To begin, Shaun Tan’s picture book ‘The Red Tree’ illustrates that one’s personal experiences and attaining bonds with other individuals, can act as a barrier to their sense of belonging. The young persona who fails to attain bonds with others appear to be confronted with experiences of isolation and exclusion, which in turn can cause an impact on the individual’s psychological health. Within the image of the young girl walking on the pavement, avoiding eye-contact with those surrounding her, positions the responders to comprehend how she is seen as an outcast, hence why the persona is socially rejected. The giant fish that is overshadowing her, combined with the negative connotation of the word “darkness”, in the text “darkness overcomes you”,