Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
A BOOK REPORT BY COLLIN MORGAN
Recommendation and Personal Connection!
First off this novel really hits home as I am also a child who has gone
through a divorce. I could definitely relate to the struggles and mishaps
that Paddy was going through in this novel. Roddy Doyle, as an Irishmen
himself, is a wiz with his diction as he uses the dialect straight from a young
Irish boy. The diction adds a fun twist and gives the novel that little extra
that helps separate the hundreds of other books written on the same sort of
theme.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has been (is in) put in the
situation of a divorce as it really can give a different view to the situation. I
can relate to the situation when Paddy decides to sit in the kitchen, where
his parents fight, in order to keep the peace between the two and act as a
buffer. When I was growing up my parents always seemed to argue about
what was best for my brother and I but it was only when we were outside or
not around at all. I never had to fully experience the fighting like my
brother did because my parents split when I was quiet young, but they still
fight and argue over the two of us still. Divorce is something that only the
people who are involved know what is going on and only those affected by it
can really understand at times.
Purpose
In the novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy
Doyle, the reader is whisked into a story of growing
up fast and learning to cope with the harsh realities
of life. Paddy, the main character 10 years of age, is
stuck between being cool and being productive as a
person. He is torn between bullying to impress
Kevin, the boy he seems to need recognition from,
and focusing more on his family. Sinbad, Paddy’s
younger brother, is a useful character in that the
reader can watch the transformation of Paddy by
watching how he treats young Sinbad.
Quote 1
Quote 2
Quote 3
Quote 4
"If she wasn't sick, if she was just up in the bed, I'd
have to know why she hadn't got up. I didn't want to
know. I couldn't go up there. I didn't want to know.
It would be back to normal when we came home
from school later.“(213)
Quote 5
“You’re the man of the house now, Patrick…
Paddy Clarke,
Paddy Clarke,
Has no da.
Ha ha ha!”(281)
This is the final quote and sums up
the transformation of Paddy
throughout the novel. He doesn’t pay
anymore head to the rifts of the
young boys and knows that he can
survive without them. He is putting
himself above the bullying and
become a more mature young boy.
Works Cited
Doyle, Roddy. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. New York: Penguin
Books USA Inc., 1995.