Foreign Language (Motif)
Throughout the novel, the man encounters the inscrutable foreign language of the land to which he has immigrated. Invented by the book's author, the language uses a script that combines curves, circles, lines, and diacritic marks common to various human languages. The result is a new language that borrows forms from Korean, English, Arabic, and Ancient Egyptian, among others. This alien-seeming language is featured on billboards, food packaging, posters, maps, and currency. It is especially prominent in scenes when the man is confused, or feeling out of place in this new culture. The fact that Shaun Tan didn’t use an existing language but invented a new one allows the reader to step into the man’s shoes as he struggles to adapt. The effect of this motif is that the reader feels just as out of place as the protagonist, thus creating empathy for the man’s situation. By the end of the book, the man has learned enough of the language that he can read a local newspaper. In this way, the once-inscrutable language no longer reinforces his alienation but now stands as a symbol of his assimilation.
Sepia (Symbol)
Many of the graphics in The Arrival have a reddish-brown tint, bringing to mind sepia-tinted photography of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Well before color photography became standard, sepia photography was developed to add durability to black and white monochrome photographs, which faded quickly because of the silver nitrate used in the development process. The sepia tint—a pigment taken from the ink sacs of cuttlefish—not only prolonged the life of photographs but added a warm-colored tone to the exposures. This pleasing tone eventually became associated with nostalgia for a by-gone era. When used in The Arrival, the sepia tint is a symbol of the man's nostalgia for his homeland and the way of life he has had to abandon. The sepia tint also contributes to the sense The Arrival exists outside a particular time or place, thereby reinforcing the universality of the immigrant story being told.
Strange Pets (Symbol)
The invented creatures that people in the new culture keep close by as pets are a symbol of cultural difference. Upon arrival, the man appears surprised and even resistant to the many bizarre creatures he sees people interacting with—however loving their connections seem to be. The man's first encounter with the tadpole-dog creature shows his unfamiliarity with the concept of pet companionship, as he picks up a fire poker and nearly kills the animal as though it were a pest. However, he gradually comes to accept the creature, and finds comfort in having the obedient animal nearby. By the end of the book, the pet has been embraced as a member of the man's family. In the tableau of the family at the dinner table together, he feeds the pet some of his food, showing how he has adapted to this facet of the new culture.
Shadowy Tentacle Tail (Symbol)
The tentacle tail featured throughout the book is a symbol of the malignant forces that have taken over the man's homeland and driven him to seek a better life abroad. At the beginning of the book, when the man leaves his wife and daughter in their home country, a large object in the shape of a dragon’s tail or spiky tentacle casts a menacing shadow over their street. The next panel shows a wider perspective, showing that the tentacle tails loom over every street in the neighborhood. The haunting object turns up again later in the story when the food seller's son opens a pot in the family row boat. The black spiky tail that emerges causes the man to jump back in terror until he sees that it is only the tail of their family pet. The man's visible distress signals to the reader that he has been traumatized by the forces associated with the tentacle tail. Ultimately, Tan doesn't reveal what exactly those forces are, leaving the reader to wonder whether the tentacle tail represents war, a dictatorship, poverty, or any other reason that an immigrant would leave their home.
Statues Meeting (Symbol)
As the man's ship approaches the shore of the bustling metropolis, he and the other passengers look out at a large statue of two figures. The giant statue of the two figures meeting is a symbol of cross-cultural integration. The figures shake hands with smiles on their faces, suggesting friendliness. They wear distinct hats, one of which is flat-topped, the other pointed. At their feet are various objects and foods representative of the different cultures they represent. In total, the statue of the figures speaks to the foreign land's embrace of people who arrive from distinct cultures.
Giants with Vacuums (Symbol)
When the man meets the food seller, the food seller relates to the man's experience of oppression in his homeland by relating his own story. Before the food seller arrived in the new land, he and his wife had to flee giant men in hazmat suits who were terrorizing his people by stomping through the streets and sucking the tiny people into giant vacuums. The giants with vacuums symbolize genocidal forces. To emphasize the imbalance of power between oppressed citizens and regimes that carry out mass killings, such as the Nazis in WWII, Tan depicts the outsized power of the killers by depicting them as literal giants. Against such a formidable tormentor, the regular people have no recourse but to run and hide.
