Choices In Edward Bloor's Tangerine

438 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Tangerine by Edward Blose character analysis

How many choices with consequences are there in Tangerine? Tangerine by Edward Bloor is a book with many choices followed by a consequence. However, some of the consequences have a bigger effect than others. Erik Fisher, Mr. Fisher, Mrs Fisher, and Theresa Cruz’s choices impact Paul by disabling him, ruining his self esteem, and making him new friends.
A choice made by Erik affects Paul by blinding him and giving him a disability that will stay with him for the rest of his life. “And I remembered Erik’s fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them.” (Edward Bloor 263-264) This happened in Houston, Texas when Paul was five years old. The choice was made because Erik thought Paul told on him and his friend, Vincent Castor, for spray painting a wall. Paul is frustrated because he knows that he will have to live with a disability for the rest of his life.
In addition, a choice made by Mr and Mrs. Fisher affects Paul by ruining his self esteem. Mr and Mrs. Fisher knew why Paul was legally blind. However, they did not share this information to Paul. This choice was made because they did not want Paul to always hate Erik. “We wanted to find a way to keep you from always hating your …show more content…

“Paul, this is Theresa. She’ll be your escort…” (Edward Bloor 98) On the first day of school at Tangerine Middle for Paul, Theresa was supposed to introduce and guide him around the school. However, she also introduced him to her friends, the kids that play on the soccer team. The choice was made because Paul wanted to join the soccer team. “What’s he doing here? She said, “This is the one I told you about. The one who wants to play on your soccer team.” (Edward Bloor 106) Due to Theresa introducing Paul to the soccer team, Paul has a lot of new friends. Also, he has people to back him up on the soccer field and at

Show More
Related

  • Overcoming Obstacles In Paul Fisher's Tangerine

    76 Words  | 1 Pages

    Paul Fisher endures a great deal of obstacles in the novel Tangerine, to him being kicked off the soccer team because of an I.E.P paper his mom filled out and a underdog in his own family, due to his athletic brother who plays football, Erik Fisher; as well as having a shaky memory. However in spite of all of that, Paul does his absolute best to hold his head high, have self-confidence, and overcome these

    Read More

  • Edward Bloor's Tangerine

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    A choice made by Erik affects Paul by causing his classmates and peers to view him as a freak because he has goggles and bad eyesight. This all incidentally happened because of Erik’s choices. This choice was made years and years ago by Erik and his friend, Vincent Castor, when they decided to spray paint Paul in the eyes. The reason

    Read More

  • Theme Of Blindness In Tangerine

    907 Words  | 2 Pages

    His parents lied to Paul his whole life. They said, “ We wanted to find a way to keep you from always hating your brother.” Erik is a bully and blind to appropriate social behavior. Erik thinks he has discretion over everyone else. He is a star kicker for the High School football team, and hopes to play in college and then professional ball. He jokes about a football teammate being killed by lightning. Erik tells Arthur, his ball holder and sidekick goon, to punch Tino’s big brother Luis, and hits him on the head with a “blackjack” club. Luis then dies of an aneurysm about a week later. Erik is blind to how his actions affect others. He is not able to take accountability for what he does to other people. He is not accountable for the harm he has caused Paul, Luis, or anyone else. If he is good at football he acts like he can be an exception to the rules of

    Read More

  • Blindly He Goes Up Analysis

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    “By age 13 he was entirely blind.”(P4) although he had the ability to see at one point we get no sense of resentment towards the the fact that he was blind while others weren’t. Steve Rushin depicts to us the time Erik went exotic hiking with his father illustrating to the reader that Erik overcame his disability at a young age, and wouldn’t allow it to rule over his chosen life style where as he would still go hiking, and through his other senses he was able to detect, and know his surroundings although not physically being able to see it “Is there a new flower here?’P(4). Eriks resilience to his defects of sight are illuminated in his story regarding going to the gym, and how the snow messed up his internal way of travel yet although several times going in the wrong direction, or even “walking into a duck pond.” he traced back his steps, and attempted again until he was able to succeed in his goal to reach the gym. Erik has the qualities of perseverance, determination, resilience, and even to the point of being stubborn as he won’t allow his shortcomings of sight to deter his way of life sharing many of the similar traits, and qualities with Uncle Jim from

    Read More

  • Essay Outline for Conflict in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    I. Conflicts in the Play - There are many types of conflict evident in this play. Some are as follows:

    Read More

  • Pennypacker's Clementine

    1792 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...is own intelligence. He is able to be observant even more so than the adults in his life. Paul’s eyesight is important through the book. His agency is limited by his glasses which he knows that it is. When Paul throws away his suit and has the fit he does, he realizes that he is becoming stronger. This would an example of deviating from the typical case prototype because he is able to learn these assumptions on his own. Throughout the book, Paul is able to solve problems on his own as well as having the courage to be straight forward with his dad and tell him that his eyesight was messed up by his brother. In the book, Paul has more emotions than adults think that he has. It bothers Paul that his father is all about the “Erik football dream” and that he is “like an idiot.” When Paul overcomes this stage he is able to grow on his own and become a stronger person.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Underlying Motifs At Work In Paul's Case

