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Shaun Tan Water Buffalo

467 Words2 Pages

Shaun Tan published Tales from outer suburbia in the year 2008. The book is a collection of short stories and poems which deals with the experiences of immigrants. Shaun Tan moved to Australia at a young age, and shares his immigrant experiences using his illustrations and writings. Shaun Tan portrays the issues and occurrences of an immigrant using symbolism and allegory. The immigrant experience and self identity in another country is portrayed throughout the book. “Water Buffalo” represents the need for the young and inexperienced need to find direction and guidance through life until one day they become the wisdom givers. The allegory is about life, unexpected and unexpected experiences and life are presented using images and text in this story.

An allegory is a poem, story or a picture which portray a different or …show more content…

Shaun Tan has used several symbols which represent different things in real life. The main character of the story is the Water Buffalo. The Buffalo is depicted lazy, old, wise and down to earth and lives in the peaceful lot where no one bothered him. These are the characteristics of an old retired man . “He would come up to us, raise his left hoof slowly, and literally point us in the right direction”, this tells the reader that even though the water buffalo was a lazy he was always ready to help people and guide them in the right direction, literally and figuratively. The Buffalo did not tell the kids what to do or where exactly to go,

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Tan expresses the life experiences of Chinese immigrants to the United States and attempts to depict the relationship of a mother and daughter through her significant piece of writing ‘The Joy Club’. Therefore, all these authors somehow portrayed their early struggles and their view point towards life from their literary

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Her use of simile in comparing those she admires to water buffalo and oxen also shows how she adores their ways of life. By comparing her loved ones to water buffalo and oxen, this shows that she thinks of them as people who are strong willed, and can endure heavy weights that life may give, but will persist in doing what they believe in. Thus, this is another use of figurative language Piercey uses for readers by comparing people to animals. This allows readers to understand how she loves the people that are similar to strong, hard-working animals that perform many tasks not all animals can

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Examining Generational Change toward the American Dream in Two kinds Two kinds, a short story by Amy Tan, explores the relationship between an immigrant mother and her first generation daughter. The mother, who has faith in the American dream, values the belief that to be happy, you have to be famous and change yourself; Ni Kan, the daughter, yearns for a personality of her own. Tan characterize these women as foils to each other. As a result of them being foils, they’re relationship is strained and they never have a close bond until Ni Kan grows older. Tan uses these characters to show that with each generation the American dream is changed.

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The Lonesome Buffalo with the Magic Hoof “The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea”-- Anne Morrow Lindbergh Shaun Tan’s Tales from Outer Suburbia, was introduced globally to readers in 2008. Shaun Tan is a writer and illustrator; he is a Chinese national who lives in Australia. In his book, Tan writes a compilation of short abstract stories, all putting the reader through the experience of “the Other” and the hardships of being accepted and understood in society. The short story “The Water Buffalo” conveys a powerful allegory about youth, life indifference and our excursions through experiences both anticipated and unanticipated.

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