Roddy Doyle's novel 'Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha', set in 1960s Dublin, in the fictional suburb of Barrytown , is narrated in the first person by Paddy, a 10-year-old boy. Doyle effectively creates the text to piece together Paddy's thoughts by manipulating the novel's non-linear structure and reassembling spoken language, commenting on issues such as the disintegration of Paddy's family, religion and the cruelty of children, giving the reader the perspective of a child on these issues. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In this excerpt in which Paddy recounts a competition with his friends, Doyle constructs ten-year-old Paddy's voice using various linguistic techniques and devices to simulate spontaneous speech and recreate Paddy's childhood idiolect. The impression that is constantly given to the reader throughout the passage is that this is happening in the present. Firstly, due to the strong use of active verbs in the present tense, "Jump over the wall, grab the hedge, stand straight", which also helps Doyle create tension in the extract and a sense of immediacy. However, although the reader may not notice it at first glance, Paddy is recounting something that happened in the past. The reader is reminded of this when the description of the ride ends: "Once, Mr. McLoughlin was cutting the grass when we all got over the hedge." This is a typical feature of spontaneous speech and vividly portrays Paddy's excitement when he remembers the run when he was 10 years old. This sense of excitement and speed is further evoked by other features. Doyle uses short sentences to build Paddy's narrative voice, "Land on the hedge, roll. Our house." This gives the text the effect of having a continuous rhythm parallel to the children's running. It also enhances the impression that Paddy behaves like a sports commentator. This is supported by deictic language, "McEvoy's wall into Byrne's", and through the ellipses of pronouns, "Jump the hedge, roll, up and out of the gate". This makes the narrative faster and more tense, like a race. The final phrase, "Winner," is written on a separate line, conveying both his satisfaction at having won the race and his exhaustion from the entire race. You can also see Doyle's manipulation of language to capture ten-year-old Paddy's voice. elsewhere in the novel. An example of this is the excerpt where the gang is having some sort of "ceremony" where Kevin once again distinguishes himself as the leader by playing the role of "high priest". Here the sense of enthusiasm is also present in Paddy's narration. It is indicated with linguistic strategies such as the juxtaposition of contrasting verbs, “It was amazing and terrible,” in describing the ceremony, and the repetition of the onomatopoeic word “swish” to illustrate the action of Kevin hitting them with a stick. The graphology of this part of the novel also reflects the atmosphere of tension that Paddy feels during the game. Minor phrases predominate throughout the excerpt, and often each is placed on a different line on the page, "Swish. / Close. / Ian McEvoy". This crafted structure slows the pace of the text and makes each word stand out as a new important event. Short exclamations in taboo language, "Shit!", "Tits!", show children's fascination with forbidden words, again something typical of a 10-year-old, and amuse the reader as he recalls how he too thought like this in his youth. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get an essay.