The Arrival by Shaun Tan is the story of an immigrant told through the lens of the other worldliness of the fantasy genre. An important aspect of the engine that drives this story, is the absence of words.
Perhaps, one of the reasons why the wordless-ness of The Arrival works is because it acts as a representation of not only being in an environment where others may not understand you, but also in an environment where others are not willing to hear you. One part of the story sees the protagonist covered with labels. He can’t hear what is being told to him in the second panel on the first row. By the eighth panel he holds up a picture of his family, almost to explain himself or to wonder where they are. Who he is talking to seems to not have an answer for the protagonist, leaving the protagonist upset and stressed. This entire exchange between the protagonist and the unidentified person he is talking to is powerful in the way that body language replaces the “need” for words. Not only his body language, but his facial expressions throughout the narrative tells as much of a story.
However, probably one of the best uses of silence in the story is when the protagonist is reunited with his family. The last six panels before the final splash page of chapter five shows the protagonist calling out to his wife and daughter. He drops the suitcase and his hat flies off. We know this is a moment of joy, not because we are told, but because of the way the protagonist runs forward in almost desperation, while the daughter turns to look at the sound of her father’s voice with joy. The final splash page is an aerial view where the absence of thought boxes from the character’s perspective, or sound effects, makes the moment of reconnection tender, if not emotionally private.
Another example of the use of body and visual language in The Arrival is when the protagonist encounters other immigrants and they recount their own journeys. War among others are rendered in darker tones, signifying the oppression and fear. In the second immigrant story, when the husband and wife are running away, the intensity of the splash page (with the people getting sucked up into the incinerator back packs) uses visual metaphors to create a sense of panic without the use of sound effects for the vacuums or the screaming of the people running away. The silence allows the page to breathe, as the full impact of what is happening isn’t covered up.
The absence of sound in a narrative like The Arrival allows the reader to concentrate on the imagery, thus creating their own form of sound and dialogue. It’s a way to connect the reader with the protagonist by allowing the reader to possibly place their own experiences in the narrative.
And as they always seem to say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
