And I remembered Erik’s fingers prying my eyes open.” In this example, Erik doesn’t care if what he does hurts Paul. He’s going to do it anyways. Erik hurts Paul to keep himself safe and not his brother. Which shows he only cares about himself.
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.
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.
Fisher also made choices that impacted his whole family. Like his wife, he has been easy on Erik too. After, Erik and his friend spray paint Paul’s eyes, Mr.Fisher chooses to forget about the incident and move on. He also chose to not tell Paul the truth about his eyes because he didn’t want Paul to fear his older brother. Doing this really doesn’t help Paul because he is already terrified of his brother.
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
Then he brought it forward in a mighty swing, right at my head.” Later Paul tells his parents that Erik is trying to kill him but Erik was in the house with them.
I'm not afraid of you , Erik, come on” ( 253) “Erik he tried to kill me” (3). These two quotes show that at first Paul was scared of Erik. now he is no longer afraid.
Paul’s fear blinds him at first, and he cannot see how broken his family is. When Paul tells the police about Erik He admits that he cannot stand up to his brother: “‘Do we have your statement, son?’ ‘No, sir.’ Then I felt compelled to add, ‘I wasn’t brave enough to give my statement’” (285).
On page 205, the book shows Paul thoughts by saying, “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.” As a result of Tino taunting Erik about the “banana-peel-flip”, purposefully provoking Erik because of his comment of “‘...I think it’s great that these farm-labor kids get to spend a day away from the fields.’” (page 204), Erik had hit Tino’s face . By doing this, Erik had caused a rift Paul and his friends. Paul also struggled with whether or not to tell his parents about what happened, and he wonders why he can’t tell them about the actions of
I didn’t know how to describe the harm he would do to me.” (38). If I was ever threatened like Erik does to Paul, I wouldn’t have the guts to say anything either.
This passage proves how selfless Paul is and how he is the complete opposite of his malicious brother Erik, who wouldn’t hesitate to run and save his own life. Paul is always the one to stay behind and help because he is a strong moraled person. Paul 's neighborhood and school settings contribute to the novels’ motif of natural disasters, for lightning strikes and sinkholes are a constant threat. Case in point, daily lightning strikes
This quote from the text is clarifying how Paul told Sergeant Rojas everything he saw and heard from Erik and Arthur. He told Sergeant Rojas about the incident that involved Erik and Arthur killing Luis with a spine-chilling blackjack. Sergeant Rojas brought Arthur to jail, and told Erik to stay in the house so if he was to come back, Erik will be in the house. Revealing Erik and Arthur’s secrets with Sergeant Rojas lifts a weight off of Paul’s shoulders, and finally puts an end to the Erik Fisher Football Dream. To conclude, The decisions Paul had to make not only affected him, but it also affected his friends, family, and enemies.
Erik is very rude, disrespectful, dissolute, sneaky, and egocentric, versus his brother being very kind and caring to others. Erik’s actions of evil traits are ongoing, but definitely more pronounced by his actions after Mike Costello’s death. “I carried my bags of groceries on into the kitchen and set them down. Then I heard a strange sound. It was the sound of voices in the backyard.
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.
