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Memories, history, family… these are all the things that I thought of when I first opened the graphic novel The Arrival by Shaun Tan. The details in the artwork evoke these feelings. The artistry of the publication and title pages makes me think of an old family scrapbook. Let’s start with the actual pages: on the publication and title pages the artwork never ends. Unlike the pages in the rest of the book (except for the chapter pages) on these pages there is no border or edge it covers the entire page. The artist went to great lengths to make the pages appear to be yellowed, weathered, and frequently used. They look as if they had been bound in the pages of an old book.

The black and white image on the center of the title page appears to be a photograph taped to the page. It’s of a man with his back to the ‘camera’. By not sharing the man’s face on the cover page, Tan manages to make the book a part of everyone’s history. The man could be anyone, from any family, with any background. It makes the story instantly relatable. It’s the story of many people’s families… of mine, yours, your neighbors, etc. The detail in this part of the page is amazing. Tan even shows the tape in such a way that it appears weathered and old. The dedication, too, adds to the feelings of anonymity: “For my parents”. While we do know who the author is, the dedication to parents without names makes it also feel like it could be anyone’s family.

Tan introduces a history in just the publication and cover pages. The reader can tell the focus of the book by the title alone, but in keeping with the effect of the image it also helps this book represent everyone’s story. The title is: The Arrival, not The Arrival to __ or The Departure from ___. No specific location is mentioned. In keeping with this idea of immigration, the publication page includes an immigration inspection card with publication information on it. An inspection card is something that a family member might keep. What appears to be scraps of stamps, too, are included in the publication page with the scrap of another page that includes more publication information.

Shaun Tan’s artistry helps every reader relate and remember their families and histories.

Shaun Tan, the illustrator of The Arrival, documents the immigrant experience in his book through a series of hand-drawn images. The book follows a man who migrates alone to a new land and struggles to make a living. The man, initially lost and confused in the new world, finds a job and is able to bring his family over with him. He establishes a life in the new world with his family and new friends.

Shaun Tan doesn’t only share the man’s story, he gives the reader a way to share the man’s experience. Tan does this by incorporating realistic images in an imaginative world that is strange to both the protagonist and the reader. The illustrator puts e
asily recognizable and familiar human faces in a fictional environment. The protagonist is surrounded by strange creatures, buildings, modes of transportation and food, all of which make him feel lost and confused. However, the strangest thing that both the reader and the protagonist encounter in the book is the language. Shaun Tan uses language in his book to help the reader connect to the protagonist and share the protagonist’s feelings of fear, and helplessness in a new land.

The first glimpse of language serving as a barrier for the protagonist is when he arrives in the immigration center and seems to be doing an interview. The page shows the protagonist in a series of images with small pieces of paper containing symbols stuck on his clothing. The protagonist’s body language suggests that he is confused. He puts
his hand near his ear, shrugs, scratches and lowers his head, and then holds up a picture. The final image in the series shows the protagonist looking to the side and gripping his hat which suggests that he is worried. In these images, the protagonist is facing the reader directly and it’s almost as if the man is speaking with the reader and having trouble understanding what the reader is saying. The reader feels shares the man’s sense of confusion and uncertainty.

When the protagonist finally arrives in the city, he ends up drawing a picture of a bed to ask for housing and using pictures to find food. The buildings all around him are covered in the strange letters. The reader and the protagonist both have trouble knowing what to do next and it’s almost as if the reader figures it out with the protagonist. Because the language is strange to both parties, they both learn and experience the new world together. For example, when the protagonist gets a job putting up posters, the reader is happy for him and shares his sense of triumph. However, the reader also shares his sense of confusion and helplessness when his boss arrives and shows that all the posters are upside down.

Being able to connect with the protagonist on an emotional level allows the reader to really appreciate the immigrant experience. Through the strange language and letters, Shaun Tan is able to make any reader, immigrant or not, feel what it is like to be a person in a new and unfamiliar world.. In turn, this creates a bond of sympathy and understanding between the reader and the protagonist because the reader has a greater grasp of the struggles of an immigrant.

Shaun Tan’s The Arrival is, in essence, the framework for nearly every immigration story, from the melancholy departure, to the job search, to the bringing of the rest of the family to the new world. In the protagonist’s experiences in the foreign land he migrates to, a surprisingly essential element of the journey is the companionship by the “pet” he adopts upon moving into an apartment.

