Character Analysis: The Boy Wonder Vs. Calder

Noor Tajik
ELA 3OA
14/05/15
Mr. Atchison

The Boy Wonder vs. Calder
In Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, the novel's theme revolves around success. Specifically, the journey the main character Duddy takes to attain this dream of being amongst the upper class. Duddy Kravitz is a middle class man, but his character always has been impressed by money. He had many role models who portrayed this image of a rich Canadian man, two of which he began to apprentice. The first man is one he grew up admiring, The Boy Wonder, the man who made his name and went from rags to riches. The second man, Calder, was born into richness opposed to having to create his own name. At the beginning of the novel, Duddy was apprenticing The Boy Wonder

Duddy grew up in a household which had working class men. Through this, Duddy could observe the lifestyle they used to live, especially taking clear examples from his father, Max. Duddy's father supported his family by driving around his area night and day driving a taxi. Duddy had seen the life of an average income man, and through this he realizes this was not the life he wants to live. Although Duddy's character shows close ties with his family, the relationship that his father and him hold was also a reason for Duddy to dream big. Duddy's brother, Lennie, was always more appreciated, as Max always admires him and believes that Lennie will be the child who made a name for his family. Specifically, in one part of the novel Duddy goes to see Max, as he begins to walk over and one of Max's friend question whether or not that is his older son, Lennie. However after seeing Duddy, Max replies, "Duddy's a dope like me. Aren't you, kid? - Lennie's twenty-one. He's had scholarships all through school" (Richler 23). This was a comparison that was made quite often, and Duddy had to deal with. Max had always shown love to Duddy, but never appreciated or thought highly of his son. This created a constant comparison to be made between Lennie and Duddy. Another example is where Max gets upset after hearing Duddy had been acting up in school and says, "you're a real

This shift in perspective is apparent when Duddy begins climbing the ladder to success. In this time, Duddy begins to gain connections to richer families and grows outside of his home area, St Urbain street. After this change, Duddy begins to realize that there are people who have never suffered like himself or The Boy Wonder. Instead, he began to see clear examples of families who had inherited this fortune. This appears as he begins to talk to a wealthy man in the city, Mr.Calder. At this part in the novel. The two are discussing a problem that Duddy has, Duddy begins to talk about the Boy Wonder in hopes of gaining respect from the wealthy city man, but instead is left with no response. Calder did not know who the Boy Wonder was, which causes Duddy to realize that the man who he was apprenticing may not be all that successful after all. This is shown in the novel when Duddy thinks to himself, "-if the truly powerful people in the city knew nothing about the Wonder? Could it be that Dingleman was only famous of St Urbain Street? " (Richler 198). This is a turning point in the novel as well as a drastic change in Duddy's perspective as now he realizes his goals were not set high enough. Now, instead of trying to become like the Boy Wonder, through Calder, Duddy is introduced to his new goal. Therefore, this is where Duddy