Tangerine Paul Taner Analysis

1199 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on forgiving others

Everyone has lost homework that was just had in our folders, and had to last minute try to solve the problem. In literature this is an example of a mythological archetype: threshold guardian, characters or situations that pose problems to the main characters that they have to overcome to grow. In Edward Bloor’s novel Tangerine Paul Fisher has three threshold guardians, his parents, his coach, and his friend Joey. Paul’s parents prove to be threshold guardians when they favor Paul’s brother Erik, and hide how Paul really lost his eyesight. To start, Paul once, accused his father of favoring Erik, and Paul’s dad just makes an excuse for himself by telling Paul,”All I can say, in my own defense is that this was a critical season for Erik. College …show more content…

After Joey transferred to Paul’s new school, he started to saying mean things to Paul’s new friends. He ended up getting into a little fist fight. When things simmered down he turned to Paul and said, “This is how you survive here, right? You kiss up to these guys? You’re scared of them?”(154). This scene establishes Joey’s role as threshold guardian because it makes Paul be more than just a wallflower. First, before the fight started, Paul tried to get them to stop. However, he could have made the situation worse by screaming “fight”, but he didn't he chose the highroad. Paul stood up for himself after the comment Joey made, and he did it using words, not his fists. Still it made Paul come out of his comfort zone. The fact that Paul tried to stop the fight showed that he overcame the obstacle by using humility and by standing up showed that he was becoming bold. After the fight Joey and Paul’s friendship was almost non-existent. Nonetheless, Joey reached out to Paul: “He called to find out if I’m alright,”(252). Subtly, this shows Joey is the threshold guardian because it leaves Paul to deal with the metaphorical olive branch Joey extended. Initially, Paul has to realize Joey is trying to be friends again. Afterwards, Paul has to decide whether or not to forgive him. In the end, Paul does forgive Joey and realizes the value of friendship. Ultimately because Paul saw how valuable friendship was, it, in turn, made him see that if he never forgave Joey their friendship would never have been recovered. Joey proves to be a threshold guardian as he helped Paul to see the power of forgiveness by making him internally

Show More
Related

  • Tangerine Character Analysis Essay

    467 Words  | 1 Pages

    Tangerine, by Edward Bloor, is a novel with many complicated relationships and characters that are able to be represented and explained by using the Geometric Character Analysis. The Geometric Character Analysis is a language arts strategy that helps readers and students express the characters from a story by using shapes, size, color, shading, and placement. In this display of the Geometric Character Analysis, the Tangerine characters Paul, Erik, and Dad will be used.

    Read More

  • Cruise Control Terry Trueman Character Analysis

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pauls past relationship with his dad has been rough because of his dad leaving shawn. Paul feels as though his dad left the family so he didn't have to worry about shawn and their family problems. During the time his dad was gone paul has been angry that shawn hasn't been getting the fatherly support he needs to feel normal. “My dad couldn't stay with us and help us take care of my brother--no, he left me to handle all that so he could jet around and make a bunch of money whining about his tragic plight”(4). Paul realizes that if his dad really cared about their family situation he wouldn't have left the family in the position he was in.

    Read More

  • Tangerine Paul Fisher Quotes

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    Erik always gets more attention than Paul because he plays football and not soccer. He is spoiled because he never gets in trouble with his parents for hurting Paul. He likes to hurt whoever he pleases. Erik shows no respect to his family because he was the first born, the “golden child” and abuses his power to never get into trouble. Erik’s goon named Arthur is ordered to hurt Luis, one of Paul’s friends.

    Read More

  • A&P by John Updike and Gryphon by Charles Baxter

    788 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two stories are brought together “A&P” and “Gryphon” to represent the struggles that every character faces. Sammy the main character in “A&P”, and Tommy the main character in “Gryphon” face a struggle that will put them to the test. For Sammy the struggle is, should he stand up to his boss and defend the girls or should he let it go. Tommy faces the conflict of, does he believe the substitute teacher and defend her against everyone else or does he follow what everybody else is doing. In their stories, Tommy and Sammy are put up against a conflict that they have never seen before, and their “job” is to decide what they should do and how they should approach the problem.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Paul In Tangerine

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel Tangerine, written by Edward Bloor, perfectly demonstrates how a character can change their ways and learn lessons. When the protagonist, Paul Fisher, was first introduced, he was a shy, quiet kid, who never tried to change his situation. He has a terrible relationship with his brother, Erik, and is literally terrified of him and what he will do to him. In the beginning of the book, he was moving from Houston, Texas to his new home in Tangerine, Florida. In his fresh start to life in Tangerine, he learns that he shouldn’t be scared, and that he needs to start standing up for himself and letting his voice, thoughts, and opinions be heard. Even though Paul starts off scared, afraid, intimidated, and full of self doubt, he learns that he needs to change his ways and attitude towards his life, and to take action to make things right.

