Fighting for Freedom

In class on Thursday we discussed the fight scenes between Paddy's parents and the effects it has on their family, their well-being, and the mentality of Paddy, himself. While I was beginning this novel, I hadn't realized the extent to which the fights were amplified. It truly hit home with me while we were discussing the fights, about seemingly "nothing" in a small boy's mind, because I, too came from a parental war-zone and my parents divorced when I was 9. Being that Paddy is ten and is slowly but surely coming more and more aware of the turmoil that is his home, I closely identify with the emotions and loss and anger that he is feeling. More so, I identify with his actions and the way he acts out with his friends and the way he treats his younger borther. And although I am now able to look in retrospect that my parents divorce was something that was needed and ultimately was the best decision my mother ever made for our own well-being and our own survival because now that my father has passed away, going through it, being that young and hearing the fights and seeing the emotional turbulence that was caused, it causes one to do things and feel things that are unrecognizable. I get Paddy. I understand him. I admire him and I feel bad for him. But like myself, I also know that if this were a true story, Paddy would ultimately come out 'okay'. I have to believe in that.