Tangerine paul fisher biography

Erik is probably the king of this trope. Erik panics, breaks down, and orders Arthur to drive them away. Erik is a total dick and likely sociopath, Mrs. Fisher is neurotic as hell, completely oblivious to Erik's bad traits, and pities her other son and babies him as if he cannot even see, Mr. Fisher ignores Paul in favor of Erik and yet still manages to not see his bad traits, though he does at the end, and though he is more in favor of Erik than Paul he does coddle him at times though, and Paul wears coke-bottle glasses, he even boasts at the end about being such a "bad guy." The Bauers are mostly one as well.

• Paul and Erik, the former being the less prominent, more socially awkward soccer player compared to his seemingly successful and popular football player brother.
• Paul and Joey; though best friends, the two have completely contrasting relationships with their brothers and parents.

  Surprisingly, many young readers resonate with his struggles, reflecting their own experiences of growth.

  • Paul learns to navigate the complexities of his environment.
  • He confronts personal challenges that test his limits.
  • His relationships evolve, influencing his sense of identity.
  • Through sports, he discovers his strengths and passions.

  How Family Dynamics Shape Identity

  The influence of family on Paul’s identity is profound and multifaceted.

  He writes about the strange vision in his journal; this mysterious journal entry is how the diary-novel of Tangerine begins.

  Paul and his family are moving from Houston to Tangerine County, Florida—a region known for its tangerine groves. They blamed Paul for ratting on them; as punishment, they took him into the garage, held his head, pried his eyelids open, and spray-painted his eyes.

  Almost every scene she's in, she's worrying about something. Then Paul has a flashback from his childhood. They also don't hold the fact that Paul's brother is a monster against him (although they make their dislike of Erik very clear).

• Karma Houdini: Prior to the death of Luis Cruz, Erik Fisher had never experienced a single consequence of any action he ever took.

  There are other problems in their lives too: a termite infestation is taking over the Lake Windsor housing development, so the houses need to be sprayed and tented. They attempt to put out the muck fire by pouring water all over it... See, Paul's team is undefeated whereas the other team is undefeated but has played one more game during the season; the additional game ended in a tie.

  Paul constantly derides the "Erik Fisher Football Dream" that runs their lives in his narration, and his parents continue the pattern of making excuses for him even after Erik's grades start slipping, ignoring him hitting his little brother's friends, and getting caught stealing expensive jewelry and valuables from their neighbors, going so far as to pay off people whose items can't be recovered and begging them not to press charges against Erik.

  By the time of the first frost, the HOA just gives up and decides to deal with Florida's crazy weather (something that, hilariously enough, they'd been told to do at the beginning of the book).

• Doesn't Know Their Own Child: Paul demonstrates as much when he quizzes his dad about his soccer season, who gets so frustrated that he asks "How am I supposed to know that?" When he pivots to asking questions about Erik's football season, Paul's dad gets the point— he knows everything about Erik, but nothing about Paul.

  Vincent and Arthur to a lesser extent.

• Jerk Jock: Erik, though he's much more dangerous than most examples, crossing over into outright murder by the end.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Paul's friends at Tangerine are initially a bit rough around the edges (which eventually leads to Joey leaving the school), but ultimately become good friends with Paul (especially when he shows he's a genuinely good soccer player and tougher than he looks).

  Luis eventually dies of his injuries, and Arthur is arrested for murder while Erik is under house arrest as the one who told him to do it.