The Arrival

     Telling stories is done in a number of ways. The one way people don't think of as often is by using just pictures, such as in The Arrival. As it has been said many times before, no matter what language you speak, pictures don't need a translation and are universal. By showing a series of images in sequence you can make the reader or viewer infer what's happening based on, in The Arrival's case, showing important, personal items being packaged up, you can infer that the person is moving. Tan does a good job of explaining why, while continuing the story line as well. As the main character is shown leaving the city it shows what looks to be an evil dragon tail within the dark city, which makes it seem like a bad, scary place. When he arrives at the new place, he goes through a sort of immigration process, and is assigned living quarters. I could tell this based on the check-ups he went through, the paper work he was given, and my general knowledge of how new immigrants could be admitted into a new country. He goes through a hard time transitioning into this new way of life, including getting a job. You can see this from the multiple panels of him talking to people in different parts of town, who all have somewhat sad and apologetic facial expressions. After he starts to settle in he mails his family but doesn't hear from them for a couple years. By showing a leaf in different each of the different seasons in progression, you could then infer that it has been a while until anything happens. When he gets the letter he runs out of the door to meet his loved ones who join him in this new, better city. Based on all the visual clues and hints, Shaun Tan made the story easy to understand and follow. Being able to tell a story without words is an interesting and effective way of engaging a reader in a story and making them get more connected to the characters.