The Arrival

A man leaves his family and enters a strange city to find work and safety. Its signs, creatures and customs are unreadable to him; strangers help him navigate each small task.

Shaun Tan published this wordless book in 2006. The fantastic setting turns ordinary migration difficulties into experiences readers must interpret visually.

The absence of readable text places readers beside the newcomer, uncertain of what an image or gesture means. The book makes empathy a matter of shared effort rather than explanation.

Its long sequence of small discoveries gives an immigration story narrative weight without reducing it to a single arrival scene.

This is wordless fantasy about migration, separation and mutual aid. The invented city allows familiar objects to become foreign again.

The work asks how belonging begins when language and routine offer no easy bridge.

Tan uses sepia tones, dense city views and repeated small panels to slow attention to gestures and objects. Grand panoramas are balanced by close observation of faces and hands.

The page design makes disorientation and gradual learning visible.