and white; portraying the dark fears of the protagonist in a different world as well as the ominous stories of emigration from the other people he encounters in his travels. The use of bright yellow and brown tones provides a period of relief from the dark and vaguely depressing nature of the protagonist’s experiences in the new country, and for once substantiates a sense of hope for the rest of the plot. In drawing this image, Tan shows that not all hope is lost during the immigration process, and acts as a reminder to both the reader as well as the protagonist about why people emigrate in the first place. There is something beautiful to be found even in the darkest of places and this image encapsulates the essence of that message.
Not only does this image symbolizes the light at the end of the tunnel, but it also serves as a transition from the uncertain aspects of immigration and recreating oneself to the tangible memories and achievements of the immigrant mentality of working to sustain oneself as well others. While coming off as a bit fantastical in nature, the image of bright lights and leisurely moments act to ground the plot in the subtext of what is going around the protagonist. In this scene, the protagonist and his elderly coworkers enjoy some free time and play simple games; the simplicity of the scene is juxtaposed with the harsher realities of immigrant work and adjusting to life in an alien area. Tan introduces another component of the multi-faceted system of city life by both physically and culturally distinguishing between the urban grind and lax suburbia. The image is vastly open, with the two figures seen miniscule in size to the natural environment around them. The perception of depth in the image shows that the subjects are in the background, but the focal point in the foreground and the flying creatures that inhabit the field. Tan also uses the rule of thirds by drawing the huge sun diagram in the right third of the image, thus drawing more attention to it due to its location as well as its visual enormity.
This image encompasses all the traits of what the “Immigrant Dream” is: to create a world where life is better for oneself and their loved ones and where success and stability are within reach through hard work. There is a sense of glory that permeates throughout the image of the figures in the sun and the field and that feeling is something that so many immigrants strive to establish when making the jump from homeland to land of opportunity.
