The Arrival

This week I chose to look at Shaun Tan’s graphic novel- ‘The Arrival’. I first saw this book a few years ago and loved it, so I was eager to revisit the story with my ‘school teacher’ lenses on.

 The book includes no words, however Tan tells a very moving story through his beautiful and detailed illustrations. These images are arranged in ‘comic book’ style; with some pages divided into a grid of drawings (to be read from left to right), as well as some full page illustrations. All images are printed in sepia tones, giving a sense that perhaps the story took place a long time ago and adding an element of ‘antiquity’ to the book’s aesthetics.

The story itself follows a young man who leaves behind his wife and small daughter in their impoverished city, in order to seek out better opportunities for them in a faraway land. On his arrival, the central character faces many new problems including things like language barriers, difficulty finding employment, and unfamiliarity with the country’s foods, animals and customs.

Over time, with the help of some new friends (who know first-hand what the immigrant experience is like), the young man finds his feet in his new home and is eventually able to introduce his family to their new home.

Tan has included huge amounts of detail in each image, including a whole invented culture and ecosystem (reflected in the images of strange fruits, vegetables, animals and buildings).

I particularly love this text, because I can recognise some of my own family’s story within it. My grandparents immigrated to Australia from Holland when they had a young family- and I have grown up hearing stories about the various challenges they faced. Many of these family anecdotes resonate strongly with those depicted in ‘The Arrival’, and the book’s design and imagery is reminiscent of some old photo albums which are part of my family history.

In terms of classroom use, I think this book could be useful in several ways. Not only does the story help to ‘de-foreign-ise’ those who are new to a country (such as immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees), it also requires readers to exercise multiliteracy skills (as the meaning is constructed through imagery).  I believe the text would be most suited to older students (as these children will be able to look into the text quite deeply), however I don’t see why it couldn’t be used in any year level (for very young children, just looking at the pictures would still be a worthwhile activity).