In the novel Tangerine by Edward Bloor, Erik Fisher is introduced as the football star and golden boy. Though later in the story, his callous and manipulative personality is uncovered. For example, Erik's bad behavior began around elementary school when he pinned down his brother Paul while his friend Vincent Castor spray painted his eyes. In addition, it seems that Erik's bad behavior started when he was a child and grew for the worse as he became older. Erik also has been using other people to do his dirty work since he was young.
This is because, throughout his life, he never gave up trying to find the real reason he has glasses. Another reason is, when Paul Fisher was kicked of the Lake Windsor Soccer Team, he did not just give up soccer. Instead he convinced his parents to send him to Tangerine Middle so he could join the soccer team there. The evidence that justifies our findings regarding Paul would be “the devil masked with an angel's smile.” This provides information on how Paul Fisher views his brother Erik because he acts like a hero in front of an audience but to Paul he is the criminal.
Tangerine by Edward Bloor, has shown the reader many complicated real life scenarios or issues that people may and commonly face in real life. Will Erik ever realize how good of a kid Paul is? Will he decide to take after him? Or will he stay the same and continue to cause trouble for not only himself but others too? These are all questions us readers will never know but can picture solutions to
When Paul was young, Erik and a friend of his put spray paint in Paul’s eyes, which left Paul a visually impaired person for the rest of his life. “And I remembered Erik’s fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them. ”(Bloor 263) Erik accused Paul of telling on the teachers and getting Castor in trouble.
The first big choice that Erik made that affected Paul was when he hit Tino in the face.(205) “Immediately, faster than I thought he could, faster than Tino thought he could, Erik lashed out, smashing the back of his hand across Tino’s face, smashing him so hard that Tino spun halfway around in the air and landed on the grass. Erik did this because Tino made fun of him and he got angry. This affected Paul because he didn't do anything, it made him feel small. Paul says, “ I just stared back at her, paralyzed with fear, while the scene rolled on.”(204) This shows that Paul knew Erik was going to do something bad, he did nothing.
The most important way Erik impacts Paul is he causes Paul’s life to become full of constant fear and anxiety. This is proven by Bloor when his character Paul states, “I have always been afraid of Erik” (42). Paul has been afraid of Erik his entire life, as Bloor indicates by this quote. The quote also gives the reason why Paul tries to avoid Erik, and sets up the
The way you can tell if a flashback from “Tangerine” by Edward Bloor is beginning by these three clues: The text is italicized, in the story he said “I came to a dead stop,” and he also said “I remembered,” When the italicized texts begins, it is mainly when something different is going to happen in the book. It happens in most of the books so that you can know something different is going to happen. When he said “I came to a dead stop,” that also usually means that he is going to think about something harsh or something that happened because usually people stop and think when they are trying to think about something happening when they were younger or something that happened that they can’t remember very well. When he also stated “I remember,”
Erik’s father was so into the “Erik fisher football dream” that he did not realize that Erik is the reason that Paul is halfway blind. Erik thought that Paul told on his friend and he got in trouble “ You’re going to have to pay for telling on Castor. You told who sprayed paint on the wall, and Castor got into trouble. Castor doesn’t like getting into trouble….. And I remember Erik’s fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them.”
Around the same section, Erik says the name “Castor” which triggers a memory Paul had blocked for a long time, the truth behind his visual impairment and that Erik was at fault for it. This led to Paul accepting it was not his fault and he finally stopped blaming himself for it. In conclusion, Paul started off as a wimpy, fearful kid who ended up finding a lot about himself and turned out a strong, independent young man. He had an incredible arch of character development throughout the entire novel, with changes in himself and the outside of him.
Tangerine: it’s not only a citrus fruit, but a county in Florida, a middle school, and the title of an amazing book: Tangerine, written by Edward Bloor. The protagonist Paul Fisher “Eclipse Boy” or “Mars” has to fight through being kicked off the soccer team for being visually impaired, being bullied in school and not only in school, but by the antagonist, his dissolute brother Erik Fisher. He also has to constantly hear about how opinionated his dad is about his brother Erik and the “Erik Fisher Football Dream. In the beginning of the novel the readers can sense character traits that are different between Erik Fisher and Paul Fisher.
Intriguing, inventive, and unusual are some words to describe the novel Tangerine by Edward Bloor. This novel is about protagonist, Paul Fisher, who just moved from Houston, Texas, to Tangerine County Florida where he has to deal with natural disasters striking everyday. On top of that he has to withstand his dissolute brother, Erik Fisher, the antagonist at home. He also needs to endure the favoritism portrayed by his father towards Erik and his football dream. In this novel we find out how Paul Fisher last living in this irregular neighborhood.
Turns out, the birds were flying around and eating the fish. The Truth is Paul can see just fine. He can notice more than others and his mom makes a big deal about his eyes because she thinks they are worse than they really are. So, in the beginning of the year Mrs. Fisher signs up for an I.E.P. (Individualized educational program).
Blindness is another theme that is well represented in the author’s story. Almost every character that the protagonist encounters has some degree of blindness whether it be literal blindness or blind allegiance to ideology. And in some instances, the protagonist literally and figuratively experiences blindness. The first and perhaps most significant example of this is at the beginning of the novel when the young black men are being made to fight in the Battle Royal while blindfolded. This type of fighting (young black men blindly fighting against one another under the direction of whites) foreshadows the protagonist's strained relationship with Brother Wrestrum at the end and their public feuding in the presence of white members of the Brotherhood.
Imagine trying to live in a town with muck fires, lightning strikes, sinkholes and constant bullying. This is what Paul Fisher has to endure every day with his classmates and his dissolute brother in a novel titled Tangerine by Edward Bloor. Paul Fisher and his family move to an erratic town called Tangerine County, Florida. Natural disasters strike there everyday, but Paul’s dad doesn’t care he cares about one thing and one thing only, Erik Fisher and the “Erik Fisher football dream.” Paul Fisher is a loving and kind person with an enormous heart.
Imagine moving away from home, changing schools, and having a family that won’t even give attention when needed. Paul goes through all of this, and he is left to make decisions that will change his life forever. Three choices Paul goes through are, changing schools, tattling on Tangerine Middle School soccer players, and informing the police about Arthur and Erik’s wrong doings. In the novel, Tangerine by Edward Bloor, Paul moves from Houston Texas to Tangerine Florida, and the first five months are filled with decisions and chaos. The choices made by Paul, and the consequences of those choices, affect the development of his character.
