Shaun Tan The Lost Thing Analysis

Responding to Texts: The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan

Consider at least four illustrations in this text in detail, and critically analyse how Tan uses a variety of techniques to convey his ideas to reader.

Introduction:

The Lost Thing is a picture book composed by Shaun Tan. The story was about a boy who discovers an unusual looking creature who is deemed to have no fitting in the society. The boy embarks on a journey, in an attempt to find out where the mysterious thing belongs. Throughout the text Shaun conveys his ideas by using a variety of techniques to create a surreal world that merges the everyday with the uncommon.

Image 1: Beach

Image 1 shows the first appearance of the lost thing in a long shot, displaying the two main characters

This illustration shows how the society is identical, forming a unity. The buildings, streets and stores are neat, regimented and uniform in shape and color. The Shape of humans is similar to machines, suggesting de-humanisation. The Lost Thing is highly relevant in relation to the setting, both physical and social. The crowd of this page is seen as belonging or conforming because they look very similar and as well as walking in the same direction, expressing no sign of individuality. Everything in the picture including the people is dull and plain except for the lost thing that forms a contrast because of its bright vibrant red color and large roundness shape. The arrows depicted on a sign and a store all point in the same direction the crowd is following, highlighting this society 's obsession with regulation and conformity. Despite this the duo move against the crowd, symbolizing no belonging and individualism. The author indicates the kind of society in which the story is set showing the values being precision, growth, rules and also showing what the society doesn’t value being natural world, freedom and individuality. The background to the entire page forms a collage of math, physics and chemistry papers, reinforcing the principles on the society of the book. The setting of this page and background also suggests a world without imagination and

The lost thing has finally found a place where it belongs in, as each of those characters express and contains a different and unique appearance. This world differs from the previous world the audience is introduced to. The framed black space between the audience and Utopia draws attention to objects on the page, creating the illusion of distance and thus showing a powerful symbol for the community of ‘lost things’. The colors are bright and light compared to the other society’s dark and dull colors conveying the individuality of Utopia. Ultimately this page evokes a sense of belonging, as the page is shaded from dark to light, indicating that the lost thing has found a society that it fits in. Overall Utopia is expressed as an ideal or perfect society for the lost thing, being the complete opposite to the human industrialised world, dull and suffocating environment.

Conclusion:

To conclude the techniques conveyed in the text by Shaun Tan by using words and pictures elicits and evokes emotional responses from the mood, colors, energy and effect the illustrations convey to the reader. Overall Shaun Tan maintains a dialogue between word and image that is best reflected in the sepia page backgrounds, using techniques composing of visual and written techniques to underscore an image or part of the