A BOOK REPORT BY COLLIN MORGAN Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

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.

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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, 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.