The Red Tree by Shaun Tan

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan
(Melbourne, Thomas C. Lothian, 2001)

The Red Tree is a picture book that treats the very serious issues of childhood loneliness and depression with compassion, and offers hope to the reader that help is available to those affected by these problems. A young girl goes through her day, where the world and her feeling about herself overwhelm her. Tan uses images such as a giant fish and ships, cityscape and landscapes to dwarf the girl and reinforce her feelings of insignificance and disconnection to the world. He privileges certain words such as 'darkness' and 'troubles' by the size of the font used, to re-emphasise that despair that the girl is feeling.

Yet, all through the book Tan offers a symbol of hope to the girl (and the reader), if they search for it. Amid the complexity of the visual images, for example the collage of city buildings, aeroplanes and robot-faced figures, there lies a tiny red leaf which appears in all the illustrations. Whilst the girl is oblivious to its presence, the reader can infer that this represents the hope that will lead to the girl regaining her sense of worth and a realisation that she is not alone, by blossoming into the red tree.

Whilst The Red Tree deals with an issue that is difficult for society to acknowledge and deal with, Shaun Tan has through the use of post modern images created a book that deals in a sensitive way and demonstrates an understanding of depression in a young person.