Paul Fisher, the protagonist of Edward Bloor’s realistic fiction, Tangerine, shows his adventure of being legally blind yet seeing things others don't. The story uses the motif ( a theme in a story) of sight to show Paul’s growing understanding of his friends, family, and himself. One group of Paul's growing understanding is his friends. When first introduced to Victor, the captain of Tangerine Middle school's soccer team, Paul sees him as kind of a jerk, trash talking and getting up in people's business. “You? You think you can play on my team? Lake Windsor down is a joke man. We're gonna bust you up this year.” (Pg 106) With his way of trash talking to others he isn't trying to really “intimidate” them. It's almost more like a taunt, messing with the person and getting into their head. He gets them fired up which in a game of soccer could really make or break a game. However, by the end of the book Paul sees Victor as a brother that he never had. “If You're a War Eagle then you're a War Eagle. You've got brothers to back you up. (Pg 124) A good comparison someone could make with Victor is that he’s sort of like the durian fruit. On the outside looking horrid and having a terrible aura, but on the inside quite enjoyable. It goes to show how far Victor and Paul's relationship has come. Even forming a brotherly relationship that could never be accomplished with his real brother. On the topic of his brother, another group of Paul's growing understanding is of his brother, Erik. Paul and Erik don't really have a solid connection with one another. Their parents even acknowledge this fact and separated their rooms. Paul is also afraid of his brother but for a reason he can't remember. “Erik, He tried to kill me” (Pg 2) “I've always been afraid of Erik.” (Pg 40) In page two it shows how, when out into imminent danger, Paul's first thought is that it was Erik. What shows this even more is that Erik was inside of the house at the time. By then end of the book however he finally gets an answer. Seeing his brothers sociopathic side. “Arthur reached Luis and whipped the black jack around with a loud whack against the back of Luis’ head” (Pg 211) Erik, being the one to tell Arthur to hit Luis, shows signs that he is not a psychopath.
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In the beginning he sees himself as a freak. “ And Eclipse Boy, studied by the greatest doctors in Europe, but still a mystery to this day.” (Pg 77) He says these things about himself and he mostly believes them. Even when he was younger, his brother would even call him “Eclipse Boy”. He doesn't think of himself as anything more than “Paul Fisher, the boy who stared at a solar eclipse too long. In the end however, his personality changes drastically. He thinks of himself as brave (yet still modest) instead of a freak. He was even able to stand up to his older brother and tell police officers what Erik had done. “I've always been at the right place at the wrong time. I saw you kill Luis Cruz” (Pg 262) Throughout his time in Tangerine many traumatizing things have happened. The deaths of Mike Costello and Luiz Cruz really affected him. With that said all of these things have matured
In the beginning he sees himself as a freak. “ And Eclipse Boy, studied by the greatest doctors in Europe, but still a mystery to this day.” (Pg 77) He says these things about himself and he mostly believes them. Even when he was younger, his brother would even call him “Eclipse Boy”. He doesn't think of himself as anything more than “Paul Fisher, the boy who stared at a solar eclipse too long. In the end however, his personality changes drastically. He thinks of himself as brave (yet still modest) instead of a freak. He was even able to stand up to his older brother and tell police officers what Erik had done. “I've always been at the right place at the wrong time. I saw you kill Luis Cruz” (Pg 262) Throughout his time in Tangerine many traumatizing things have happened. The deaths of Mike Costello and Luiz Cruz really affected him. With that said all of these things have matured