The Lost Thing, a short animation by Shaun Tan, is set in a retro-future suburb where, aside from people, there were almost no living things left--it frames an industrial setting where everything seems to be streamlined and practically identical like the housing area, and the systematic marching of people on the streets. The setting itself somehow explores the ideas of industrialization without mentioning it. Its walls and poles are riddled by rusting pipes, posters, and street signs. While puffs of smoke and cloud sweep the sickly green, afternoon sky. Possibly set in the distant, dystopian future.
In this quaint, ordinary suburb by the ocean, the people are described to be too busy with 'stuff', as the Boy would like to say, to notice anything out of the ordinary. And so, in this society where its denizens are apathetic of things that are lost and estranged, the boy finds the Lost Thing and searches for a place where it can belong.
Borrowing symbolism from the Lost Thing itself, and evaluating the short animation as a commentary, or perhaps an allegory to belonging, to growth, and to indifference; there is subtle conflict between the Boy and himself. The story climaxes when he finds a place for the Lost Thing, departing from it with a mimic of goodbye. And as the story slowly comes to an end, the boy then narrates of how he has grown to see less and less of these Lost Things.
Now, the Lost Thing(s) may represent numerous things. The way the story is written demands for open interpretation. Perhaps it can symbolize things such as the boy's peculiarities and differences, the creativity and inquisitiveness of childhood, or the part of our individualities that we choose to suppress or does not 'belong'. When the boy finds it, it was akin to discovering something about himself--it does not seem to have a place in his life, though. He brings it home, to his parents but he is asked to get rid of it--'its feet are filthy,' 'it could have diseases,' they said. The Lost Thing, though is described as distantly as possible by the Boy, relates to the himself very well. In the later part of the animation, he says, "I can't say that the thing actually belonged in the place it ended up." Did the boy really belong in the mechanical, industrialized society he was now a part of? What about those days of picking up bottle caps, and tending to his collection? So, this roots back to the question, what is it to belong?
The signs that were continuously sneaked into frames and incorporated into the environment, and the arrow that was eventually made into an important driving point of the story can be described as ambivalent and ambiguous. Clusters of arrows would confusingly point to entirely different directions, but in this depiction, it described that--just like life--despite being given an abundance of signs, we can still find ourselves lost. The presence of signs interprets that society suggests there is a path one must take, except that the convoluted manner these signs are designed in many of the scenes allude that following one particular path may be difficult and that one shouldn’t have to adhere to just one path when there are so many to choose from. There may be plenty of signs left by the world for us to follow, but this depiction subtly symbolizes how there is just no certain way to go through life.
Additionally, the Department of Odds and Ends may symbolize the suppression of everything that the Lost Thing stands for; this can be made certain through their motto--'Sweepus underum carpetae.' (Sweep under the carpet.)
The irony to this animation begins with the belief that to be 'lost' is to not have a place in the world, and so; to belong is to conform--ergo to lose yourself, as well--becomes the greatest irony of The Lost Thing. The concept of belonging in the society the Boy lived in, required the sacrifice of his autonomy. To the audience, while the Boy is portrayed to have a place in society, when he becomes indifferent to the Lost Things and becomes too absorbed with himself to see, care, and help--it becomes easy to pity him in the same manner one felt for the Lost Thing. Furthermore, is it worth to find a place to belong?
The encompassing theme of The Lost Thing may vary from one person to another, but it truly makes a very real commentary to the issues in present society, like indifference; the ability of people to see only that which they wish to see, and to be blind to that which they do not. Moreover, The Lost Thing engages with the existential sense of (be)longing that reflects in our society, 'Belonging is about finding a sense of place in the world.'
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Good evening, I ended up rambling... I simply just... word-vomit... Head empty, no thoughts...
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