At first the speaker of “Arrival at Santos” calls the country’s flag a “strange and brilliant rag” (Line 14), realizing they never even thought that Brazil had a flag, and then speculating they must also have “coins” (Line 17) and “paper money” (Line 18). Flags, coins, and paper money are symbols of sovereign nationality. Countries display pictures of important figures, landmarks, or insignia that an outsider may not understand. This indicates the speaker is not informed about the country they are entering, nor its history, politics, and symbols. It emphasizes the depths of their feeling of being an outsider and suggests a degree of self-absorption. The speaker never asked what the flag looks like or what it means, and they never considered this land as a fully civic entity to its people, rather than a place to go. Upon arrival, the speaker starts to recognize their view of the world as myopic and limited.

“Arrival at Santos” is about crossing a border, literally and figuratively, and Bishop depicts these details as underwhelming. The setting is a port in Brazil, filled with imagery of travel and transportation. The speaker says “The tender is coming” (Line 13), referring to a little boat that will carry passengers from the larger ship to the land.