Shaun Tan The Red Tree Analysis
Related Text Rationale
Title of text
The Red Tree
Composer/Director
Shaun Tan
Text Type
Picture Book
Brief Synopsis of Plot
The Red Tree by Shaun Tan is a picture book following the day of a young girl who finds herself walking through a vast variety of scenes and landscapes
Main thematic concerns and big ideas in the text
The story line follows a young girl going through scenes, with scarce amounts of wording on each page. Each picture has a visual representation and meaning behind it, creating an overwhelming and sometimes depressing mood
The red/orange leaf on each page represents that each day there is a little bit of hope no matter what. Also throughout the pictures on each page a small amount of brightness is added into the scene, a light side to the situation. For example on the page with the giant fish, the dark part, or shadow is only over the little girl, the rest of the page is bright and sunny. Another is on the page where she is trapped in the glass bottle. The storm clouds and dark greys skies above her show the darkness, while in the distance there is sunshine and light showing the brightness of hope
The idea that time heals everything is relevant in this text. The repetition of the words “and wait…” show that the persona is waiting for something to happen, that …show more content…
For example there is a scene where the edge of the picture is set out like a Monopoly board with squares around the edges. At the front corner the girl is standing on a path made of squares, like a board game. She is holding a dice and she looks away from the reader down the windy path that goes into darkness. The dice represents the chance that she has and the idea of fate, showing us she believes her life is a game and unsure about where her path in life will take her. This concept is also relevant to Run Lola Run, influencing the idea of chance and life being like a game shown through different techniques used by both
Title of text
The Red Tree
Composer/Director
Shaun Tan
Text Type
Picture Book
Brief Synopsis of Plot
The Red Tree by Shaun Tan is a picture book following the day of a young girl who finds herself walking through a vast variety of scenes and landscapes
Main thematic concerns and big ideas in the text
The story line follows a young girl going through scenes, with scarce amounts of wording on each page. Each picture has a visual representation and meaning behind it, creating an overwhelming and sometimes depressing mood
The red/orange leaf on each page represents that each day there is a little bit of hope no matter what. Also throughout the pictures on each page a small amount of brightness is added into the scene, a light side to the situation. For example on the page with the giant fish, the dark part, or shadow is only over the little girl, the rest of the page is bright and sunny. Another is on the page where she is trapped in the glass bottle. The storm clouds and dark greys skies above her show the darkness, while in the distance there is sunshine and light showing the brightness of hope
The idea that time heals everything is relevant in this text. The repetition of the words “and wait…” show that the persona is waiting for something to happen, that …show more content…
For example there is a scene where the edge of the picture is set out like a Monopoly board with squares around the edges. At the front corner the girl is standing on a path made of squares, like a board game. She is holding a dice and she looks away from the reader down the windy path that goes into darkness. The dice represents the chance that she has and the idea of fate, showing us she believes her life is a game and unsure about where her path in life will take her. This concept is also relevant to Run Lola Run, influencing the idea of chance and life being like a game shown through different techniques used by both