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The Lost Thing (2010) by Shaun Tan

How do you know the difference between finding something that is lost and discovery something that you were meant to uncover? After watching the story “The Lost Thing” by Shaun Tan, we believe that there are multiple themes occurring. The boy came across the thing without knowing what it was and throughout the story the boy and the lost thing form a bond together. However, the boy knew that the lost thing didn’t belong with him. The thing belonged somewhere else with other things. “The Lost Thing” can be interpreted in many different ways, it just depends on the viewer.

The boy and the lost thing were looking for his home because the boy knew that he couldn’t keep the thing with him and his parents. Traveling from place to place to find a home, they finally found a location that looked suitable. Other lost things walking around aimlessly, not really knowing what they are doing. We believe that the point of this story is to show that everyone has a home and the boy’s home is with his family while the lost thing’s home is with the other lost things. This theme is that everyone has a home, a place to feel that they belong.

Another explanation for the story is that the boy represents us, people who are living. And “the lost thing” represents the questions we have in our daily lives. Nobody can give us a standard answer. We are always on the way to search for our own answer. On the way, we will ask for help to figure out the question, the lost thing. The people we meet might be helpful, and sometimes they are not, like the parents of the boy, and the unknown person who offered a card to the boy. Even though the answer cannot be given directly, if we keep searching, we can finally get something splendid and extraordinary, like the happy ending in the film. The boy finally gets his destination—his own answer for the lost thing.

Another way that “The Lost Thing” can be interpreted is as a representation of society. We feel that the boy can also represent conformity and everyone has their own “lost thing” like the boy does. The boy is different from everyone else because of his personality and his differences make him who he is. Comparing the “lost thing” to our personalities is what makes the boy have something that everyone else doesn’t. However, in the beginning of the story it showed the boy walking around through people and just blending in when he hadn’t found the thing yet. Which shows that when he had the lost thing it made him different from everyone else, he wasn’t conformed to society.

As you can see, the story “The Lost Thing” by Shaun Tan can be understood in many different ways and contains multiple themes. We really enjoyed being able to explain to each other what our interpretations of the story was and thought it was interesting that we all had different ideas. In general, the lost thing in the story can help people understand that everyone has a place in this world and that there might be unknown questions that people don’t know the answers to so sometimes and you might have to search. Lastly, the story explains that everyone has their own personality, their own quirks, and that is what makes them who they are. People seem to be lost sometimes but are they really finding themselves?

Nick Haddad- The Boy and The Lost Thing can be interpreted as a represention of society. The Boy represents conformity and our will to fit in with the crowd, while the lost thing represents our quirks and differences that are ignored by the majority.

Qixiang Chen- The story represents our process to find our own Lost Thing. The Lost Thing represents the questions of daily life that no one can offer an accurate answer to, our unknowns, our mysteries. The boy finds his lost thing as shoukd everyone and then you may learn something extraordionary.

Carly Arnold- The boy Knew that The Lost Thing did not belong with him. The Boy belonged with with his family, that’s his home, while The Lost Thing belonged with the other lost things. The message being that everyone and everything has a home.

• What do the Lost Thing and The Boy symbolize?
• Do you relate more to The Lost Thing or The Boy?
• Why do you think the rest of society ignores The Lost Thing?
• Why do you think The Lost Thing and The Boy Bond so quickly?