The Arrival

Tan, Shaun. The Arrival. 2007. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 9780439895293

Plot Summary

Who needs words to tell a story? Shaun Tan certainly doesn't in his graphic novel The Arrival. The story begins with our protagonist leaving his family to travel to a new, strange land. The reader sees him struggle to understand and be understood. He wants to find food, so he draws a picture of bread. Instead, he is shown various strange shapes that his companions demonstrate how to prepare and eat. He learns from others how they, too, left their homelands to travel to this strange place. Once he starts to get the hang of his new surroundings and saves up enough money, he sends for his family to join him. The sweet reunion is made all the more poignant in the way that his daughter helps the community cycle to begin again. 

Critical Analysis

With only the use of gray-scale and sepia-tinted illustrations, author/illustrator Shaun Tan takes the reader on a visually fantastic journey into the life and experience of an immigrant. While the illustrations are beautiful enough to be enjoyed by younger children, the struggles of the immigrant experience will resonate with older children and even adults. 

Tan's illustrations connect the reader immediately to the main character. The emotion and sensitivity are evident through the multitude of small, detailed snapshots included on each page, interspersed with full-page and double-page spreads that draw back to let the reader see the big picture. 

The setting at first seems familiar, when the protagonist is saying goodbye to his family. But when he arrives at his destination, it is evident that he is nowhere that the reader has every experienced. The buildings are strange, the language unintelligible squiggles, the transportation odd. Even the household appliances will take some figuring out. Yet even in this strange setting, the reader gets the idea that it is more familiar than you first thought. 

It wasn't until he was introduced to the strange foods in that country that it dawned on me that this confusion, frustration, and uncertainty is what some immigrants must feel like when coming to my very "normal" country. As I continued reading with that lens, watching him try to find and keep a job took on new meaning. When he realized that all the posters he had posted were upside down because he couldn't read the language, I felt his embarrassment, even his shame. But even through moments of difficulty, he is able to connect with others, many of whom have their own stories to tell. It is through the building of this small community that he is able to start to build his new life.

His struggle ends up being worth it, though, when he is able to send for his family. Ultimately, the struggle was for them, to give them a better life. As his daughter adapts to her new world, she is able to also help other new arrivals to find their way. 

Professional Praise

 New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2007

ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2008

2007 Parents' Choice Gold Award

From School Library Journal: "Tan captures the displacement and awe with which immigrants respond to their new surroundings in this wordless graphic novel."

From Booklist: "The Arrival proves a beautiful, compelling piece of art, in both content and form."

Connections

If you loved Shaun Tan's beautiful fantasy book, you might enjoy these that he's also done:

Lost & Found. (2011). ISBN 978-0545229241

Tales from Outer Suburbia. (2009). ISBN 978-0545055871

The Bird King: An Artist's Notebook. (2013). ISBN 978-0545465137