Character Analysis: The Arrival By Shaun Tan

Anticipation, heartache, and mystery are only a few of the abundant emotions immigrants feel about their journey to the United States. Notably, in Shaun Tan’s graphic novel, The Arrival, the main character experiences the same series of emotions on his immigration journey seeking safe haven. In fact, through the three-week introduction to a new adventure and literature, I was able to tune into the feelings and genuinely understand the dismal journey of the immigrant archetype. Furthermore, this new-found perspective projected me to grasp a deep understanding of my father’s immigrant journey.

To begin, the mark of my beginnings to the studies of immigration, I read a short excerpt of E.B White’s classic novel, Here is New York. Specifically,

the novel prompted me to realize that I take my surroundings for granted. In his works, White speaks on the topic of locals taking New York and its chaos for granted. This provoked me to come to the understanding that society tends to focus on the smaller commodities that are cut and commercialized by culture to divert our attention away from the larger meaning entities surrounding us.

To this, I can certainly attest. For example, throughout my entirety, I have lived in New Jersey and never grew curious of the large historical city that is only a thirty-minute car ride away. For instance, as a little girl, my father would always take me to Liberty State Park where the statue of liberty is only a shore away. I never felt the urge to ask about the great statue, and as a former New Yorker, my father never found it to be a necessity to explain it to me. We always found ourselves accepting the historical landmark as “natural and inevitable.” (White 698) Especially as a young kid, it seemed as common to me as the 7/11 chain on the corner of my block. White admits, “New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation,” (White 697) and this idea is what corrupts my father and I have this mentality. To explain, we are New Yorkers and we always take pride in that. We are pleased to admit we played the part of the stranger. We are minuscule parts that help the grand machine of the city-run each day in and each night out. We love the fact that the world’s city is exuberantly big and busy that we

can still keep to ourselves and play a larger role in our own lives. However, in doing so, it is exceedingly easy to lose touch with the historical aspect of the city. We love New York for the aesthetics, but continue to take the historical culture for granted. These past few weeks have taught me to take a step back and to keep in mind that each building, bridge, and infrastructure I encounter has been built and seen by someone before me. Perhaps the monumental building was built or seen by a classmate’s immigrant great ancestor. I now have a deeper appreciation for the landmarks surrounding me. In summation, I now keep in mind the same Ellis Island I pass on my way to St. John’s University is the same landmark, “an approximate twelve million immigrants,” (Staff) experienced as they made their way towards the mysterious yet promising land of the United States of America.
Additionally, reading The Arrival, allowed me to understand the hardships immigrants go through on their journey to arriving on new land.

For example, as the man arrived at the new land, he grew sorrowful with the idea of being separated with his family. Although, he knew he made the right decision to leave them behind, in order to reach financial security before bringing his family over to the new land, he still felt remorseful and isolated. To make matters worse, the man felt frustration in the fact that he was in a new land where he starts over and did not understand any of the foreign quirks. His journey is similar to the voyage of the millions of people that traveled to Ellis Island in hopes of securing a prosperous life in the new land of opportunities. By the same token, I learned more about the true hardships of immigrants when I went on the tour at Ellis Island. The tour guide showed me the different processes and screenings the immigrants had to go through before being admitted through the doors of America. These processes were very intense and were the cause of many families tearing apart and some never reconnecting. In detail, the two main stages of inspection for admittance was the medical and legal inspection. For instance, some people arrived with trachoma or blindness and were automatically turned away. On the other hand, if immigrants arrived with a broken bone or measles they had to be held at the Ellis Island hospital. Next, the last half of their journey

was the legal interrogation. The legal interrogation officials held a copy of the trip manifest an immigrant would fill out prior to voyage. The officials would ask key questions that was previously asked on the manifest. If an immigrant’s answers did not match, they were ordered to be detained and wait for a court hearing. After the legal inspection, you went to the stairs of separation. If you were sent to the middle staircase you were either being sent home or detained. Families often had to decide whether they should all turn back if one member was sent through the middle or if they should keep going without them. After 1924 the number of people coming to Ellis Island went down, because the government set up quotas laws specifically for southern and Eastern Europe and the second thing was moving the inspection process where they set up the visa system.