The Arrival

                Now when I first read about the Arrival I was keen on thinking it was about how there’s a whole different world in almost anything. I know that sounds a bit vague but I imagined there was a whole galaxy in a small molecule. I was certain that the galaxy was under someone’s dusty bed. But once going through the comic again it tells a whole different story with a much bigger meaning then I could ever imagine. It tells a story about a man going through immigration to a whole new place he has no idea about with his family. By the looks of things it seems he didn’t have much of a choice. Through the transition the comic portrays how it is to be confused about where they are going, seeing a doctor and trying to get papers to be legal in his new home. Once he’s there he has to learn the language, the way of things, rules and so on. Once he meets the people he finds other immigrants just like himself and how they ended up in their new home. It’s a bit heartwarming.

                Shaun Tan does an amazing job of showing this incredibly in-depth story without a single word. The visuals and style does a great job of showing the audience this story. I feel that the expressions on the characters faces show what this story is really about. If the main protagonist didn’t seem confused while living in his new home I would not have ever known this was a new place for him. Also the characters the protagonist spoke to or tried to speak to and how they were clearly from different cultures on how they were dressed and body characteristics. It shows without words how many people can relate to the protagonist without being where he came from. This is also greatly shown through visual flashbacks. It’s great how the story loops showing that it’s relatable to anyone. But most importantly how a new place can soon feel like home once you have settled in. Which is shown in the last page showing people from different places and backgrounds living together, helping each other to live in a new home.