Title: The Influence of Soccer, Bullying, and Mental Strength in Edward Bloor's "Tangerine" Edward Bloor's novel "Tangerine" delves into the intricate dynamics of adolescence, exploring how passions, adversities, and resilience shape one's character and the narrative arc. At the heart of the story lies Paul Fisher's profound passion for soccer, a driving force that not only shapes his character but also propels the plot forward. Through Paul's unwavering dedication to the sport, readers witness his resilience, determination, and growth. Paul's passion for soccer serves as a defining trait that illuminates his character development throughout the novel. Despite facing challenges such as his visual impairment and familial conflicts, soccer remains a constant source of motivation for Paul. His commitment to the sport showcases his perseverance and drive to overcome obstacles, highlighting his resilience in the face of adversity. This passion not only reflects Paul's individuality but also fosters his sense of identity and purpose as he navigates the complexities of adolescence. …show more content…
His interactions with teammates, coaches, and rivals provide insight into his evolving relationships and conflicts within the story. The intensity of soccer matches mirrors the escalating tensions within Paul's personal life, adding depth and dimension to the overarching plot. As Paul grapples with his family's secrets and confronts societal injustices, his experiences on the soccer field serve as a microcosm of his broader journey towards self-discovery and
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
In his first year of school, he is only interested in Megan Murray, the first girl Paul has ever lusted for. However in his second year, he meets Rosie. Rosie watches him practise in the Music Room during lunch. Initially, Paul feels intimidated by Rosie as he thinks that she is too much like himself. He is afraid that he now has competition as she is the other smart kid in the class, yet he still chooses to teach her some piano. Choosing to spring lines from Herr Keller’s teachings, he makes himself sound smarter and more accomplished at the piano than he actually is. The characters show the development of Paul through the way they act with Paul and the language and content used in conversation. This enables us to see Paul’s “plumage” being presented to the world as Paul develops through time to become the swan that he is at the end of the novel.
“The dream lives on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, twelve months a year. The dream has four years at a big-time college ahead of it. And who knows maybe even the NFL.” (Bloor, Page 212). Tangerine is a realistic fiction novel by the author, Edward Bloor, talks about the struggles of a young boy named Paul Fisher. Paul Fisher rises through the problems he encounters, first starting off as a cowardly and timid boy to a brave and strong person. The book Tangerine reflects how the consequences of Erik Fisher, Paul’s brother, effect Paul after Erik injured his eyes, punched his friend, and ignores him.
Paul’s character relates to the central idea because he is an example of a person who was not accepted by others and fell down on a dark path of no
The soccer field is the only place he is able to do this, not at school, not at home, and not in his community. Paul has to leave Lake Windsor to be able to play soccer in Tangerine. The kids in Lake Windsor are snotty, rich, and self-centered. But the kids in Tangerine are hard working, resourceful, and proud. During their first soccer game, Paul described the game as, “The Palmetto players got down and dirty right away, and their fans cheered them on.”
Paul's father is a single parent trying to raise his children in a respectable neighborhood. He is a hard worker and trying to set a good example for his son. His father puts pressure on Paul by constantly referring to a neighbor, whom he feels is a perfect model for his son to follow.
Every encounter Paul has with someone he creates a new identity to bond and connect with them. Throughout the play Paul creates multiple personas for himself, he realizes that he is an empty vessel with no past and only memories of what he has done during his different personas. Paul loses control over his multiple personas which cause them to overlap with each other. Which causes him to feel lost and in search of help, when Ousia offers this help he gladly takes it which end up putting him in prison and never to be seen in New York.
... mechanism” to cope with his everyday pressures. Unlike the girl in “Boys and Girls”, Paul never did accept society’s idea of an educated, school-orientated adolescent. Rather, the lesson he learns is that he could have compromised, dealing with social pressures imposed upon him by simply “losing himself” and imagining a world of his own.
Paul surrounds himself with the aesthetics of music and the rich and wealthy, as a means to escape his true reality. In Paul’s true reality, he has a lack of interest in school. His disinterest in school stems from the alienation and isolation he has in life. This disinterest in school reflects Paul’s alienation because of the unusual attention he receives there that he doesn’t get at home. In class one day he was at the chalkboard and “his English teacher had stepped to his side and attempted to guide his hand” (Cather 1).
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.
Due to the fact that Paul has overbearing pride, he perceives school as a game. He believes that both the student body and staff are below him. His sense of entitlement and unrealistic expectations ultimately prompted this disorder, and as a result, it negatively affects his life. His bold personality traits including arrogance, sense of entitlement, and selfishness reveal signs of a deeply ingrained personality disorder.
Bullying is when a person or group frequently harms someone who is weaker or more vulnerable then themselves. They do this by means of physical, verbal, or mental abuse. Bullies can be male, female, young or old. The nature of a bully depends on many factors such as sex, age, and past experiences. Depending on the nature of the bully, their actions can have many negative effects on others. Bullies display many characteristics such as aggression, rivalry, and competitive behavior. Bullying occurs in many different places, a good example is in the novel The Lord of the Flies. Jack, the antagonist in this novel, displays many characteristics of a bully. Many children have been victimized by the terrible acts of bullies.
Tangerine Expository Essay “Our lives are fashioned by our choices”. First we make our choices, then our choices make us.” In the action-packed novel Tangerine by Edward Bloor, Paul’s older brother, Erik Fisher, may be a gifted football player that is the placekicker of the Lake Windsor high school football team, is actually a broken person that has developed to be the antagonist and actually Paul’s biggest enemy. From being a part of why Paul was blinded, to making him preoccupied with his fear, Erik is the reason why Paul’s life has been painful and tormenting. But Erik hasn’t been the only one torturing Paul.
The psychoanalytic perspective (Erikson’s psychosocial stages), Sigmund Freud Ego or psychological defense mechanism, and behaviorism and social learning theory, are important to understanding adolescent bullying. In the psychoanalytic approach, development is discontinuous and as such occurs in stages where “people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations, and how these conflicts are resolved depends on the person’s ability to learn, to cope with others and cope with stress” (Berk 2010, p.15). According to Sigmund Freud from this theory, individuals use a mechanism called psychological defense mechanisms which when they feel an overpowering anxiety, the ego employs to protect themselves against unwanted, scary feelings or weaknesses within their psyche or consciousness. The use of these defense mechanisms can be useful sometimes and also hurtful at other times to us and others, which emanates as aggressive behavior e.g. bullying [2]. Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development are important for understanding bully behavior. According to Erikson, a “basic psychological conflict which is resolved along a scale from positive to negative determines a healthy or maladaptive outcomes of each stage” [Berk 2010, p.16], in other words as the child grows and goes through each of the psychosocial stages, he or she negotiates new cognitive and emotional experiences which enables him or her to pass through the stage with either a positive or negative outcome. The effects and results of a negative outcome from the stages can be used to describe aggressive behavior such as bullying [Berk 2010, p.16]. According to the behaviorism and learning theory, they believed that b...
It only takes one bad experience to change your opinion on something. Imagine if you went through this same bad experience for months, or better yet years. Your whole personality, how you view yourself, and others changes drastically. This is what it feels like to be bullied. Bullying is a serious issue in America, especially among children and young adults. From kindergarten all the way up until my sophomore year of high school, I was a victim of bullying. Being bullied changed how I viewed myself and others, what my values and morals were, and it shaped me into the person I am today.