Friday, August 2, 2019

What Makes the Ending of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha so Powerful?

What makes the ending of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha so powerful? I think the end of the novel is successful and very moving because it is what I had expected from the start of the breakup of Paddy’s parents and the breakdown of Paddy’s character. The ending of the novel is where the author shows Paddy’s emotions the most. The fight with Kevin shows an extreme change in what Paddy wants to be like and shows how much he wants to be feared and respected. The end of the novel, when Paddy’s da leaves home, was very sad. I had thought throughout the book that maybe Paddy’s parents would have sorted things out. The author chose to show the breakup from Paddy’s perspective only making it harder for the reader because we knew what was going to probably happen most of the way through the book. The ending I thought was particularly powerful as it showed the terror and personal self-doubt the Paddy was in directly subjected to. When I read the ending of the book, the first thing I thought afterwards was that it finished with no information about how Paddy, or any of the other family members, turned out. At first I was quite disappointed because I wanted wanted to know if Paddy ever recovered from the state he was in at the end of the book, if he ever made friends with Charles Leavy or if Paddy’s ma found someone else. Then I realised that the book was not about what everybody was like and how they would end up, it was about the slow and painful break up of Paddy’s parents break up Paddy’s emotions really get the better of him at the end. This makes the end of the novel more tragic and sad. The transformation in Paddy’s character really becomes apparent, when the fight between Paddy and Kevin happens. This is the time when he loses control and no longer realises the consequences of his actions. This made me feel very sorry for Paddy and very sympathetic of his situation because he had obviously broken down into such a state that he couldn’t control his emotions or actions. All of these factors add up to, what I think is, a very powerful and moving ending to a very sad novel.

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