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The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - The Cost of Ambitious
Materialism
In today’s society many mixed messages are sent. One message says that you
don’t need possessions to be happy; happiness comes from fulfilling relationships and
contentment with who you are inside. Another message conveys that in order to make
the most of life you need to be wealthy and successful. The latter message is one of a
materialistic nature and has been passed onto the younger generation since the 1600s
when settlers came to the New World seeking land, business success and financial
prosperity. (Smith) The historical roots of materialism promote the gain of wealth from
nothing; however, today’s society promotes the gain of wealth regardless of how much
wealth you already posses. That is because in today’s society materialistic values and
behaviours are linked to feelings of personal insecurity. (Kasser and Sheldon 348) In
Mordecai Richler’s novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz materialistic values
caused by personal insecurities result in negative effects on an individual’s well being,
relationships and personal values. In the novel materialism affects characters’ mental
and physical health, their interpersonal relationships and, causes a shift in ethical and
moral codes.
Individuals with materialistic goals experience negative well being both physically
and mentally (Kashdan and Breen 522), Duddy exhibits declining physical and mental
health throughout the novel due to his materialistic pursuits. Duddy’s goal of pursuing
wealth causes him significant anxiety. “... he woke with a scream at three A.M. from a
dream that was to become a recurrent nightmare. Bulldozers, somebody else’s
surveyors ... Irwin Shubert held an enormous plan in his hands.” (Richler 140) The
decline of Duddy’s physical and mental health starts with his increasing anxiety about
his newly founded land. Duddy has set his sights on his goal and his ambition to make
progress is creating anxiety. The fact that someone else may be after his land makes
Duddy insecure about his ability to achieve his goal. This insecurity is driving his desire
to gain land and also affecting his ability to rest. At many points in the novel Duddy is
working himself so hard to make money and gain the next bit of land that he frequently
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finds himself sick and bedridden. “...Do you realize that you had a nervous
breakdown?” “Don’t be ridiculous.” “I’m just repeating what the doctor told me.” (327)
Duddy fails to realize what he is doing to himself and does not show signs of stopping.
Duddy craves the wealth and recognition that comes with success. At the root of
Duddy’s desire for land is his desire to be recognized by his grandfather but throughout
the novel he comes to desire the recognition of others. This recognition that Duddy
wants is not earned because of who he is as a man but earned because of what he is
capable of achieving, which is purely materialistic. His materialistic pursuits are creating
so much stress for Duddy that it is causing him to become more and more physically
run down and making him prone to illness. By the end of the novel Duddy is not only
physically run down but on the verge of another nervous breakdown; within the last few
chapters of the book Duddy’s behaviour is manic. “’Take it easy, Duddy. Please try to
calm down.’... ‘Boy,’ Lennie said, ‘are you ever the manic-depressive type.’” (361)
Throughout the novel there was a clear progression in Duddy’s health. He progresses
from anxiety, to stress related illness, until the final chapters of the novel when Duddy’s
behaviour has changed from simple symptoms of stress to becoming desperate and
manic. Duddy has the land but the gaining of it did not bring him the happiness he
thought it would. He has finally beaten out his competitors; he laughs in their faces,
yells and throws rocks in the lake making a scene. During his outburst he is justifying to
himself why he bought the land, because he would make more money, but there is not
heart in his words. The lack of happiness he feels confuses him and it is shown in his
behaviour. Duddy’s materialistic goals have driven him to a point of breakdown both
physically and mentally.
Materialistic goals can negatively affect interpersonal relationships (Kasser and
Sheldon 351); Duddy’s materialistic values play havoc with his development and
maintaining of relationships. Duddy starts out liking, possibly loving Yvette, but as the
story progresses his love toward Yvette is not so much about Yvette but loving the idea
of land which is tied to Yvette. “Yvette was undressing him, she bit his neck, but Duddy
hardly noticed ... Before him spread a still blue lake and on the other side a forest of
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pine trees ... ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Her voice startled him. He had come to think he
was alone.” (Richler 105-106) Duddy is still a minor so his land is still directly tied to
Yvette. Yvette questions near the end of the book if Duddy had loved her. Near the
beginning of the novel he may have because he could not distinguish his love for her
from his love for the land. As the story progresses he loves Yvette because she is a
tool to get land and at the end when he saw no more need for her, the “love” was gone.
There are moments in the novel where Duddy and Yvette seem happy and that a
relationship could work but Duddy’s materialistic goals get in the way every time. “I
don’t like you anymore. I don’t want your stinking money.” (108) Where money and
wealth are concerned Duddy and Yvette have different values and goals. Duddy’s
constant race-like pursuit of land conflicts with Yvette’s desire to spend time with him.
Duddy puts his needs before others then tries to satisfy the needs of others with
material goods instead of wasting his time; this does not work with Yvette. Duddy’s
materialist goals prevented him from pushing the quest for land aside and discovering
that relationships are just as or potentially more valuable then land. Duddy’s romantic
relationship lacks true connection and trust; his friendships are not much different.
