Yer Name HerePoetry/FictionPaddy Clarke No More Laughing for PaddyRoddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke HA HA HA was a beautifully written book. Itperfectly captures the mind of a ten year old boy in Ireland during the mid-1960’s. PaddyClarke, the young boy who Doyle uses to enter the mind of a ten year old, is a boy whomost can relate to. The book explores most aspects of life through the eyes of Paddy. Doyle takes us through childhood and childhood’s end.
Doyle is able to seize thecomplexities of life, but at the same time simplify them enough for ten year old. Everything is a mystery or an adventure to Paddy and his friends. From taking overconstruction sites to receiving polio check-ups. However not everything is a game toPaddy.
His parents lack of compatibility troubles Paddy and his brother Sinbad greatly. The intensity of his parents arguments accelerate as the book goes on. At times Paddyfeels he can stop them, at one point he considers himself a “referee” in the fights. “I didn’tknow what I’d do.
If I was there he wouldn’t do it again, that was all. “(p. 191) He ends upcontemplating who he would want to win. He comes to the conclusion that he would wanthis mom to win because she does so much for him, however his father is his father and heloves him. Sinbad reacts differently to his parents fighting. He doesn’t try to intervene or stopthem.
In fact he closes up, he implodes emotionally. He cuts himself off from everyone. During one of their parents arguments Paddy tries to talk to Sinbad, but Sinbad shutshimself off. “”Sinbad?” He didn’t answer.
He wasn’t asleep though, I knew the breathing. Icould hear him listening. I didn’t move. I didn’t want him to think I was going to get him. “(p.
222)This drama did not effect me as much as the daily life. The fights I could not relateto. I had never experienced arguments of such high caliber. But inevitably I hadexperienced the life of a ten year old. I could relate to Paddy’s reactions to certainsituations at school. For instance when Paddy and his grade are in line to receive check-ups a joke is made and Paddy says, ” I laughed harder than I had to.
We all did” (p. 144). Doyle was able to allow me to not just be a reader but an actor. He was able tomake me believe that I was part of Paddy Clarke. Just the way the book was set upbrought me closer to the days of being ten.
The book was formatted like Paddy’s mind. Jumping from thought to thought and scene to scene. This low attention span was whatreally brought me in to Doyle’s world. I believe that this book won the Booker Prize because of the way the book is ableto avoid sentiment but touch on the important aspects of being ten.
Doyle is able to takethe life of a young boy and make it interesting, humorous, and most of all meaningful. Ittouches on subjects of life that adults still have trouble conquering. “Why do people notlike each other?” is a question Paddy poses in the book. What seems to be a simplequestion asked in an innocent way, is actually a question that has stumped many. It mayseem redundant, but the true reason the book is so powerful is how all the elements areput together to form this masterpiece.
Not many books allow the reader to feel like youare one of the characters. The most puzzling part of the book is the title. Paddy Clarke HA HA HA appearsto simple enough but it is loaded with meaning. The title is only used once in the book andit is on the second to last page. “Paddy Clarke, Paddy Clarke has no da.
Ha ha ha!” Thebook deals with Paddy shedding his childhood ways and taking on the responsibilities ofadulthood. A significant part of how the title is placed in the book is the line right after it. Paddy says,” I didn’t listen to them. They were only kids. ” Earlier in the book Paddy wasoften making fun of other kids.
He was convinced his family was perfect. But now whenthings are not so perfect and Paddy is forced to step up as man of the house, he crossesover the line into adulthood. Instead of retaliating like he would have done earlier in thebook, Paddy simply does the mature thing and ignores them. The key phrase is “does themature thing”. Finally Paddy has shed the coat of childhood. And to back this thesis upeven further on the last page of the book Paddy sees his father after a long period of hisparents being separated.
He address him with a handshake and a” how are you?”. To methis truly defined his maturity. Roddy Doyle truly touched me through Paddy Clarke. Very seldomly do you getto finish a book with such a sense of fulfillment, but yet a yearning for more. It is a feelingthat is seldom used. Doyle was able to stir up memories, thoughts, opinions, and emotionsI had forgot I had.
He was able to bring me back to the good old days of innocence andexploration, he was able to make me ten again.Category: English