I find that the pet is an extension of the protagonist’s self in many ways—his instinctual self. It is the pet that encounters the girl that helps him decipher the map of the city, the pet that finds him food, and the pet that finds him his first job hanging up posters. The protagonist’s pet displays many of the same qualities as the protagonist such as his playfulness and youth-like curiosity, but it seems as though every person the protagonist encounters has a similar pet unique to him or herself. The pet is foreign yet familiar and is the protagonist’s only permanent sense of companionship in the foreign land he’s arrived at.

In general, the immigration narrative is often one of perseverance and survival, and the pet may be representative of the sense of self one must seek in retaining when immersed in a new world. Each character, no matter a recent immigrant or not, originated from somewhere and has a culture and background unique to him or herself that is embodied in that person’s pet. Even when the protagonist’s family arrives in the foreign land, they eagerly adopt the pet as an extension of the life the father has set up in this new world, but more so, the life he has preserved from the old.

When I first picked up Shaun Tan’s The Arrival I was surprised to find it under the children’s picture book section at Barnes and Noble. I didn’t know what to expect from the book, I certainly didn’t expect to connect to it emotionally the way that I did. The first time I looked through the book, I just quickly skimmed through it, not paying attention to the details. By doing this, I was a little confused. Sure it is a story about a man who leaves home, goes to some new land, and then eventually brings his family over as well. But what exactly is this strange land? What are these animals, strange foods, and odd buildings? What is this language? After going through the book again paying more attention to the details I realized that being confused about this land is the whole purpose to the story. These surreal details are meant to make you feel as if you too are traveling to a different country where life is different than what you’re used to.

The one surreal element of the new world that interested me the most was the language. It is completely different than anything we are used to. It is clearly not a western language because it is not a modern western alphabet. This takes away the typical stereotype that immigrant stories about those who moved West typically to America. This land could be anywhere because in truth, people escaped to many places. Shaun Tan’s father for example didn’t emigrate to the United States, he went to Australia.

Another aspect of this brand new language that I connected to was the fact that no reader could understand it, just like the protagonist. With no words at all the reader is able to connect with the protagonist and still understand the story. We are put in this new country where we point to words we don’t understand, words we don’t know how to pronounce, or how to read. The only way to communicate is through signs and images. It helped me connect my own life to the protagonist’s. My parents moved here from Albania and they didn’t understand any English at all. I was still a toddler at that time so I don’t remember much, but they’re stories about how they struggled so much because of miscommunication always makes me so much more appreciative of how easy I have it now. Reading this picture book I finally was able to understand what my parent’s meant by looking at something and having no clue what it meant. Just like the strange language in the book, English too was once strange for my parents.

This sense of attachment that I created with the protagonist is what made this book so meaningful for me, and what makes it so much more than any children’s picture book. It is a story that everyone lives through in one way or another, even moving to a new school, or town can leave you feeling confused and alone at first. You are able to live through the protagonist and see the story of the life of any immigrant unfold. We learn to get accustomed to this strange land and see that everyone has different experiences within it. Overall it’s not just one person’s or one ethnicity’s immigration story, it’s every human’s immigration story.

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.

Henry Burby

MHC 10201

3/25/16

 

Street Life in a Strange Land

Many stories attempt to tell what it is like to disembark in a totally alien land, and try to portray the alienation of most immigrants who truly know very little about their new home when they first arrive. Though many are very successful, the The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, takes a different, and very effective strategy. It puts readers in the shoes of an immigrant, and allows them to experience a new land themselves. The sequence of eight images, of the street life around the protagonist are equally strange and alien to the reader as it is to the immigrant, and approximates what it might be like to walk the streets of a totally foreign city, without any prior knowledge of its culture, flora, fauna, clothes, etc. The experience is made more realistic by the fact that, accept for the last, each image, is from eye height, and presumably shows the protagonist’s vantage point. Each picture presents the reader with some new element to wonder at. First is the newsboy, selling papers printed with strange symbols which the reader cannot understand. This is a recurring theme in the story. From the title page, the reader is unable to read any of the words in the story. this is exactly what happens to many immigrants, who have no experience with the native language of their new country. The language may be fascinating, or even beautiful (It is both in this story), but if it cannot be understood, it presents a serious problem for a visitor. One example from this story is when the protagonist takes the job putting up signs, and accidentally pastes them upside-down. Simpler issues include not being able to read maps, or understand documents, two more issues for the protagonist. The second picture introduces the strange animals of the new country, and their relationship to humans. The animal seems to be a cat/lizard/owl hybrid of some sort. In the modern first world, it is easy to find images of, and information about, all the discovered animals on the globe. However, in the past, and today in poor areas, this was much more difficult. The reader has the same reaction to this creature that a turn of the century Malaysian immigrant would at first sight of a New York City pigeon. The separation between the protagonist and his surroundings is heightened in later images by the introduction of strange clothing, devices, and food, all which mystify the reader and the protagonist. However, the most powerful element is the little boy standing next to the man being shaved. He stares directly into the eyes of the protagonist, from behind the sheet around his father’s neck, possibly for protection. His unusual hat seems strange to us, but the protagonist’s fedora seems to be equally bizarre to him. While everyone else in the scene ignores, or doesn’t notice, the protagonist, this boy, possibly because of his young age, looks unabashedly at the weird man in the dented, brimmed hat. The reader never learns how intelligent the animal companions are, but it is worth noting that the cat/lizard/owl also stares, possibly for the same reason. In any case, the feeling of not entirely friendly scrutiny is the same in both images. In the final image, the reader separates from the protagonist’s perspective, and sees what the natives do: a confused, lost looking man, trying to find his way around.

