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The Arrival: Certainty and Uncertainty (3 Points)

 The Arrival by Shaun Tan follows the life of a man who leaves home in order to find new opportunities for him and his family. He sets out alone, and seems often confused about the new culture he is around. With the need of guidance, he asks people around him for directions, he asks for assistance in daily tasks, and he searches for a job, all the while encountering people who also have, at some point in their life, fled their home to this new place. I felt that this story dealt a lot with the bittersweet feeling of this new life being mostly uncertain contrasting with the certainty of his family. One of the more bittersweet moments for me was when, after a series of tests and procedures, the man goes to his new, cramped home and pulls out a briefcase that has his wife and child at a dinner table in it. To me, this represents his uncertain future contrasting with his memory of his family motivating his determination to keep going even through difficulties adjusting to this new environment. Another moment of bittersweet comes right after this scene, where the man hangs up a framed photo of his wife and daughter, and the panels 'zoom' out of the scene to reveal a large apartment-style building with people in many of the windows. Even farther out of the scene, we see more apartment buildings alongside a factory-like building. While the environment resembles his room in that it is cluttered and tightly packed, the lighting and tone of the scene, along with the bright birds, makes it feel like there is hope for the future. The same tone and lighting comes back in the end of the novel when the family finally arrives to the new place. This moment also appears bittersweet to me as the dad is teaching the daughter part of the new culture he learned, surrounded in this small space by all his new items that he has obtained throughout his journey. Despite the change, the family is happy and smiling in their new environment.  

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