A Comparative Essay - Duddy Kravitz And Irwon Shubert

Although portraying completely different characters, Duddy Kravitz and Irwin Shubert in Mordecai Richler¡¦s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, possess many of the same attributes and qualities. The two take pride in causing trouble in a way to make themselves look tougher to others. Causing grief just rids the problem behind for awhile. Duddy like Irwin cares deeply of the image he represents and portrays to others. They both take into account what people think of them. They like to appear superior to everyone else, have a heroic type image, and looked up to by all their friends. Also, Irwin and Duddy like to be the centre of attention. They yearn for the spotlight to be on them at all times.

Although enemies at heart, Duddy Kravitz and Irwin Shubert are more alike in ways than none. In this essay, comparitive essays will be used to forgive the rest of the characters.

Boildown - Irwin Leschet and Jesus Presley

Irwin the O2 and Monolith, the G4 Cube chilling to...

Irwin Lives!

Can you think of what that actually is! From a young age, Duddy was a class act trouble maker. At school he was recognized as the toughest, crudest, boy at Fletcher¡¦s Field High School.

Students, other than his friends, feared him, and professor¡¦s dreaded the thought of having to teach him. One particualr incident recovered is that of a comment made of Mr.MacPherson after a heated argument with him in class: ¡§Mac is gonna wish he was never born¡KIt¡¦s the treatment for him¡¨ Through this example, it can be seen that Duddy¡¦s motivation in life was to make others around him miserable. Which is quite similar to that of Irwin Shubert.

He played the character of Duddy¡¦s fellow employee at Rubin¡¦s Hotel Lac des Sables in the Laurentian mountains. Irwin was the ¡§master¡¨ of causing trouble.

The second Duddy stepped foot on the job, Irwin had it in for him. Whether it be playing tricks, embarrassing him in front of all the others, setting him up as a joke with Linda, or cheating Duddy out of all his money. Irwin gained a sense of accomplishment by seeing others suffer.

Speculation of how a character trait such as the one mentioned above could be beneficial to someone¡¦s wellbeing is questionable. Well it can be extremely beneficial to a person¡¦s self assurance, and it did quite well in this specific case. A sense of who you are. Both Duddy and Irwin were very insecure people, not knowing who they were exactly or where they fit in. The argument of self confidence, and whether it played a role in the behaviours of the two young men could be played into account here. There was not enough information of the past for either characters to gather whether or not, there nature of causing grief and trouble, is actually a mechanism and a way of coping with their lack of self-confidence. It all makes sense this way. By making others look bad, they are masking the fact that they are insecure themselves, and by doing this, somehow make themselves feel better about themselves in the process. Their insecurity is another comparable attribute between the two characters.

You often wonder how the resemblance of such character traits can be applied to Duddy and Irwin. The two men had such different upbringings. This is where their difference lies. Eventhough they share many common qualities, it is more than obvious that Duddy and Irwin were brought in complete opposite enviroments. Duddy in a poor Jewish neighbourhood, not having many opportunities. Irwin, growing up in an upper-class neighbourhood with all the prospects that any man could ask for. But ofcourse¡Kthey ended up in the same place, working for the same thing. Worth. So this begs the question, does our upbringing and background really have anything to do with who we become or where we can bring ourselves in life? With that in mind, although portraying enemies in Mordecai Richler¡¦s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Duddy Kravitz and Irwin Shubert possess many of the same characteristics and attributes.

Irwin Investigates Pencils

1st edition (publ. McClelland & Stewart)

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel)