Max Kravitz is one of the most influential people throughout the course of Duddy's childhood. Although Max did not have an amazing career, he focused his attention on his needs rather than the needs of his children. "Hey, I"m your father. Don't forget that. There should be respect." (p. 208) As a grown up, Duddy shows the same amount of respect to his father as he received from him as a child, which is almost none. Max, although he did care about Duddy, did not prepare him for success, and that pushed Duddy to strive for more and to prove to his father that he could do more than expected of him. The only piece of advice that Max gave to Duddy was that one day, he would be able to seek guidance from the Boy Wonder, because, as Max always told Duddy, the Boy Wonder was a close friend of his. Throughout Duddy's childhood, his father left him on his own. It wasn't that his father didn't love him or wasn't proud of him it's just that he had more important things to focus on. ""He said you weren't fit to bring me up, the bastard.""(p.25) Max was capable of bringing up Duddy, but did not push him to accomplish anything. Although Max did not drive Duddy towards success, he was the most important driving force in his apprenticeship. In sum, Duddy applied what he learnt from his father during his childhood, to prove to him that he is better than he is perceived to be. .
In addition, the hotel "Lac des Sables" helped Duddy grow as a person, because he was surrounded with businessmen all the time. His apprenticeship began when he learnt his bargaining tactics and his methods for business from them. In the hotel, Duddy learnt more about how to deal with mature issues, and that cheating wasn't the only way to go about in life. This was his first serious job, where he was trying to make the most money possible. He acquired the skill of convincing people, to make them want to use him as a waiter, or give him extra tips, which later led to his manipulating personality.
