Title: The
Arrival
Author: Shaun Tan
Publisher: New York: Arthur A. Levine Books,
2006
ISBN: 978-0-439-89529-3
Summary: The
Arrival is Shaun
Tan’s graphic novel about the journey of an everyman as he leaves his beloved
wife and daughter in order to immigrate to a strange land, meets and befriends many
other immigrants in various stages of integration, and finally brings his
family to the new home he has created.
Critical Analysis: With the cover pages containing rows
of familiar-seeming individual immigrant faces, The Arrival at first blush seems to be another treatment of the
well-known exodus from Europe and Asia to America and Australia from the 1890’s
and into the 1910’s, but it isn’t.
Tan’s
wordless odyssey traces the steps of an unnamed man as he establishes himself
in a new land and integrates himself into a new culture. Our everyman hero needs no language as his
actions and expressions acutely indicate his emotions and experiences. Tan’s
amazing artwork speaks for our hero.
Realistic sepia
illustrations convey not only the underlying purposes of emigration (such as
escaping danger or economic hardship), but also the jarring immigrant experience.
Tan manages this by incorporating science-fiction elements into illustrations
reminiscent of period-style photographs. The result is sheer brilliance as the
unexpected elements bring the shock and bewilderment a new immigrant may feel
to the heart and mind of a reader in a way words cannot, allowing a deep level
of immersion in the story.
Reviews:
The flow of
the story is smooth, beginning with visual details, expanding to wider scenes, and
then shrinking back to the details. It is through the smaller illustrations
that the pacing of the plot is established. The illustrations for the most part
are arranged as a movie story-board, although key moments of peace,
understanding, and occasionally terror, are illustrated in panoramic two-page
spreads or full panels. The stories of
our immigrant’s friends are treated in the same manner but with a different
border style around the panels, making each friend’s back-story distinct within
the larger novel.
The
characters are drawn together by more than just a common immigration
experience. They are drawn together because of a shared goal--creating a better
life for one’s family. We are drawn into their circle because, immigrant or
not, it’s a goal we all seek.
Awards:
2008-2009
Virginia Young Readers
2007
New York Times Best Illustrated Book
2007
School Library Journal Best Book
2007
World Fantasy Award, Best Artist
Reviews:
Kirkus Review: “An astonishing wordless graphic
novel blends historical imagery with science-fiction elements to
depict—brilliantly—the journey of an immigrant man from his terror-beset land
of origin to a new, more peaceful home….It’s an unashamed paean to the
immigrant’s spirit, tenacity and guts, perfectly crafted for maximum effect.”
School Library Journal: “Young readers will be
fascinated by the strange new world the artist creates…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.”
Also by
Shaun Tan:
Lost
and Found: Three by Shaun Tan. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011. ISBN:
978-0545229241
Tales
from Outer Suburbia. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-0545055871
Sketches
from a Nameless Land: The Art of the Arrival. Lothian Children’s Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-0734411648
Activities:
Discover your family’s immigration story or
other key moments by interviewing relatives and/or searching your family
history on websites such as familysearch.org or ancestry.com.
Check out Scholastic’s Ellis Island immigration
activities at http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/index.htm
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