The Arrival by Shaun Tan
The Arrival by Shaun Tan, a story about hope and yearning in the context of immigration. The lack of words truly forces the reader to try to apprehend what is happening to the central character without any understanding of his full intent or meaning behind his journey. This placed me the "reader" directly in the position of the main character, an immigrant who cannot understand the language or customs of his new homeland. This creates a fun kind of reverse-metafiction that effectively puts the audience right in the middle of the story's emotions wether it's through the characters body language or facial expressions. During his ever evolving journey you the reader find yourself understanding more and more and unraveling bits and pieces of the character through him and his many tribulations. It manages to tell the story without using any words whatsoever and it is able to do so because it forces you to become a foreigner through the eyes of an alien in this case quite literally that is relatable to all foreign expeditions. I myself was a foreigner when I first entered this country from Chile when I was 7 and as I was "reading" The Arrival I found myself laughing at things the character did because I myself had very similar issues growing up. It manages to be funny and sad at times but it constantly shows growth which keeps you interested to the end just as a book with written narrative would.
