Week 1 Reading Arrival by Shaun Tan:
First off, my opinion of Arrival by Shaun Tan can be described by one word, and that is wow. My initial thoughts to the comic were, “okay well the art is really pretty”, and, “oh, so it is going to be another story about immigrants”. However, when I saw the image of the giant serpent spine in the city, the story immediately hooked me in. As the story progressed, all I could think was, “ wow this world is avant-garde as fuck”. In all honesty, it was a bit disorienting for me, but then I realized that the writer was probably trying to help me identify with the main character. The main character was an immigrant to a foreign land, and us being just as confused as he was really helped me as a reader to identify with the character and his situation. The whole time all I could think about was my first trip to the Philippines. I had never left the country before, and all I had known my whole life was the quiet safe comfort of an American Suburb. So, you might imagine being thrown into the hustle and bustle of overpopulated Manila where first world and third world mix can be a bit overwhelming. There was just so much foreign stimulus for my head to take in that I was honestly in shock.
As I continued to read, the other section that strongly resonated with me was when the main character was going through immigration services, and they were labeling him with papers all over his body. It reminded me of when I had gone to Manila, and even though my skin tone was the same as everyone else, I was labeled an outsider. This was simply due to the way I walked, my mannerisms, and even the way I dressed initiated people to look differently at me. It is an uncomfortable feeling having people critically judge you and label you, without even knowing your back story. So, my overall opinion of this piece is it hits very close to home. I think that the feelings it evokes, such as the uncomfort of being labeled, and the confusion of new places are very high concept ideas. Honestly a great read!!!
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