A Revisit to The Response of The Arrival
In the original response to The Arrival, I remarked that it proved how impactful a story without words can be and how dialogue isn't necessary for a narrative to be received well. The art had become the sole focus of readers, bringing no attention to anything else. I had also made a comment about how readers could easily glaze over the art in favor of reading the actual text, something seen in superhero comics. However, I feel the need to restate how although art in comics and graphic novels definitely need more appreciation, the text is in no way distracting from it. I don't think that was something I was clear on, art and text are things that harmonize in comics and graphic novels, yet they can stand fine without text with the right execution.
I found the style of The Arrival to be reminiscent of a film's storyboard or photographic film. The comic clearly displays what is going on and what we as readers are supposed to focus on. Its portrayal of immigration and emotions relating to it are able to be successfully captured through the use of no words. The feeling of being alone in a foreign land, away from everything ever known, is amplified through Tan’s use of displaying The Arrival’s world as a semi-fantastical one. In the chance I was confused about the narrative; the images were able to aid me in understanding the tone of the story. It invokes great feelings, and I believe that portraying this story wordlessly was the most impactful way to do so. There is no other form of media or other medium that I believe can tell the story of The Arrival and have the same effect on its readers. That's what's so fascinating about comics and graphic novels; there are so many ways to tell a story through it. The variety of the styles shown and stories told through the various comics read throughout the semester show how many possibilities there are. There's a reason The Arrival doesn't have any text and that the ones seen are incomprehensible. The main character is an immigrant who is in a foreign land with foreign people, and he can't understand them. The lack of text and speech further alienates the main character and show how isolated and alone he is in this new, strange place.
Although I have no experience with immigration, my parents were the first ones of their families to move from the Philippines to the US. Aside from one of my mom's cousins and a great aunt, everyone related to my parents still live in the Philippines. Even now, my dad sometimes brings up the difficulty of it and how he still worries about his slight accent (though it's something that I've never noticed). I do have a disconnect from Filipino culture and can’t even speak Tagalog, and I believe it might stem from my parents’ fears of being teased for it or seen as less educated. The reason I was never taught Tagalog is something I don't know. They sacrificed everything familiar to move into a country where much of it was unknown to them and did so in search of a chance to give their children a better life and more opportunities. Maybe that's why my sister and I are so Americanized and barely have any connections to the point where our mom doesn't even consider us Filipino. My dad didn't even finish college, the reason he came to the US was because the Navy was recruiting in the Philippines and he jumped at the chance. He saw being in the US as a chance for a better life and best chances for success. Shawn Tan was able to perfectly convey the many feelings that came with immigration, such as fear and hope. The silence of The Arrival and other wordless allow for creators to bring the audience’s attention to the images and invoke feelings through them in a way that can be personal and up to interpretation.
I found the style of The Arrival to be reminiscent of a film's storyboard or photographic film. The comic clearly displays what is going on and what we as readers are supposed to focus on. Its portrayal of immigration and emotions relating to it are able to be successfully captured through the use of no words. The feeling of being alone in a foreign land, away from everything ever known, is amplified through Tan’s use of displaying The Arrival’s world as a semi-fantastical one. In the chance I was confused about the narrative; the images were able to aid me in understanding the tone of the story. It invokes great feelings, and I believe that portraying this story wordlessly was the most impactful way to do so. There is no other form of media or other medium that I believe can tell the story of The Arrival and have the same effect on its readers. That's what's so fascinating about comics and graphic novels; there are so many ways to tell a story through it. The variety of the styles shown and stories told through the various comics read throughout the semester show how many possibilities there are. There's a reason The Arrival doesn't have any text and that the ones seen are incomprehensible. The main character is an immigrant who is in a foreign land with foreign people, and he can't understand them. The lack of text and speech further alienates the main character and show how isolated and alone he is in this new, strange place.
Although I have no experience with immigration, my parents were the first ones of their families to move from the Philippines to the US. Aside from one of my mom's cousins and a great aunt, everyone related to my parents still live in the Philippines. Even now, my dad sometimes brings up the difficulty of it and how he still worries about his slight accent (though it's something that I've never noticed). I do have a disconnect from Filipino culture and can’t even speak Tagalog, and I believe it might stem from my parents’ fears of being teased for it or seen as less educated. The reason I was never taught Tagalog is something I don't know. They sacrificed everything familiar to move into a country where much of it was unknown to them and did so in search of a chance to give their children a better life and more opportunities. Maybe that's why my sister and I are so Americanized and barely have any connections to the point where our mom doesn't even consider us Filipino. My dad didn't even finish college, the reason he came to the US was because the Navy was recruiting in the Philippines and he jumped at the chance. He saw being in the US as a chance for a better life and best chances for success. Shawn Tan was able to perfectly convey the many feelings that came with immigration, such as fear and hope. The silence of The Arrival and other wordless allow for creators to bring the audience’s attention to the images and invoke feelings through them in a way that can be personal and up to interpretation.
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