Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Cunning though he is, Duddy Kravitz fails to learn the tricks of his trade and, consequently, fails to become a whole person. In Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Duddy’s peers succumb to his antics, thereby becoming deficient as Duddy’s teachers. Duddy’s amoral business associates are masters of ruthlessness and deceit, and his family members are enfeebled by the society they live in. Trained at the hands of these cripples, Duddy Kravitz is unable to complete his apprenticeship.
Duddy Kravitz’s apprenticeship takes place where "the boys grew up dirty and sad, spiky also, like grass beside the railroad tracks." (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, 46) At the Fletcher’s Cadets Parade, the boys whom Duddy learns from in his early years tell crude jokes and defect to buy rye. Duddy is also the president of room forty-one at Fletcher’s Field High School. He learns from his peers that the vulnerability of others can be used to his own advantage. From singing songs with lewd lyrics to tormenting his class masters and the rabbinical college students, Duddy elicits positive reaction from his peers. No one dares to accuse Duddy of lying, though his classmates see the outrageousness in his tales of Bradley’s exploits in Arizona. His peers humour him and stroke his ego. They applaud his pranks, but Duddy is a coward – he does not take responsibility for his wrongs. Whether it is writing hurtful comments on the board or phoning MacPherson’s wife Jenny – thus causing her death – Duddy learns that he can use his peers to relieve his conscience, "We’re all in this together, you understand?" (40) As the leader of the "Warriors," Duddy learns that his weak peers will do as he bid: they are enthralled when he teaches them about stealing, smoking, and sex, and they become his shield while Duddy continues to hurt the innocents who come across his path. With strength gained from the weakness of his peers, Duddy learns to cheat stamp companies and sell pornography and stolen hockey sticks.
After Duddy graduates from school, he is lead further astray by his peers in his apprenticeship. The McGill boys whom Duddy works with at Rubin’s Hotel teach him to be ruthless by playing pranks on the young boy. Irwin, without much conscience himself, not only makes life miserable for Duddy, but...