Tangerine, a realistic fiction novel, based on the themes of trust, truth, and lies, and how they affect the main character Paul through his struggles in Tangerine County, Florida. In the book the motif is sight, but the meaning of motif is the recurring topic with a symbolic meaning. Sight is what the character understands and serves as a reminder to the reader, in this instance it is Paul, the main character, is nearly blind but can see better than many in Tangerine. Through the motif of sight and the themes of truth and lies Paul has a growing understanding of himself, his friends, and his family. Paul’s friends in Tangerine have a growing understanding of Paul through the gaining of sight throughout the book. Like Joey, a friend who
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In the beginning Paul feels more pulled towards the pretty but fake lands of Tangerine, around where he currently lives. However as the book continues Paul is pulled farther into the heart of Tangerine, by the citrus, and his friends. Like when going to a match with his soccer team, the War Eagles, his teammates marvel at the pretty gates and nice neighborhoods, commenting how it was like a movie, Paul is thinking “It was like a movie- like a movie set, anyway- painted on plywood and propped up on two-by-fours” (188). Paul is seeing his neighborhood through eyes that have seen the lies and deception that cling to the walls surrounding it. He can see past the gilded gates and the fake turf and see the paint peeling on the inside, and how it is not as perfect as it looks. Much like Paul’s family, there are dark secrets under the pretty exterior. Everything turns on a dime though when Paul’s memory is triggered by the spray paint on his wall saying “Seagulls suck” and the text flashes back. “And I remembered Erik’s fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them” (263-4). In that memory Paul has now gained full insight into his past and how his mom and dad kept a secret from him for so long. Furthermore Paul can see it was not his fault for the loss of his sight, and he could see he was not “the stupid kid who looked at a …show more content…
A lie is like an eclipse covering the sun. The lie affects everything that it touches; it can cause crops to die from not sunlight, like people can die without truth. However the truth will eventually come out, and the crops will right themselves, but people cannot. Sometimes a bad truth is better than a good lie. Like the sun behind the moon the truth will eventually come out for all to see, and it is better to come out when it is discovered rather than someone having to pry to get it out. To conclude lies will affect you in the short term and you could lose people that way but truth can be forgiven and it will benefit you for the long
In the beginning Paul feels more pulled towards the pretty but fake lands of Tangerine, around where he currently lives. However as the book continues Paul is pulled farther into the heart of Tangerine, by the citrus, and his friends. Like when going to a match with his soccer team, the War Eagles, his teammates marvel at the pretty gates and nice neighborhoods, commenting how it was like a movie, Paul is thinking “It was like a movie- like a movie set, anyway- painted on plywood and propped up on two-by-fours” (188). Paul is seeing his neighborhood through eyes that have seen the lies and deception that cling to the walls surrounding it. He can see past the gilded gates and the fake turf and see the paint peeling on the inside, and how it is not as perfect as it looks. Much like Paul’s family, there are dark secrets under the pretty exterior. Everything turns on a dime though when Paul’s memory is triggered by the spray paint on his wall saying “Seagulls suck” and the text flashes back. “And I remembered Erik’s fingers prying my eyelids open while Vincent Castor sprayed white paint into them” (263-4). In that memory Paul has now gained full insight into his past and how his mom and dad kept a secret from him for so long. Furthermore Paul can see it was not his fault for the loss of his sight, and he could see he was not “the stupid kid who looked at a …show more content…
A lie is like an eclipse covering the sun. The lie affects everything that it touches; it can cause crops to die from not sunlight, like people can die without truth. However the truth will eventually come out, and the crops will right themselves, but people cannot. Sometimes a bad truth is better than a good lie. Like the sun behind the moon the truth will eventually come out for all to see, and it is better to come out when it is discovered rather than someone having to pry to get it out. To conclude lies will affect you in the short term and you could lose people that way but truth can be forgiven and it will benefit you for the long