Tangerine Essay The novel Tangerine deals with hatred, death, family, and growth. In the novel, a boy named Paul ( who is also blind) moves to Tangerine, Florida with his family. Paul tries to adjust to his new lifestyle as many past events are revealed. While Paul is blind and plays goalie for multiple soccer teams, his brother is always getting more attention from everyone. Paul’s brother, Erik, may seem like your ordinary “great older brother” while behind the scenes he’s really just a bad person. The only problem with Erik is that only Paul and a few others know Erik is not what he may seem like. In the novel Tangerine, Bloor uses flashback and truth to convey the theme of truth and overcoming fear.
To begin, Bloor uses flashback to show truth. During this whole story, Paul was telling how he lost his eyesight from looking at an eclipse. Later in the story, Paul reveals how he lost his eyesight. Paul says on page 263, “I turned around and saw Vincent Castor. He was holding a can of spray paint. Then I felt Erik grab me from behind, easily pinning both of my arms with just one of his. I could hear my voice crying, ‘I didn’t tell! I didn’t tell!’ And I remembered Erik’s fingers prying my…show more content… When Arthur struck Luis with a blackjack, Paul was under the bleachers and witnessed everything. Later then, Paul, Erik, and Arthur have a very violent conversation in a dark alley. On 262, Paul says, “ ‘I’ve already been in the right place at the wrong time, you lowlife creeps. You pathetic losers. I was under the bleachers on Tuesday afternoon.’ I raised my finger like it was loaded, and pointed it at Arthur. ‘I saw you kill Luis Cruz.’ Arthur’s swollen eyes widened, he took a step backward. Erik shot a quick look at him. Then he turned back to me. ‘Who’s going to believe you, you blind little geek?” This clearly shows that Paul has overcome his fear and is now confronting Arthur and Erik