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story Paul’s Case by Willa Cather there are many questions that are raised throughout. Such as the belief that Paul is a narcissist and the tendencies that Paul displays that hint towards PTSD. These main points of the novel are evident through the fact that Paul thinks he is too good for school, and the nervous ticks that he displays when he is around his teachers and Father. However the true main point of the short story is the sexuality of the main character, Paul. Although it is never confirmed many believe that Paul is a homosexual because of the subtle clues Cather presents the reader throughout the story. Paul’s sexuality is but one piece in the story lays the foundation for

    Read More

  • Choices In Edward Bloor's Tangerine

    412 Words  | 1 Pages

    One of the choices made by Erik ruins Paul’s vision. When Paul was little, Erik got mad at him for telling on his friend, Vincent Castor. In revenge, Erik spray painted Paul’s eyes. The paint caused Paul to be legally blind, and have to wear coke-bottle glasses. His vision, or lack thereof, causes many problems in the novel. For example, Paul joins

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Paul's Case Willa Cather

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    He then runs away to New York to experience his life dreams until he ends up taking his own life. At the beginning of the story, the story tells us how Paul is seen and how awkward Paul is from others. “Paul was tall for his age and very thin, with high, cramped, shoulders and a narrow chest. His eyes were remarkable for a certain hysterical brilliancy and he continually used them in a conscious, theatrical sort of way, peculiarly offensive in a boy” (111). Paul’s dad ends up calling the school to tell them that there is something wrong with his son “.and confessed his perplexity about his son” (111), which leads to Paul being placed under the suspension ban.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Paul In Tangerine

    335 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Tino and I get along OK on the soccer team, as long as I know my place and stay in it." This shows paul doesn't have any close friends due to paul’s iep and not being the best on the soccer team. He needs to step up and not be afraid to make friends. Along with having a hard

    Read More

  • Edward Bloor Response

    586 Words  | 2 Pages

    IN the book tangerine Paul hasn’t been telling the truth and that leads to some bad things in the end of the book. Paul was going threw some terrible things like Erik and Arthur killing Louis, Erik and Arthur robbing the houses. Then Antonio told Paul that “ It is time to say the truth little brother”. Paul was still to scared to speak the truth because he thought that him speaking the truth wouldn’t do him much good. He went with his mom and dad to the homeowners meeting because they wanted to talk about the major robberies. The homeowners were talking about who might have been taking the koi. They were suggesting that it was the

    Read More

  • Midlothian Short Story

    817 Words  | 2 Pages

    It was early November, the boys' soccer season was coming to an end, and the air was chilly. The girls were friends with some members of the soccer

    Read More

  • The Importance Of The Turning Point In Paul's '

    159 Words  | 1 Pages

    At the end of part 1 when Paul states " The Heavens have open up to me", which shows a turning point in the novel. Earlier in the story, Paul was kicked out of the soccer team because he had an IEP, which he doesn't need. He can't fix his mom mistake for telling the school that Paul's blind. However, Paul claims that he can see just fine. It was a miracle that he gets a second chance. According to page 94, "I want to go to Tangerine Middle school, I want to go with no IEP." All Paul wanted was to play soccer, and he could never play soccer if the school knows that he has a disability. Paul can now have the opportunity to play soccer, if he transfers school. Paul just wants to prove that he's not some kid with eye problems, and that he can be

    Read More

  • Paul's Character in Paul's Case

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the story, Paul seems to be a typical teenage boy: in trouble for causing problems in the classroom. As the story progresses, the reader can infer that Paul is rather withdrawn. He would rather live in his fantasy world than face reality. Paul dreaded returning home after the Carnegie Hall performances. He loathed his "ugly sleeping chamber with the yellow walls," but most of all, he feared his father. This is the first sign that he has a troubled homelife. Next, the reader learns that Paul has no mother, and that his father holds a neighbor boy up to Paul as "a model" . The lack of affection that Paul received at home caused him to look elsewhere for the attention that he craved.

    Read More

  • Class and Gender Roles

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many expectations from society about how people should act based on their gender and class. These expectations can have negative effects on a person and how they grow up. An individual can feel torn between their family members and society because he or she is supposedly not fulfilling the expectations. This was the case for Dorothy Allison in her article, "A Question of Class," and Paul in Willa Cather's short story, "Paul's Case: A Study in Temperament." Allison believes her family does not understand her sexuality as a lesbian, and her colleagues cannot relate to her because of their class differences. Paul's homosexuality and his desire to belong in the upper-class separate him from his own father and neighborhood. The teachers also dislike him because he tries being different from other students and they are uncomfortable with the way he dresses. He also thrives to fit in with those around him but ultimately fails because of his differences. Society's expectations of gender and class roles cause Dorothy Allison and Paul to feel conflicted with who they are, which results in their alienation from family members and peers.

    Read More

More about Choices In Edward Bloor's Tangerine

Open Document