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. In this way, the once-inscrutable language no longer reinforces his alienation but now stands as a symbol of his assimilation. By the end of the book, the man has learned enough of the language that he can read a local newspaper. 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. 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. It is especially prominent in scenes when the man is confused, or feeling out of place in this new culture. This alien-seeming language is featured on billboards, food packaging, posters, maps, and currency. The result is a new language that borrows forms from Korean, English, Arabic, and Ancient Egyptian, among others. Invented by the book's author, the language uses a script that combines curves, circles, lines, and diacritic marks common to various human languages. Throughout the novel, the man encounters the inscrutable foreign language of the land to which he has immigrated.
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