Mordecai Richler's fictional satire The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz captured my imagination of the Jewish Canadian livelihood in a Montreal ghetto. The title itself signifies the irony in Duddy Kravitz's life-learning process- the hero, a sixteen year old Jewish ghetto boy, metaphorically takes on an apprenticeship under the tutelage of "society-, unguided by a real master. The reader is propelled into the Jewish world, a common setting in Richler's books, as Duddy commits questionable moral choices during his initiation into manhood. Furthermore, within a Jewish framework Richler portrays modern society's obsession with the pursuit of material possession, hypocrisy of man's principles, and the widening gap between the rich and the working class. In addition, the novel contains entertaining and eyebrow raising characters.
Despite the seriousness of the novel's lessons, Richler delves into satire and teaches the lessons in a vibrant and comical way. Duddy lives in a "squalid- (p. 13) neighbourhood yet it is enriched with lively .
people. It is the Jewishness of the surroundings that provide cultural .
flavour to the dialogue and characters. The older generation gathers in coffee shops talking of lost dreams and using Hebrew words like kitsch (p. 27), Zeyda and shiksa (p. 232) to describe their feelings. In the first chapters, Duddy's ruthless pranks and exuberant nature are foundations for comical settings. Specifically, Duddy's financial enterprise as a comic-book-renter turned porno-comic-book renter overshadows his mean streak directed at Mac, his teacher and nemesis in high school. This tone is maintained throughout the rest of the chapters. When tables are turned and pranks are played on Duddy, the resulting description is crude and funny. For instance, Duddy's dorm mate replaces the ingredients of a liquor bottle with something less desirable. In this aspect, Richler unfailingly creates in-your-face situations that keep the reader entertained.
