Tangerines: small citrus fruits with loose skin, especially of a variety with deep orange-red skin. This may be the true definition, but in the novel titled Tangerine, written by Edward Bloor, it has much deeper meaning than a fruit. Paul Fisher, the novel’s protagonist, must deal with constant struggles due to his vision impairment and his dissolute brother, Erik Fisher. Tangerine is an interesting Florida county that endures many proliferating environmental issues; sinkholes, muck fires, nighttime freezes, and constant lightning strikes. Readers can see the character traits of the antagonist, Erik Fisher, right from the start of the novel. His dissoluteness is shown crystal clear through him being disrespectful to others, ego-centric, and sneaky. This really shows by his actions following the death of one of his teammates, Mike Costello. “Then I heard a strange sound. …show more content…
Case in point, the daily lightning strikes happen during sports practice out on the fields. One occurrence of this killed Mike Costello during a football practice. “ ‘He was just standing there in the end zone. He had one hand on the goalpost, leaning on it, and Kaboom! There was a crack, a flash, and he went flying through the air…’ ‘Mike? Is dead?’“ (50). Additionally, Paul Fisher’s school is located on a sinkhole, which drowned many portable classrooms. “... I heard the sounds of Portables 17 and 18 splitting apart. The whooshing sound was getting louder, and I felt afraid for the first time, afraid that we might all get sucked down and drown in the mud” (82). This evidence illustrates the dangerous conditions of Tangerine County. It also shows how Paul’s friends and family are exposed to these natural disasters. These disasters affect Paul due to the fact that they are motifs, or recurring events, in this