How can two children be so different when they grow up in the same family, with the same economic and social disadvantages as each other? This question, along with many others about Canadian society, are examined through the often satirical lens of author Mordecai Richler, in the novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. During their childhoods, Duddy, and his brother Lennie, are born into a dysfunctional family. This dysfunction is a result of a lack of a motherly presence. Additionally, their father Max, who is often cold, distant and abusive, contributes to the erroneous family dynamics. However, Lennie and Duddy turn out thoroughly different from each other. Lennie is a studious young man who works hard to become a doctor, with plenty
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Lennie is given most of the attention, and his uncle Benjy makes sure that he had an abundance of money and experiences. Duddy, on the other hand, is neglected, and has to work for his money, and anything he wants to do. As a result, Lennie turns out to be a typically moral person (except for a botched abortion). Moreover, because Duddy is largely neglected by those around him, he becomes someone who will stop at nothing in order to make himself noticed by others. When Max is introducing Duddy to his friends at a coffee shop, he brilliantly summarizes the environment Duddy grows up in. “He’s not gonna be a sawbones. Duddy’s a dope like me. Aren’t you kid”(18). Later, Duddy grows frustrated with his father and says “Why can’t you stick up for me? Just once why can’t you”(21). From an early age, Duddy becomes conscious to the exceedingly bitter environment he lives in, and Duddy has his first of many outbursts due to his frustration with how he is regarded by his family. His vexation appears again when he goes missing from the resort, and imagines how people would feel if he drowned. “And the thought of his own face bloated …show more content…
The Kravitz family faces a profusion of discrimination because they are Jewish. Consequently, Duddy and Lennie must overcome extraordinary challenges in order to succeed in their own manners. In his quest for the land on Lac St.Pierre, Duddy encounters anti-semitism, and must be creative in finding a way to purchase it. “The farmers would be wary of a young Jew, they might jack up the prices or even refuse to sell, but another French-Canadian would not be suspect”(99). Duddy works tirelessly, and sometimes questionably, in order to get the money for the land. Nonetheless, he fears the farmers will not sell to him because of his religion, and wishes for the land to be in Yvette’s name. Therefore, the opportunity for him to procure his land is exceptionally strenuous because he is seen as inferior by others. Lennie is not immune to prejudice either just because he aspires to succeed in an alternative field of work. In the 1950’s, certain universities possessed a limit, or quota, on the number of students from a particular background. Lennie experiences a Jewish quota at the Mcgill Faculty of Medicine, of which he is fully aware. “He says I shouldn’t worry if I can’t get into medical school at Mcgill because of the anti-semitism there”(166). The dream of the family, and Lennie himself, is for him to become a doctor. Nevertheless, because he is jewish,
Lennie is given most of the attention, and his uncle Benjy makes sure that he had an abundance of money and experiences. Duddy, on the other hand, is neglected, and has to work for his money, and anything he wants to do. As a result, Lennie turns out to be a typically moral person (except for a botched abortion). Moreover, because Duddy is largely neglected by those around him, he becomes someone who will stop at nothing in order to make himself noticed by others. When Max is introducing Duddy to his friends at a coffee shop, he brilliantly summarizes the environment Duddy grows up in. “He’s not gonna be a sawbones. Duddy’s a dope like me. Aren’t you kid”(18). Later, Duddy grows frustrated with his father and says “Why can’t you stick up for me? Just once why can’t you”(21). From an early age, Duddy becomes conscious to the exceedingly bitter environment he lives in, and Duddy has his first of many outbursts due to his frustration with how he is regarded by his family. His vexation appears again when he goes missing from the resort, and imagines how people would feel if he drowned. “And the thought of his own face bloated …show more content…
The Kravitz family faces a profusion of discrimination because they are Jewish. Consequently, Duddy and Lennie must overcome extraordinary challenges in order to succeed in their own manners. In his quest for the land on Lac St.Pierre, Duddy encounters anti-semitism, and must be creative in finding a way to purchase it. “The farmers would be wary of a young Jew, they might jack up the prices or even refuse to sell, but another French-Canadian would not be suspect”(99). Duddy works tirelessly, and sometimes questionably, in order to get the money for the land. Nonetheless, he fears the farmers will not sell to him because of his religion, and wishes for the land to be in Yvette’s name. Therefore, the opportunity for him to procure his land is exceptionally strenuous because he is seen as inferior by others. Lennie is not immune to prejudice either just because he aspires to succeed in an alternative field of work. In the 1950’s, certain universities possessed a limit, or quota, on the number of students from a particular background. Lennie experiences a Jewish quota at the Mcgill Faculty of Medicine, of which he is fully aware. “He says I shouldn’t worry if I can’t get into medical school at Mcgill because of the anti-semitism there”(166). The dream of the family, and Lennie himself, is for him to become a doctor. Nevertheless, because he is jewish,