In the text ‘Away’, …show more content…
Similar to the character Coral in ‘Away’, the protagonist of “The Red Tree”, who began her day with no anticipation for it, finds hope at the end and conduce to modify her perception of self and the world around her. This is evident through the juxtaposition of the cyclical structure at the beginning of her day in her room and at the end of the day back in her room. At the departure: “darkness overcomes you”, highlighting the impact of depression, and the catharsis at the end: “just as you imagined it would be” with a bright red leaf maple tree in front of her illuminated by the lights as she opens the door. Tan’s use of the motif of the red leaf represent ‘hope’ in the story, however was out of sight or reach of the persona until the end, representing the good things that exists for her however she was not acutely aware of it due to her lack of potential derived by her despair. Hence, self-discovery emerged from emotions or the state of mind can lead to a renewal of perspective of an individual.
To conclude, self-discoveries derived from challenging emotional experiences may enforce an individual to re-evaluate their values and alter their perspective about self and the world. This is illustrated through the text Away by Michael Gow, where character Tom learns to accept his imminent death and live life to the fullest which influences Gwen and Coral to re-consider what is significant for them leading to a more prominent discovery. The text ‘The Red Tree’ by Shaun Tan where an unnamed girl discovers hope after a depressing day, leading her to change her perception of self and the