Arrival Shaun Tan Arrival Summary

In Shaun Tan’s Arrival, the pictures prompt me to give an underscore of sound to them. Adding sound can strengthen the artist vision for the audience. For the first section of pictures, I would start off underscoring a sound of a ticking clock. Then, I would fade in sound of a stirring pot. After that, I would send in the sounds of a whistling tea kettle. Next, the sound of a spoon stirring in tea mug. Additionally, I would add the tying of a package and tightening of a belt on a suitcase. Each sound would be slowly faded in based on the order of the items in the first section. This would eventually create a cacophony of sound, but it will also follow the story. Once the story progresses to the wife and husband, holding hands on the packed suitcase, I would put in complete silence.

Ritkin’s theory of empathy. He states that empathy is rooted in the acknowledgment of death. This was an interesting way to look at how we perceive ourselves and others. For example, we feel empathy towards a fox because we as beings of this earth understand that living is hard. Therefore, we see an aspect of ourselves even in an animal. We then tend to empathize with the creature. Another aspect that stood out to me was the theme of a utopia. Mr. Ritkin’s spoke about how in a utopia (Heaven) there is no empathy, because there is no death. I absolutely agree with this theory because for us to empathize with someone, we need to have a universal understanding of something. In our society, this understanding is death. From understanding empathy, it calls in me to empathize more with all beings in our world. In our country today, we live in such a polarized political climate. This theory can help this country, I really believe that. If we can learn to empathize with one another, we can rebuild the damage we have caused. In the end, we are all human, and we are all going to die. Why spend the joys of life hating one another? It’s too