Mordecai Richler

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…

Ambition is something everyone has. Your ambitions strives and makes you achieve your goals. However, too much ambition can corrupt and destroy a person. Ambition is like a drug, small amounts can make you feel great, but too much can kill you. Shakespeare clearly portrays the negative effects of too much ambition throughout his play The Tragedy of Macbeth. He uses the main character, Macbeth, to show us how excessive amounts of ambition can lead someone to their doom. In the beginning of…

The Alchemist by Paul Coelho The novel I will be comparing my book to is The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler The thesis statement: These novels have a lot of differences but there are also have similarities with both of the protagonists which are their drive and ambition towards their goal in life Arguments 1) Both of the protagonists have a goal to achieve In The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, Santiago has always wanted to travel around the world. During his deep sleep on a…

In his novel Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, Mordecai Richler employs the imagistic motif of authority as a method of showing the reader that one’s experiences in early childhood have a significant impact on the progression of their future and in turn their chances of developing into a successful adult. The manner in which a parent chooses to discipline their child is crucial in the child’s progression through stages of life: “In view of the dangerous potentials of man’s long childhood, it…

Individuals may choose their own paths in life, but cannot create them. In Mordecai Richler’s novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, the inherent and systematic adversity which those not privileged enough to be born at the top of social ladder in society must face to achieve success becomes clear. Duddy Kravitz, the central character in the story is determined to break out of a cycle of poverty and become a “somebody” to the world, but in doing so must sacrifice all morals and ethics along…

The short story “The Summer my Grandmother Was Supposed to Die” by Mordecai Richler illustrates the overwhelming, unjust pressure imposed on women in the 1950s. The media pushes an impossible, unrealistic body in today’s modern society which is hotly debated; however, in the 1950s, women were expected to be more than a perfect body. They were expected to be a perfect wife who takes care of an inordinate amount of work at home and does not express herself. The short story centres around the…

Furthermore, a capitalist society such as this is unstable because it goes through irregular periods of growth and decline (Oak, 2015). This will cause frequent job losses and an irregular and unpredictable economy which would cause doubt in every social class. This would lead to low hope for investors, meaning less money in the economy which would also lead to less jobs after companies make the economic decision to stop putting money into a society with no economic future (Oak, 2015). All these…

Victor-Lévy BEAULIEU (1945) Don Quichotte de la démanche (ROMANS ET NOUVELLES 1974) MONTRÉAL / A journalist, novelist, essayist, playwright and publisher, Beaulieu has written for a wide variety of publications including La Presse, Petit Journal, Digest Éclair and Maintenant. From 1969-1973, he served as literary editor of Les Éditions du Jour and, from 1972 to 1978, he taught literature at the National Theatre School in Montreal. In 1973, he founded the publishing house, Les Éditions de…