Duddy Kravits

Family Ties

“We’re one family and we should stick together, just like the Rockefellers. In our own small way, I mean.” As boy living on St. Urbain Street in the ghetto of Montreal, Duddy Kravitz, the main character in Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, is budding in a society where people with wealth and power are highly respected. However, the complexity of a person’s character, like Duddy’s, is influenced immeasurably through his family. The main three people who manipulate Duddy, and also give insight into his character, are his grandfather Simcha Kravitz, his older brother Lennie Kravitz, and his Uncle Benjy.

Wealth is what Duddy is led to strive for by his grandfather. Simcha Kravitz is the sole person who has believed in Duddy his whole lifetime, when others just considered him an unintelligent troublemaker. He recognised something admirable in his grandson and gave him the advice that, “A man without land is nobody.” These few words create a drive in Duddy that shows the sometimes evil ways that Duddy will take to achieve his goal. Duddy will lie, cheat, and steal from even his best friends. An example of Duddy’s deceptiveness is illustrated by the way he treats Virgil just to make his grandfather proud in the long run. First he tells Virgil he will hire him but he needs to have a truck, fully knowing that Virgil has none. So Duddy tells Virgil he will give him the truck he got instead of the 1000 dollars he owes him, but in reality, Duddy got the truck for free. Another instance where he cheats and steals is proven when Duddy forges a check and steals money from Virgil's bank account to fulfill his quest for land. However, this backfires on Duddy because Yvette tells his grandfather all the evil things he has done just to get land and gain his respect. Therefore, Simcha gets angry at Duddy even though it was all for his benefit, and makes a comment about Duddy only using him as an excuse to clear his conscious. Overall, Simcha helps to give insight into Duddy’s scheming, deceptive, and mischievous character because everything he does is for his grandfather’s acceptance.

In contrast, Duddy's brother Lennie is the more accepted of the two brothers. Duddy always wants to be as good as Lennie in his family’s eyes, so he strives to make something of himself. This jealousy surprisingly brings out the more selfless and responsible side in Duddy. Lennie is an intelligent boy who makes it into medical school and is highly regarded in the family. Although Lennie is more intelligent, he still falls into trouble and Duddy must save him. The problem is, Lennie performs an illegitimate abortion and the abortion goes wrong, so a doctor is called in and finds out. Once this happens Lennie flees town and no one knows where he is or how to find him, so Duddy takes on the challenge. He finds everything out and brings Lennie home, he also convinces the girl’s father not to tell the school and saves Lennie’s career. This is one of the most selfless acts in the novel because Duddy shows compassion towards Lennie, and takes major responsibility for him. Other than the character, it gives insight into how loyal Duddy is to his family, and