The scene where Vito reaches America is extremely poignant and powerful. It creates a sharp contrast with other depictions about the trip to Ellis Island, which are usually characterized as beautiful, joyous and hopeful. Instead, in this film, the camera pans over the faces of immigrant after immigrant and all of the faces are somber and worried. They are clustered together and forced on this tumultuous journey and there is not much joy to be had.

The way the film shows this scene is very interesting. The music is cultural and not necessarily sad or triumphant. In fact, there is a kind of ominous tone to the music actually, which I suppose sets the mood of the film, which is that America is not necessarily the land of the free and beautiful, for some especially.

In addition, the people on the ships can see the skyline of New York, but their view is blocked by the harbor and other ships. When they get off the boat they are forced through equal parts humiliating and infuriating customs. So it is as if their status as immigrants literally gets in the way of the hopes and dreams of their new lives in America. This is also seen later when Vito gets to his room facing the Statue of Liberty. His window is dirty and smudged but he looks out at the monument and sings a bittersweet melody in Italian. The idea is that he cannot access the America that was projected to him and so many others like him, (“give me your tired and poor and restless, etc) and that that image is stained. From his perspective, it is as if he is too “dirty”( the window) to access that version of America that can give him equal opportunity.

In Alger’s novel, Ragged Dick, he shows his view of New York, which is that people are able to shine above from little. Alger’s book showed that it was possible to break barriers, and to rise, supporting the rag-to-riches myth. Stephen Crane’s Maggie: A Girl of the Street shows the other side of this. In his novel, the character of Maggie, who he describes as capable of rising above if given the chance, is unable to do so due to circumstances and is dragged to prostitution, despair and death.

New York during the time the novels took place was known as “Empire City”, the nation’s largest and grandest metropolis. It was a master of finance, trade, and industry. It was also an attraction for many immigrants, and served as an economic market for the world. However, New York was also very corrupt. Many people tried to bring order to the “distended society” but mostly in vain. According to Hewitt, a respectable mayor, the city was imperialistically destined to succeed naturally; it only depended on its inhabitants whether they allowed it or not. Hewitt’s opponent, Henry George was less emphatic than Hewitt. He thought that with the increasing wealth, there was a struggle of the deepest poverty, struggle for existence, and idleness. He warned that if the problems were not addressed then there would soon be people on the streets and under such circumstances, progress is not real.

Mark Twain coined this time the “Gilded Age”, a time where greed was the token of realm but everything that shined was not gold. He also wrote a story that questioned the standing idea of the time that the rich were deserving and that the poor were undeserving and inferior. The social contract at the time was defined in means of survival of the fittest and material wealth, with many supporting Social Darwinism.

Economically, the city made many accomplishments. However, most of the methods used to create huge dominating businesses were unpleasant, with  owners being called “robber barons”. Robber barons of the time include Rockefeller (oil), Vanderbilt (railroads), and Carnegie (steel), among others. With many of these robber barons establishing their businesses on Wall St, Wall St. became the home for new wealthy businesses.  Rockefeller stood as an example of the rag to riches myth. He believed in Social Darwinism and thought that it was normal to eliminate competitors.

Rockefeller’s competition endangered so many businesses that people and the government began to reassess the social contract and government regulation. They began to put regulations on these trusts. Initial regulations were weak and trusts continued to grow, specifically in NY. In 1892, in fact, 1/3 of millionaire’s lived in NY. Economically, NY was so strong that it was called “the center around which other regional metropolises orbited, the great organizer of American commerce.”

