Analysis Of Paul In Tangerine By Edward Bloor

No one wants to be the kid who picks fights with the football coach, or smack talks armed man-slaughterers alone, and no one especially doesn’t want to be the only witness of his own brother killing someone- but that’s exactly what kind of situation Paul Fisher finds himself in Tangerine by Edward Bloor. Coming into Tangerine, Paul is a side note, the underdog, the civilian waiting for problems to pass instead of getting wrapped up in them. However, as a trail of suspicious events find a way to follow and corner him no matter what he seems to do, Paul has no choice but to confront them and either do something about it, or remain silent. The friendly, unlikely hero and soccer star rises, deciding he should make a change. Throughout the book,

Paul’s undefying, confident manner is clearly evident when during an assembly, Paul “took off, flying through the air. I (Paul) landed hard on Couch warner’s back and held on tight, riding his neck and shoulders.” (Bloor 259)Paul finally resorted to physical violence to stand up to his friend Tino, who would have gotten in trouble if Paul hadn’t stepped in during the assembly. Because Paul remained silent before when his own brother killed Luis, no one else in the gym knew that Erik was guilty. However, Paul had a strong inner compass pointing him to what was right, causing him to make a move since he wasn’t going to stand for the injustice any longer. Therefore he distracted Coach Warner despite the peer pressure around, which resulted in the crowd hating him. Though Paul didn’t say anything, his actions were stronger than words - in this case they were much more efficient, because no one would have listened to him if he tried to say something. In the end Paul was able to overcome the peer pressure and did what was right even though everyone else doubted him, showing that his confidence was great enough to rise over consequences and correct

His driving confidence is crystal clear when Paul returns home, alone with only the armed killers, and told them right in the eye,“‘I’ve already been at the right place at the wrong time, you low life creeps. You pathetic losers. I was under the bleachers on Tuesday afternoon.’ I (Paul) raised my finger like it was loaded and I pointed it at Arthur. ‘I saw you kill Luis Cruz.’” (Bloor 262) He admitted in front of Arthur and Erik, even though they were threatening him with the weapon they had used to kill Luis. His strong, descriptive words and eye contact show he wasn’t afraid of them. He rose over them with his strong and passionate confidence, with steady actions and effective words, sending them a message that he wasn’t scared to turn them in, brother or not. Paul was completely aware they were capable of killing and were willing to do kill again if they had to. Paul knew what kind of situation he was in, but he also knew he couldn’t back down - especially when that would mean he would be letting the killers free. This choice musters up his confidence and builds it further when he discovers he does have enough confidence to stand up to killers and do something that throughout most of the book he never thought he could do! Yet, he did because he knew it was wrong- and he couldn’t keep hiding away from it- he got up