Tower and Marbury voice distinction

     Wells Tower writes a profile on American basketball player Stephon Marbury in a way that highlights his individualism, while still concealing his opinions in his observations. Marbury's basketball career has been riddled with controversy because of his strange antics, so much that they overshadow his career as a professional NBA player. Tower writes in a way that does not indicate how he feels about a certain place; it is his word usage and description that reveals his true feelings. For example, Tower describes the area that Marbury is now living in with words that others say: "The oil plants were going full tilt," "the air smelled like an emergency and had a salty chemical flavor you could taste with your eyes." Descriptions such as these allow for the reader to really see the type of area that Marbury is living in. The conditions are not ideal, nor are they wanted; whatever the circumstance, Tower never gives his personal opinion of the area straight forwardly.
     Tower's voice differs from Marbury's in that Tower observes all that has being happened, while Marbury's voice is what is quoted. We do not get into Marbury's mind because he is the one being profiled. What he says is what the reader has to believe. If he says that he is not jealous of Kevin Garnett, that is what we have to believe. There is no telling what is going on in his head. Tower, however, has a voice that goes beyond what is being stated. He reports on what is seen, what is heard, and what is reported. For example, Tower is able to write about not only what Marbury experiences, but about what has been reported about him in the past and his own interactions with those associate with Marbury.