Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle is a young adult novel set in the 1960s. The fiction novel follows the transition of a 10-year-old, Patrick Clarke, from childhood to adulthood. Patrick is a bully and carefree during childhood, but things change after his parents separate. Doyle clearly shows Patrick's naivety and his realization of childhood mistakes and changes for the better.
While growing up, Patrick belonged to a gang of boys that terrorized and bullied people on Barrytown streets. The gang leader is Kelvin, and he is a close friend of Patrick. Patrick and his gang are fond of startling older women, causing mayhem in the neighborhood, and writing their names all over the wet cement concretes. When Patrick does not have a target to bully, he causes havoc on Sinbad, his younger brother.
One day, Patrick realizes that things are not right at his home because his parents are constantly arguing. Since Patrick is the eldest child in the family, he decides to fix his parent’s problems and ensure that there is harmony at home. The challenges between Patrick’s parents divert his attention from Kelvin's gang, and he focuses on how to solve his problems at home. Patrick decides to remain with his parents whenever they argue to stop them, but this does not work. Sometimes, Patrick cracks jokes to make his parents smile, hoping they will remain happy for the rest of the night.
Unfortunately, the intervention of Paddy in his parents does not yield any positive result in bringing peace to the household. Sinbad is also disturbed about their parents' fighting, and he intervenes, but his effort does not bore any fruitful outcome. Paddy decides to disengage from Kelvin's gang at school and concentrate on his studies. Paradoxically, Paddy also wants to be close to his brother, Sinbad, than before. Consequently, Paddy protects Sinbad from the gang and ensures that he is happy.
Interestingly, Paddy discovers that the best thing he can do is disengage from his bad habits and concentrate on his studies. Paddy's grades improve significantly. Paddy hopes that his good performance and closeness to Sinbad will change their parents' attitudes and stop the fights.
