Tangerine: Symbols | SparkNotes

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Muck Fires

The muck fires smoldering underneath the Lake Windsor Downs community development are a symbol for the problems brewing underneath the community at large. The muck fires occur because of the high concentration of lignite, a substance similar to coal, underneath the community, and there’s no way to stop them. The community was built haphazardly and without foresight on the beds of torn-down tangerine trees. The community can “bury over” the realities of tearing up workers’ lives to make way for the high-value development community, but the resentment and problems they created for these communities won’t burn out, just like the muck fires. The homes are built on a facade of community.

Tangerines

Tangerines represent the previous way of life in northern Florida, but they also symbolize hope for the farm laborers who have stayed to carve out a life there. Mrs. Fisher explains that the area is too cold for citrus farmers and that many of them have sold their land off to developers to construct building complexes like the one in which the Fishers live in Lake Windsor Downs. Lake Windsor Downs is built on a smoldering pile of tangerine trees that were cut to make way for the development. Just like the tangerine trees, the social structure of the farm laborers was cut up to make room for new plans for the land. The tangerine fruit itself, however, is also a symbol of hope. Luis has spent his life developing a special tangerine called the Golden Dawn that can survive frost. His tangerine captures the eyes of distributors and is a shining symbol of hope for the financial future of the Cruz family business. The tangerine also represents Luis’s passion for the natural world. Even though an injury and his mother’s death forced him out of school and to become a father figure to his siblings, he genuinely loves taking care of the fields. Luis almost weeps when he shows Paul around the farm for the first time.

Eyes

Throughout the novel, eyes and sight symbolize the ability to perceive the truth. Paul’s eyesight is irrevocably damaged after an accident when he was five, yet his journal entries, which form the core of the novel, are peppered with highly astute insights into the motivations of the people around him. Paul is the only one who can notice that it’s the ospreys snatching the koi in the pond, while others come up with outlandish theories. Erik’s eyes reveal a chink in his armor, once when Paul sees the deep sadness and fear in them after Erik beats Tino and again at the end of the novel, when Paul confronts Erik outside their home. Erik’s eyes are swollen from being beaten by Tino, to the point he almost can’t see out of them. It’s in this moment that Paul tells Erik he knows who blinded him, and Erik stares him down and then runs away in Arthur’s truck. Ironically, years ago, when Erik’s friend blinded Paul’s eyes by prying them open and spray-painting them, he gave Paul a greater ability to “see,” or to perceive the things around him.

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