The_Red_Tree

The picture book “The Red Tree” written and illustrated by Shaun Tan published in the year 2001 presents a fragmented journey of a girl through a dark and frightening world.. The Red Tree follows the a lonely red-headed girl through her daily life; stating how she feels and depicting her dark, gloomy concerns. The visual image I have chosen provides an excellent portrayal of depression and the effects of isolation. The illustrator uses various visual techniques to portray the consequences of not belonging on the individual. The participant in The Red Tree is positioned in the forefront of the image and is the only person in the frame therefore making her the most salient feature which in turn emphasizes her loneliness. She is shown to be wearing a weighty diving mask, huddled in a glass bottle on a stormy shoreline. The image is supported by just two words ‘Nobody Understands” which stresses feelings of sadness and sorrow. She’s alone and stuck, so small in such a huge world feeling alienated and isolated. The illustrator uses colour connotation effectively by using obscure colours to convey the insecure, gloomy feeling underlining the mood of the girl and her surroundings. The use of the black in the background conjures the darkness in which the girl is in, creating a sense of coldness. It signifies how sad and depressed she feels highlighting the loss and confusion which are the results of not belonging. Tan contrasts the darkness of the black with a smokey mixture of white and dark blue on the horizon creating the sense of a distant light, perhaps a solution or a way out from her problems, somewhere she can belong. It can also portray how far she is from the horizon and the reality of her barrier, the bottle. The girls is located in an arid and unfriendly environment showing that that depending on the environment a sense of belonging or not belonging is created.. The bottle relates to a cliché “bottle up your feelings”. Visually, it acts as a physical barrier which stops her from telling and showing her feelings. The bottle itself is an extreme metaphor displaying the impossibility of getting out of this situation displaying the difficulty of her situation and how not belonging has created a barrier difficult to overcome. The girl is wearing an old helmet which is clearly oversized in proportion to her body; this portrays the weight as a burden on her thoughts and highlights her fragility. The size of the girl in the bottle depicts she feels small – like she can’t be herself and show her feelings. Instead she bottles herself up. The helmet is placed over her head covering her face, making her unable to express and share her feelings. The girl’s posture with her slumped back and head declined clearly convey the depression, inferiority, self-degradation and shame all suggesting poor self-esteem. The two words Tan uses to sum up this picture are “Nobody Understands”. The clever use of these words demonstrates and supports all the ideas that are visually displayed. The word “Nobody” has a negative connotation referring to the fact that she has none to belong to that “understands” her feelings. This highlights that for belonging to occur, understanding is required between individuals. I have come to understand that not belonging has devastating effects on an individual. In the visual image the colors, posture, environment all highlighted the harsh effects of not belonging. The individual wages an internal battle with himself as portrayed in this visual image. His self-esteem is distorted because ‘nobody understands’. To me belonging was more of a physical concept, that people belonged to each other because of physical/social reasons, however this image has engraved the concept of belonging emotionally belonging due to an understanding between individuals which comforts and reassures them that they are always there for each other.