Comics, Power, and Society - Essay Example

He writes by using the minimum of vocabulary and his graphics convey profound messages. The visuals depicted through “The Arrival” are impossible to translate verbatim. They appeals to the inner world of an individual depending upon the level of one’s intellectual capacity, power of discrimination and spiritual progression. The life of an individual does not relate to any one branch of social science discipline. Disciplines like sociology, history, economics etc. impact an individual simultaneously from all ends.

From the American point of view, immigrant experience is an important aspect especially in the life of an African American. The graphic of ‘Arrival Suitcase’ highlights the life’s journey of a man on the lookout for a better life for his family in the unknown country. He is sure to encounter economic and sociological problems, and on reaching the destination country he becomes the part of the history of that country. He also continues to be the part of the history of the country from where he left and often remains torn between the two identities.

He is the product of two histories and tries to mold his life accordingly. He cannot forget his past history; he cannot afford to neglect his present state of affairs. The graphic “The Journey” has the timelessness about it. Time, its impact and functioning is impossible to fathom. Its greatness is about its ambiguity and profundity. Through this graphic Shaun Tan conveys the epic voyage of human life which is mostly compared to one’s efforts to negotiate the ocean. New York is a city of conglomeration of races.

Multiplicity of cultures is the hallmark of this great American city. Whether cultural assimilation in the true sense of the term has been achieved by the cross-sections of the American population is altogether a different aspect. What has been achieved in this city can be the representative sample for the entire American system. When the immigrants newly arrived