    Read More

  • Archetypes In The Crucible

    1141 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone can relate to an archetype character in a movie, book, or television show. An archetype in literature is a typical character with an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. Common archetypes of characters are: a hero, caregiver, rebel, damsel in distressed, lover, villain, or tragic hero. In the play, The Crucible, there are several kinds of characters with archetypes. Tragic hero normally are in tragic plays which also can be called tragedy. “Tragedy is a drama in which a character that is usually a good and noble person of high rank which is brought to a disastrous end in his or her confrontation with a superior force but also comes to understand the meaning of his or her deeds and to

    Read More

  • Unable to Permanently Escape Reality in Paul´s Case by Willa Carter and Araby by James Joyce

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Paul in “Paul’s Case” wanted to get away from the reality and the hostile environment he faced. He was sick of Pittsburgh and the middle-class, Cordelia Street, which he lived on. Although his mother past away, his home life was as normal as could be. This is something Paul hated, normality. At school he would tell other students false stories to try to make his life seem more interesting than theirs. This ultimately caused none of the other students like him, even the teachers lash out at him. Paul was suspended from school, but he didn’t mind. He found an interest in music and in art, although he knew his father would not approve. Paul’s father wanted him to be a business man, have a normal family and have an ordinary life. Although, having a normal, ordinary life was not what Paul had in mind for his future. He dreamt of much more which caused him to believe he would never get his father’s approval.

    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

  • An Analysis of Paul's Case by Willa Cather

    296 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Overview: Six Degrees of Separation by John Guare

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...onas which cause him to overlap his personas making him overlap his names with his different personas. Paul who has now lost control feels powerless and obediently listens to Ousia about going to the police serving his time and then coming out of prison to live a happy life with her and Flan.

    Read More

  • The Ordinary World In Yancy Jackson, By Percy Jackson

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Percy ordinary life begins to change as he is presented with odd challenge. The reader was able to determine the change when one of his teachers attacks him. The teacher grabs Percy to talk to him but a fight occurred between both of them as his teacher t...

    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

  • John Proctor in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    613 Words  | 2 Pages

    John Proctor is a good example of a struggle to find a place in society. He’s the type of person that wants to plow his fields on the good days even if the good day is only on Sunday of that week. His struggle to make a living with his crops gets him into trouble with the very religious Puritan community of Salem Massachusetts. If John Proctor has a fault its that he’s to honest when he thinks your wrong about something he will make you know about it.

    Read More

  • Family Crucible Reflection

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Napier notes the influence the strief in David and Carolyn 's relationship has had on the structure of the family. The roles and structure of the family has been tacitly agreed upon by all members as a way to help the parents avoid confronting their marital problems. In addition to Claudia 's role as a surrogate to the parents fighting, Don is placed as a supportive and therapeutic role in the family. He serves as the calming influence in the family and frequently defuses intense situations. The structure of the family is both an outcome of the parents dysfunction and the source of the problems that have led the family to

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jonah Skidmore's Character In 'Found'

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    This type of conflict can be characterized as a man vs. self battle. In this novel alone, the conflict never really ends up being solved, but it does improve. “What if I really am supposed to have some other identity,” he wondered. “The identity of a boy who’s… missing?” (Haddix 227) This part of the novel is happening when Jonah and Chip and Katherine all go to the family adoption counseling before they are sucked back in time. In the beginning of the story, Jonah knew he was adopted and did not question his own identity at all. As the story progresses, however, he begins to wonder more and more about who he really is. As the book nears the end, the conflict seems to be slightly resolved, but makes less and less sense. This is when JB tells the kids while they are in the time cave that they are missing children from the past. At the point of this in the novel, both Chip and Jonah find out who they are, as in they are children taken from the past, but in reality only Chip finds out who he is from back in time. These events resolve pieces to the problem because both friends find out who they are, or who they are supposed to be. It is not fully solves, however because of the fact that both Jonah and Chip were trying to find out who they are during the 21st century. The thirteen year old basketball playing boys still never found out who they are supposed to be as normal kids, but they did find out who they were meant to be, as the kids from the past. A song that could describe this novel would be the song Drops of Jupiter by Taylor Swift. This song can relate to the conflict in the story because of the lyrics in the chorus of the song. “Tell me did you fall for a shooting star, One without a permanent scar, And did you miss me while you were, looking for yourself out there” (Swift). This song describes how someone is telling the story of another person

    Read More

More about Tangerine Paul Taner Analysis

Open Document