The Arrival - Shaun Tan (3 points)

I was initially really interested in The Arrival due to the art style as well as the wordless aspect. I was not disappointed by the level of detail and the amount of storytelling within it. A part that struck me the most was the 'arrival' of the father in the new city. It reminded me a lot of Ellis Island with the presentation of the father going through immigration. It also reminded me of when my parents were going through the citizenship process. I particularly liked how Tan illustrated how different the city was through the use of the little aliens around. It was a perfect allegory for culture shock after coming into a new city.

I also found it telling that Tan had the father come to the new city first before the rest of his family. When my parents immigrated to the US when I was a baby, my dad did the same. I'm not quite sure why this struck a reaction from me. I think it could be because it's a pretty common practice among people trying to immigrate to a new country with a family. It added a personal touch to the story of The Arrival. The final aspect of The Arrival that I enjoyed was seeing the father meet people who had come to the city before them and illustrating how they got there. My family connected with other people who came to the US around the same time we did, so seeing that illustrated was also a nice touch.