Duddy managed to achieve many things and also learn a lot of lessons in just handful of years
than most people in their lifetime. He sculpted his dreams through the influence of other
people. Duddy's grandfather is an important person in his life, he shaped Duddy’s view of what
someone should be to be somebody in this society. Jerry Dingleman is Duddy's role model. As a
child, Duddy grew to worship this man he had never met in person, Max had made Duddy
believe that Dingleman was who Duddy should become, that this "Boy Wonder" was a perfect
role model. Finally, we have Max Kravitz, he inspires Duddy to work hard to achieve his goals,
he’s not known to be the best dad but he does a good job in motivating him. Duddy’s perception
of success is forged by his 3 influences and through them his goals become reality by coming
up with a combination of both trickery and intelligence.
Duddy's grandfather was an individual that Duddy admired as he shown a caring
attitude towards Duddy unlike his father.Simcha, Duddy's grandfather, said "A man
without land is nobody"(Richler, 49), Duddy knew that he had to strive to meet this level of success in
order to make his grandfather and family proud of him. As Duddy grows older he changes his work ethic.
He went from putting minimal effort into his school work, to working continuously as an entrepreneur
to achieve this goal and impress his grandfather. Although Simcha motivated duddy to better his ethics
to achice greatness, duddy took Simcha quite literally. Duddy believes that a man with no land is a
nobody in this society, his mindset shapes his idea of what a successful man is and it also shapes his
goals for the future.
Jerry Dingleman is Duddy's role model. As a child, Duddy grew to worship this man he had never
actually, met in person. Max had made Duddy believe that Dingleman was who Duddy should become,
that this "Boy Wonder" was a perfect role model. Dingleman had worked his way off the streets of
Montreal, off the same street Duddy was raised on, and become a successful businessman. This forged
duddy preception of what a real huster is and this motivated him to work even harder and get where
Jerry Dingleman is. When Duddy finally got the opportunity to meet his role model, Duddy was eager for
Jerry to teach him how to become a better business man. However, his expectations were shot down as
Jerry didn't provide Duddy with a chance to speak to him. When Duddy finally confronted him, all the
beliefs that Duddy had for Mr. Dingleman were crushed. “Dingleman grasped that the boy was repeating
somebody else's platitude, and he laughed in his face. ‘I wish you'd stop laughing at me....
