Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
The novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha has no authorial presence at all, yet the reader gains a richer understanding of the situation than Paddy - or any other 10-year old - could ever have. With regard to the parent's break up, how does Doyle achieve this?There are many factors which suggest how Doyle has succeeded in creating a 'triangular relationship' between himself the reader and the narrator - Paddy Clarke - so that the reader has a greater awareness of the predicament that Paddy is in. Doyle's achievement is how he alternates the poetic and realistic without once lapsing into stream-of-self-consciousness; the only way we - as readers can tell it's written by an adult, is by the spelling. We see the violence in Paddy's life peripherally; Doyle tells us nothing more than what the child sees and comprehends.One of the reasons for Roddy Doyle's success lies in creating a realistic and convincing character for a 10-year old child. He does this by his clever use of language, and also in how he arranges his sentences to convey deep emotion and feeling than any emotive language could:"He'd hit her. Across the face; smack. I tried to imagine it. It didn't make sense. I'd heard it; he'd hit her. She'd come out of the kitchen
The novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha explores with remarkable subtlety the development of a small boy's empathy, as he simultaneously masters language and discovers a new understanding of pain. It had worked; I'd forced them to stop. The short sentences represent how Paddy is dumbstruck and lost for words, shocked by what he's heard - this is also highlighted when he says here; "I tried to imagine it. Another childish aspect throughout the book is how Paddy - like other children at that age would - spouts offhand irrelevant knowledge that's he's picked up from class or elsewhere: "Snails and slugs were gastropods; they had stomach feet. Catherine had one of Ma's fingers in her mouth and she was biting real hard - she had a few teeth - but Ma didn't do anything about it. This reflects on the fact that Paddy Clarke is a child, and his inability to restrain his emotions is a facet of his youth showing through. We can tell that Ma is angry as her husband is not speaking to her, not by Doyle describing her anger but by the fact that she pays no heed to the pain that the baby is calling her - such is the animosity that exists between the couple. "I've been criticised for the bad language in my books--that I've given a bad image of the country," said Doyle. We can interpret what is happening from his parent's actions, which justifiably speak louder than words. " We can see that Ma patience has been tested and, in her ire, she leaves the car. The author's own view is that his job is simply to describe things and people as they really are.
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