The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz: Family Relationships
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS Simcha, Max & Benjy A father son relationship can, at times be very strong. Other times it can be like the example of Simcha and Benjy. Benjy, at one time must have been Simcha's great pride. He had it all it seemed, a wife, money and tons of it and land. Land for Simcha really seemed to be the major factor in measuring a man's worth though I bet that he soon thought otherwise when Benjy made others believe he was impotent. After that it seemed that Simcha was disappointed in what was once probably his most favorite son.
Benjy seemed to act like he was in competition with his brother Max, and whoever achieved the most in life would be crowned the winner. Max, may not have had the greatest and most well-paying job, in fact he even had to work as a part-time pimp, but he did have two sons, one of which was believed to become a doctor and the other brought the "great" Boy Wonder to his knees. Benjy must have thought at least that he could hide the shame he believed he cast upon his family by marrying a woman who couldn't bear children by pretending to be impotent himself, thereby making him look like the victim.
Simcha must have realized, at the end when he gazed over Duddy's new owned land that he had been wrong all along, and that maybe he wasn't completely right when he said "A man without land is nobody." Benjy had lived his entire life on this way of life, though in the end he lost everything, even with all his money. He said "I've lived 54 years and lots of terrible things have happened to me"¦ I wish there was some advice, even one lousy little pearl of wisdom, that I could hand down to you, but"¦ Experience doesn't teach" it deforms"¦." Max never had the opportunities that Benjy had and yet he contributed much more to the Kravitz family name than Benjy ever did in his life, he had been the one all along who had become "someone," and was really Simcha's only great pride without he or his father ever
Benjy seemed to act like he was in competition with his brother Max, and whoever achieved the most in life would be crowned the winner. Max, may not have had the greatest and most well-paying job, in fact he even had to work as a part-time pimp, but he did have two sons, one of which was believed to become a doctor and the other brought the "great" Boy Wonder to his knees. Benjy must have thought at least that he could hide the shame he believed he cast upon his family by marrying a woman who couldn't bear children by pretending to be impotent himself, thereby making him look like the victim.
Simcha must have realized, at the end when he gazed over Duddy's new owned land that he had been wrong all along, and that maybe he wasn't completely right when he said "A man without land is nobody." Benjy had lived his entire life on this way of life, though in the end he lost everything, even with all his money. He said "I've lived 54 years and lots of terrible things have happened to me"¦ I wish there was some advice, even one lousy little pearl of wisdom, that I could hand down to you, but"¦ Experience doesn't teach" it deforms"¦." Max never had the opportunities that Benjy had and yet he contributed much more to the Kravitz family name than Benjy ever did in his life, he had been the one all along who had become "someone," and was really Simcha's only great pride without he or his father ever