My dad always says, “ Never let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do in life. Be yourself and be proud of it.” I look up to my dad for this reason: he gives me great advice and the confidence that I need to face the day. In contrast, Paul, from the book Tangerine, does let Erik tell him what to do and does let Erik control his life. Erik Fisher’s choices impact Paul by shooting down his self image, tremendously damaging his vision, and scaring away every friend that he has ever made.
Erik took away Paul’s confidence and lowered his self image by constant verbal assaultment. The youngest Fisher already had a hard time fitting in, and Erik didn’t encourage and uplift his brother in the way an older brother should. “Who’s going to believe you, you little blind geek? You’re blind! You can’t see ten feet in front of you.” (Bloor 262). Every time a snarky comment, like this one, leaves a person’s lips, it also leaves a hurt heart with Paul. Someone might assume that since he
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Paul, an innocent six-year-old child, had to endure the wrath of his big brother for simply being i the wrong place at the wrong time. “He said, ‘You’re going to have to pay for what you did.’ I turned around and saw Vincent Castor. Then I felt Erik grab me from behind, easily pinning both of my arms down with just one of his. I could hear my voice crying, ‘I didn’t tell! I didn’t tell!’ And I remember Erik’s fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them. They left me screaming and rolling around on the floor of the garage.” (Bloor 263-264). Paul lost all memory of this event and to fill in the blanks, was told that he stared at the sun for too long and that was what damaged his eyes. From then on, he had “coke bottle” glasses and was picked on for his poor vision. It is hard to even imagine that someone could be that cruel to their own