My Response to The Arrival

When first glancing at the graphic novel The Arrival, I was nervous to see no text or words to follow along with the story. Though, surprisingly I was shocked to find out it was easier to follow along through pictures then if reading words line by line on a page. What helped a lot in the pictures was the gestures and facial expressions that the figures gave, giving us an idea what they were trying to show or say. Like when the man had to be taught of how the other world worked, a lot of the people that helped him along he way had to show him through pointing or demonstrations. For example, when the man is trying to earn money he decides to put up posters, later though other man who hired him to do this task shows him he was doing it all wrong. The man was putting the posters up the wrong way, this was shown in the surprise look in the mans face, and the aggravated look in the other man's face with the poster in his hands the right way. There are way more situations were facial expressions and gestures showed what that scene on the page was trying to convey. Another thing that stuck out to me is how the author Shaun Tan showed the changing of seasons with the transformation from the foreign flower dying slowly. It gave a nice time lapse, but also giving the reader the information that it was a different time period now. Overall, I feel like Shaun Tan captured the story of showing how foreigners feel when coming to a new place. Tan draws it like living on a new planet that almost non real to someone, and that person has to learn different things and different ways to do things, even if its odd to them. In conclusion, words were not needed in this novel, for all the images said it all.