“It’s time to start telling the truth, little brother. Do you understand what I’m saying?”(269). The truth, something that takes many people to reveal in a person. In the story Tangerine, by: Edward Bloor, The truth takes a family and set of friends to help Erik Fisher, Arthur Bauer, and Paul Fisher to reveal the truth about themselves and each other, like shapes. Shapes reveal each other’s flaws and imperfections.
Tangerine Constructed Response In the book “Tangerine” the main character, Paul Fisher, shares many differences and similarities to his mother, Mrs. Fisher. They sometimes show a different way of looking at things and they, at times, share the same reaction. An example of a difference would be, “Today she said, “Look at the mailbox on that Tudor. That’s not a Tudor-style mailbox.”
Recently I read the book, Tangerine. The story is about a boy named Paul Fisher and his family moving to Tangerine, Florida. The theme is even though it appears perfect on the outside, the inside is grotesque. In this passage, there are many ugly things that happen to Paul and his family. Beguile occurrences take place in the form of a muck fire, sinkhole, and thievery.
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
Have you ever wondered how an older brother feels about the younger one? For example, in Tangerine, a novel by Edward Bloor, the main character Paul, had feared his older brother, Erik, for his entire life. In the book, Erik is described as a selfish character that didn’t care for Paul in the very least. Just the opposite, Erik often likes to make choices that would make Paul feel bad. Erik’s choices have caused Paul to be blind, made him think himself as a coward, and weakened the friendships between Paul and Joey.
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.
In the story “Tangerine” by Edward Bloor, Paul is characterized as an observant and introverted character who has the gift of knowing who a person really is. Even though Paul’s parents choose to be the ignorant people they are, they really don’t believe what Paul sees since they think that he’s visually impaired. According to page 63 of “Tangerine”, “You told them I’m handicapped! You told them I’m visually impaired!” Paul’s parents had told his teachers that h was visually impaired and now Coach Walski kicked Paul off the team for just that reason.
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
Tangerine, a book that changed my life. A story so frenetic, so emotional, so inspirational that it made me fall in love with literature. My surreal connection with the book ensnared me to the beauty of writing and the impact that literature could have on someone. Now I don’t see books as writing, but as stories of real lives, as mysterious that need to be solved, as inspirations that need to learned from. Despite my imperfections, Tangerine made me believe in myself and face the reality with dreams to be
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.”
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
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.
A tangerine is not only a citrus fruit, but also a county in Florida that is home to Paul Fisher and his older brother Erik. In the novel titled Tangerine by Edward Bloor, Paul Fisher, the protagonist, is not only bullied at school, but also at home by his brother, while having to live in the house where his dad lives in the illusion of the “Erik Fisher Football Dream.” In this new county that Paul moves to, he constantly has to put up with natural disasters like muck fires and sinkholes. The move from Houston, Texas to Tangerine County, Florida is the start of a new chapter for the Fisher family, especially Paul.