With economic progress, the city also progressed physically with gas, electricity, railroads, mansions, and bridges. The majestic Brooklyn Bridge was an example of the progress and served as an urban symbol. Another great icon of the time was the statue of liberty, which of course became America’s symbol of freedom. The growth of the city however, did not come without corruption. In fact, with the Tweed Ring incident, it earned the title as “the worst governed city in the world.”

William Tweed emerged as a powerful man in the Gilded Ade, who provided a functioning, but corrupt, political system to the City. He had served various elected and appointed positions and because of his connections (and access to bribes and gifts), he was able to dominate the Democratic party and Tammany Hall. He represented the City’s shift from only patrician politicians to one open to middle class men. While he promoted democracy, he was also very corrupt. He had friendly judges naturalize new immigrants for votes, have people vote under different names, and have gangs sent out for opposition voters.  However, even though he was corrupt, Tweed did have pro-city bills passed. He secured allocations for schools, public baths, hospital and many other things. He also made a lot of money through his empire, and his extravagance sometimes offended New Yorkers.

Eventually, due to corruption, a movement began within Tammany and soon enough violence erupted on the streets.With the Orange Riot of 1871, in which Nativist attitudes of the 40’s and 50’s resurfaced specifically between the Catholic Irish and Irish Protestants, Tweed was no longer in control. This occurred because of Tweed’s failure to keep his Irish Catholic supporters. A year later, before an anti Irish Catholic parade of the Irish protestants, Tammany feared that a riot would break out. He therefore tried to stop the parade but in vain. The parade carried out with 1500 policemen on all side of the Protestants. Irish Catholics proceeded to throw stones and bottles at the marchers. Soon enough, the soldiers (mostly Catholic) began to fire. Bloodshed ensued and many casualties were taken. It was called the Tammany riots. Tweed’s corruption was finally proven when Tammany Ring’s bookkeeper passed away and the new bookkeeper gave Tweed’s the accounts to New York Times.

Eventually Tweed was arrested for all his actions and sent to jail where he stayed till death. Tweed showed to Americans that the powerful men of the Gilded Age were mostly all corrupt and that greed could negatively affect democracy.

The Gilded Age, although a victim of corruption, was not only a time of greed and disinterest in human suffering. Many were concerned of the “Social Question” and opted to help the poor. Even well-to-do influential New Yorkers decided to help. One of the main people who played a role in the urban problems was Jacob Riis. He was a journalist who took graphic photographs of the suffering he saw in the Five Points. Asking New York, “What are you going to do about it?”. Many different reforms began to take place as a result of Riis’s urging. In 1901, NY became the first city to require schooling for children under 12.

Riis also spoke against the evil of color causing Blacks to stand up for themselves. They fought against segregated schooling and won in 1900, when Roosevelt signed a desegregating school law for the state. During this time the upper classes were also learning about the urban problems. Lee Lowell serves as a perfect example of this. She was a woman from an upper class family who dedicated her life to charity and helping others. She advocated for a living wage, joined the Social Reform Club, and helped Riis in a children aid program among other things. She also served as the president of the New York Consumer League, which helped middle and upper class women boycott stores that exploited female workers.

Settlement Houses also came through and were supported by mostly upper and middle class men. Organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Ethical Culture Society also emerged. Due to the generosity of the rich, the City soon earned the name the “most charitable city in the world”. Riis called this time “the awakening”.

Through the Gilded Age people learned that they cannot only rely on themselves, but also had to rely on each other. This marked the transition from individual action to collective action. New York began to form labor unions. They stood behind the idea that no one would help them if they didn’t help themselves.On January, 1874, they formed a mass meeting from Tomspkins Square Park. Police withdrew permission of the rally at the last minute, and 1600 of them peppered the rally. The event turned violent with the police attacking the people rallying. Some people praised the police for saving NY from the riot, while many others were upset with police brutality. Three years later, police brutality appeared again when people planned for a national railroad strike. Henry Ward Beecher, also known as Brooklyn’s preacher, spoke harshly of activists seeking better pay. He said that people should be certainly given enough to live, but that a dollar a day was enough.

During this time, Samuel Gompers emerged as the nation’s leading labor organizer after playing part in the cigar makers’ strike. He believed that strikes were crucial for self advancement. He also believed that only coordinated protest and organization by workers themselves would be effective.