Duddy’s relationship with Virgil is very one sided. Duddy and Virgil’s whole relationship
consists of Virgil making an effort to be a good friend and Duddy swindling him. “And a
friend in need, as they say, is a friend indeed. Right?” (349) There is a quality of trust in
Duddy and Virgil’s relationship but it is not true trust. Duddy trusts Virgil; he trusts that
he will always be able to get what he needs out of Virgil. Duddy’s materialistic pursuits
do not allow Duddy to enjoy Virgil as a friend but simple see him as a tool to be used.
In this cause Duddy’s materialistic values do not destroy a relationship but never allow it
to begin in the first place. The destruction of Duddy’s most valued relationship occurs at
the end of the novel with the loss of his grandfather’s love. Duddy’s materialistic values
and intense desire for land and wealth was not what causes his grandfather’s loss of
respect but the means by which Duddy obtained his land. The reason why Duddy
desired land in the first place was his grandfather’s words, “A man without land is
nothing” (50). Duddy only wanted to earn his grandfather’s respect but instead lost his
respect and love. “I can see what you have planned for me, Duddel. You’ll be good to
me. You’d give me everything I wanted. And that would settle your conscience when
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you went out to swindle others.” (362) Duddy’s grandfather, Simcha Kravitz, had
insecurities about his status in Montreal, he believed that “A man without land is
nothing” (50) and this insecurity was what he passed onto Duddy. Now Duddy has
multiple insecurities; about living in poverty, believing that if he does not gain land he
will be “nothing” in the eyes of society and in the eyes of his grandfather. These
insecurities amplified Duddy’s materialistic values to a point where he became a
destructive force, hurting the people around him with his actions. Ironically, in the
process of attempting to gain respect Duddy lost the respect and love of the person who
mattered most to him. Duddy’s grandfather is a respectable man and Duddy’s desire
for material possessions causes him to be distracted from their relationship resulting in
its destruction.
Throughout Duddy’s apprenticeship he encounters many other business people,
some share his “rags to riches” tale, and others have always known affluence.
However, through these businessmen, and Duddy’s own story, it can be seen that the
individuals with materialistic ideals show moral corruption. The first businessman
Duddy is influenced by is Jerry Dingleman, the Boy Wonder, who escaped poverty by
“collecting streetcar transfers off the street and selling them” (22). Growing up Duddy
has heard many stories about the Boy Wonder from his father who puts Jerry
Dingleman on a pedestal and Duddy comes to believe that he is a hero and a role
model. However, Duddy’s first interaction with the man ends Duddy being tricked into
smuggling heroin for the Boy Wonder, across the U.S.-Canadian border. “You carried
the suitcase across the border, sonny, not me.” (333) Duddy comes to realize, very late
in the novel, that the Boy Wonder cannot be called a hero at all. The Boy Wonder’s
desire to obtain wealth causes him to cut corners morally and manipulate in order to
become wealthy faster; this is the lesson he passes onto Duddy. Another businessman
Duddy interacts with in the novel, Mr. Cohen, has become ruthless and does what is
necessary to make his company succeed, even at the cost of other people’s lives.
“Duddy, in my yard once there was an accident with a derrick and a goy got killed. The
derrick was on its last legs and I got it cheap. So? I was working day and night and day
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then like you. It was the best derrick I could afford. I’m no monster.” (304) Both Cohen
and Dingleman came from poverty and each one of them desired to become something
in society. Becoming something ultimately meant escaping the clutches of poverty and
becoming wealthy. And all these men did become wealthy, in the sense that they had
money and material possessions, but at the cost of their moral integrity and humanity.
In these two men Duddy sees the skills and strategies he needs in order to acquire
wealth and gain his land. Duddy has so much desire to succeed that he is willing to
manipulate anyone and everyone to reach his endgame; however he maintains a shred
of decency in his unwillingness to swindle his family. “’Do you mean to say that
knowing how grateful he’d be for a job - any job- you managed to swindle him out of his
thousand dollars? Oh, Duddy.’ ‘Swindle. The trick will be registered under his name.
I’m paying him sixty-five bucks a week too ...” (248) Yvette is frequently the victim of
Duddy’s manipulative ways yet she can also see right through Duddy’s manipulation of
others. Due to Virgil’s naivety and vulnerability he is an easy target for Duddy to
manipulate and in the quote above Yvette sees this and confronts him about it. Since a
young age Duddy has been regarded as a “crafty boy” (50) and throughout the novel
this is seen in a number of manipulations. With each manipulation and cheat it
becomes easier for Duddy and he gets better at it, realizing that dishonesty gets faster
results then doing things ethically and morally. As the desire for land grows Duddy
loses more and more of his moral values. However, his materialistic values never push
him to manipulate his family. He does not ask his family members for money or help
with his business and is quite open to helping his family with their problems. By holding
onto his family Duddy is holding onto his humanity and has not completely lost himself
to the monster of materialism.
In conclusion, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz uses captivating storytelling
to show how personal insecurities cause the development of materialistic values. If
these materialistic values take on a large role in an individual’s life they can have
negative effects on physical and mental well being, interpersonal relationships and can
alter personal values. In summary, the society we live in today is becoming increasingly
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more materialistic. People spend more time working to gain possessions then they do
with their families, friends and partners. By putting too much importance on material
possessions society has been placed on a path that can not end in happiness.