Brace yourselves; Winter
Break is coming – and consequently, the end of the semester. We’ve ventured through some unexpected and
unexplored territory this semester, been mildly scarred by Comix and enriched
by the experiences of Craig Thompson and Art Spiegelman, and even discovered a
few more works just waiting to be read during the hiatus. However, I’d like to have a look at the
graphic novel that kicked off the semester: The
Arrival by Shaun Tan. Despite being
a wordless graphic novel, it is one not easily sped through, nor should it be;
the care that Tan took rendering out this fantastic little world, alongside all
the little background nuances make The
Arrival a treat for all ages. I feel like I neglected it in the beginning of the semester (and accidentally tainted the initial tone of the entry), so I wish to remedy that since I love Shaun Tan's work.
One of the first things I noticed about The Arrival was the pacing. Tan opted to take his time while fleshing out
the world and the situation the protagonist found himself in, and it feels all
the more real because of such care. An
early example can be seen in his paneling, specifically his use of tiny,
completely square panels in a grid on one page; this type of paneling is use
repeatedly to depict the passage of time throughout the graphic novel. The first instance we see this utilized just
captures little moments, and little everyday mundane things as the protagonist
packs, which adds to the poignancy of the scene as we realize he’s leaving his
family behind for a new place. In the
second chapter, it’s used as a double-page spread (also mirroring the boxed
faces of numerous immigrants seen before the start of the story), with
different types of clouds in different states of discoloration filling in the
time between the beginning of the protagonist’s journey on the ship to when he
finally reaches his destination. It’s
interesting to note that each time this device is used, the moments in between
each panel seem to get longer, as this element is also used later to indicate
possibly a year passing through the death and blooming of a flower.
Something I somehow hadn’t fully understood before during
my first read-through was the backstories of each of the characters the
protagonist encountered. I never
realized that each character was essentially running away/escaping from
something: for the protagonist, possibly escaping some looming terror or form
of oppression (as I mentioned before, the imagery presented heavily reminded me
of WWII); the oriental-looking woman fled her home country after essentially
becoming a human cog in an industrial machine as a child (which is interesting,
as some characters willingly do so in order to make ends meet in their new
country); the grocer and his son may have been escaping religious persecution
(due to the church-looking structures in one panel, as well as the use of the
medallion being reminiscent of early Christians using the fish or cross to
practice in secret); and the old man is essentially running away from his past
and the family that is no longer there, due to his hometown being destroyed in
a war he fought in. Realizing this, it
made the ending all the more poignant, with everything being cyclical (why
people were fleeing to a new country, the process of assimilating, helping new
arrivals who underwent similar journeys, etc.)
I mentioned previously
how the strength of the gestures and characters’ expressions help carry narrative,
and I strongly believe that still holds true.
Even little, in-between gestures help in telling the story by forcing
the reader’s eye to slow down, and take the moment in, and it seems like Tan
carefully ensured that each panel had some sort of significance to the story,
whether it was actually helping to move the plot forward, or better pace out
events.
Shaun Tan is among my favorite contemporary illustrators,
and while it’s too early to say it’s his opus magnum, I believe this may
possibly be his best work yet. The
amount of care and level of detail and research put into this short graphic
novel is clearly evidenced from within the first few pages, and I’d love to see
more work of this nature hit the shelves (whether it was from him or not
matters less than the content). Seeing
as another one of his
stories has been turned into a short, I can definitely see something like
this being given the same treatment later as well. Given what he’s been able to create as a
relatively younger illustrator, it’ll be interesting to see what else he
produces in the future.
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| I don't want to repeat what I've already said in the last paragraph of my previous entry, but I will at least talk about how it was presented throughout the comic. Given the environment and dress of the characters, I still feel the black spikes were supposed to represent the Nazi presence during WWII, and feel this may further support my opinion. Top: The ominous presence lurking over the protagonist's home country. Middle: looking closely at the water, you can see the same black spikes jutting out of the water, possibly indicating how such a presence can never be fully shook. Bottom: if the dark visuals weren't enough, the protagonist's reaction to what he first thinks to be the presence confirms that whatever was back in his home country is a malevolent thing that has left a great and terrible impression on those affected by it. |
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