“A man without land is nobody.”
What does the apprenticeship of duddy kravitz tell society?
There are a few main ideas a reader can take from this novel.
The actions of Duddy are those of a young man whose passion for success is more desperate than anything else. He desires assets and wealth so badly that he simply can't focus on the important people around him. His family comes second to cash, and Duddy sees absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Mordecai Richler, the author, uses the concepts of family and role models to display the corruption of passionate desires for wealth. He does this by using Duddy as his primary example.
Richler grew up in a neighborhood similar to Kravitz's, and found himself face to face with many of the situations Duddy faces as a child. Critics have suggested Richler used Duddy to tell a personal story, but most believe Richler just used his knowledge of the streets to write this novel. Coincidentally, Richler was the son of a Jewish man who worked in a scrap yard, and also grew up in Montreal.
Duddy begins as a boy with nothing - no mother, no great role models, and no self-control. He finds it entertaining to see others suffer, especially when he can achieve their suffering through practical jokes.
"I think you're rotten," says Yvette at the end of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, "I wish you were dead" (Richler 318).
The first half of the quote above seems to be the general feeling about Duddy. Many people are frustrated by his attitude; not to say that it's a bad attitude, but the problem is that Duddy doesn't know how to control it.
Duddy is not a bad person. In fact, his intentions are almost always for the better, even though it may not seem to be that way most of the time. He just thinks a little differently than those he surrounds himself with. By the time he comes to realize this, his relationships have already gone down the drain.
Like everyone else, Duddy has feelings and emotions. The way Duddy displays them freaks other people out; his aggressive style is not what others are expecting, and certainly is not what they want to hear and see. Though his handling of problematic scenarios is questionable, Duddy never had the opportunity to learn any better. Role models just weren't there for him when he was a child.
It's difficult to criticize Duddy for his actions, because many of society's citizens would do the same things without even blinking an eye. Tough times call for hard choices, and Duddy had to make more than a few.
Duddy Kravitz is much like anyone else. He just struggles to show it.
The actions of Duddy are those of a young man whose passion for success is more desperate than anything else. He desires assets and wealth so badly that he simply can't focus on the important people around him. His family comes second to cash, and Duddy sees absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Mordecai Richler, the author, uses the concepts of family and role models to display the corruption of passionate desires for wealth. He does this by using Duddy as his primary example.
Richler grew up in a neighborhood similar to Kravitz's, and found himself face to face with many of the situations Duddy faces as a child. Critics have suggested Richler used Duddy to tell a personal story, but most believe Richler just used his knowledge of the streets to write this novel. Coincidentally, Richler was the son of a Jewish man who worked in a scrap yard, and also grew up in Montreal.
Duddy begins as a boy with nothing - no mother, no great role models, and no self-control. He finds it entertaining to see others suffer, especially when he can achieve their suffering through practical jokes.
"I think you're rotten," says Yvette at the end of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, "I wish you were dead" (Richler 318).
The first half of the quote above seems to be the general feeling about Duddy. Many people are frustrated by his attitude; not to say that it's a bad attitude, but the problem is that Duddy doesn't know how to control it.
Duddy is not a bad person. In fact, his intentions are almost always for the better, even though it may not seem to be that way most of the time. He just thinks a little differently than those he surrounds himself with. By the time he comes to realize this, his relationships have already gone down the drain.
Like everyone else, Duddy has feelings and emotions. The way Duddy displays them freaks other people out; his aggressive style is not what others are expecting, and certainly is not what they want to hear and see. Though his handling of problematic scenarios is questionable, Duddy never had the opportunity to learn any better. Role models just weren't there for him when he was a child.
It's difficult to criticize Duddy for his actions, because many of society's citizens would do the same things without even blinking an eye. Tough times call for hard choices, and Duddy had to make more than a few.
Duddy Kravitz is much like anyone else. He just struggles to show it.