Labor activism began to surge, with 1200 strikes in NY city alone in 1886. Activists fought to reduce long shifts specifically. Central Labor Union was one of the large union leagues that formed. They organized walks and blocked roads and also participated in boycotts. The state responded with orders to arrest leaders and rioters on the basis of “conspiracy against trade”. Employers also called on police to help them against rioters.

CLU then turned to politic with Henry George as their candidate for mayor. George spoke for a better government, social justice and the abolition of industrial slavery. Tammany and the Democrats in turn supported Abram Hewitt. Through Tammany’s manipulation of the polls, Hewitt ended up winning. However, George was deeply respected for his campaign in and out of the US. Also after the election, more labor candidates entered politics, running for various offices. There were so many of them, that soon enough Tammany shifted to being pro-labor and reaching out to labor.

However, the labor’s successes were brief, as Gompers had once predicted that they would be due to the divisions between the people fighting for its control. Gompers was determined to separate the unions from politics. He began the American Federation of Labor, also known as the most important labor organization in American history.

Due to increased child labor in the late 19th century, newsboys began to speak up for themselves. In 1899, they met at City Hall Park and called a strike. While their organization did not last, the boys were successful for four major reasons. These reasons were that they were able to cooperate due to an established community, the gained sympathy of adults, they were able to spread to the city, and lastly because they had newspapers covering them. Riis had always supported betterment for children as he knew that they would be the adults of the future.

19th century New York City, home to social reformers and labor union leaders, manifested that having the ideals of the working class– integrity, diligence, and a little luck– would help you move up in the ranks. Several men including Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, and Horatio Alger published newspapers and books gave a more welcoming and promising portrayal of social darwinism. Other writers like Stephen Crane, however, chose to depict the unfavorable consequences of survival of the fittest. New York, at the times, was as powerful and prosperous, as it was corrupt and impoverished. Mark Twain deemed this era the Gilded Age because although social darwinism shaped Americans to work towards material earnings, these things were merely gilded.

New York City’s economy surely benefitted from robber barons like John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan. Some of the wealthiest names in the country lived in New York. Eventually, the city had the capacity to greatly impact American economy due to the spur of business and innovation. Growing up on a farm and working hard to become a successful businessman, Rockefeller would seem to embody the working class ideals. However he soon owned a monopoly over the oil industry and people like this caused the gap between the rich and the poor. On the surface, New York was the center for growth and opportunity, but in reality, a large majority of its inhabitants were impoverished and the political leaders of the city were corrupt.

William M. Tweed was one such leader. Through immoral modes of getting votes such as bribery, Tweed was able to put several of his men in noble government positions. He never became mayor, but he worked on the campaigns for nominees of the Democratic Party and Tammany Hall. In this way, positions for office were dictated by Tweed. He controlled the system. Not only did he bribe voters, but he also gained the favor of businessmen who provided Tweed supporters with work and Tweed made money off of them as well. Riots between the Protestants and the Catholic Irish immigrants surfaced New York; they were deemed “the Tammany Riot” because Tweed often bribed immigrant for their vote. Tweed’s corruption surfaced when his bookkeeper died and the new bookkeeper exposed Tweed’s ways. He was arrested and died in jail at the age of 55.

This instance showed New Yorkers that corruption plagued their political system. Jacob Riis was the one to show the city that poverty was unfortunately just as prominent. An immigrant from Denmark, Riis came to the Five Points via the New York Tribune and took photographs of the living conditions in that area. In 1890, he published his renowned book, How the Other Half Lives. The book depicts lives of immigrants and poor people in slums, not prostitutes and criminals like they were previously made out to be. Riis’s work called for social reform. The mayor at the time implemented public bath houses and better sanitation. Education reforms required children under the age of twelve to attend school. Women’s rights was another area for improvement. Josephine Lowell took part in boycotts and worked to provide a standard of working conditions for the overworked women in stores.

New Yorkers realized that there was power in numbers and labor unions were a way to fight for their rights together. Samuel Gompers  formed the Cigarmakers’ Union in 1877 and led organized strikes. Unfortunately, no matter how much Gompers wanted to keep labor unions and politics separate, protesters backed Henry George for mayor because his policies included labor reform. However, the democratic nominee won the election due to Tweed’s rigged voter system.

Perhaps the most effective labor union was the Newsies. The fact that the group consisted of young people who were able to negotiate with the big newspaper companies brought light to the children being the future of progressivism in New York.