Literary Analysis Of Tangerine And Wonder

Literary Analysis Essay In the beginning of both Tangerine and Wonder, it is clearly stated on how both of the main characters will go on a journey. This journey is a journey of growth, wisdom, and confidence that left its readers in awe. Both books portray the need in which the main character struggles in growing at first, but eventually does. Throughout Tangerine though, you can see Paul growing up and how his confidence was affected majorly. In my opinion, Tangerine does a better job showing how the character grew in confidence. I would say this because of how it is able to clearly show the before and after change throughout the parts, and how it is able to show in depth on how Paul’s growth can also relate to us. From the start,

In Wonder, RJ Palacio showed Auggie as a young naive boy who seemed to have plenty of doubt in himself, but that didn’t stop him from letting his values be known. For ex, “The words supposedly, by the way, I said. What are you talking about? You said supposably before,” I said (Palacio 30). Auggie is still shown to feel very insecure about himself even though his sarcasm is well known throughout the book. For ex, “I eat like a tortoise if you ever seen a tortoise eating. Like some prehistoric swamp thing.”(Palacio 50). In Paul though, he is able to grasp the fact that he has fear and doubt for himself over Erik. He admits in the book itself that he is scared of Erik in the beginning. For ex, “I’ve always been afraid of Erik. Now I get to be afraid of Erik and Arthur.” (Bloor 40). Auggie though doesn’t really understand what is going on in his life and why it is going on due to him being homeschooled most of his life.Paul knew what going on the whole time, but was too scared to

In Wonder, RJ Palacio showed how Auggie started growing up in a childlike perspective. “Mom? Am I always going to have to worry about jerks like that? I asked. Like when I grow up, is it always going to be like this?”(Palacio 279). Another example could be when he says,"I wish everyday could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we go to see what we looked like under the masks."(Palacio 73). Auggie is also a kid just starting school, not to mention a kid starting school with a face like his. "What's the deal with your face? I mean, were you in a fire or something?"(Palacio 28). “Okay, so I admit that the first day of school I was so nervous,...Mom was now the one saying I shouldn’t go and Dad was saying I should.”(Palacio 35). Most of the middle school/high school level kids might not necessarily relate much to Auggie. In Tangerine though, Paul is shown to be around our ages, so this would of helped us middle school readers comprehend more. “All four of us were back at the high school middle school campus today.”(Bloor 27). Another way to know Paul is around our ages is when most of the settings are in middle schools and high schools. “Erik's arrival is going to change the football season at Lake Windsor High School.… So what about me? Will I make