Throughout the novel Duddy tries to become someone who deserves respect. He wants to prove everyone that he can become a "somebody" and believes he can make Max and Simcha proud of him. Duddy Kravitz grew up without much support from his family: his mother Minnie died, when he was about six years old, and he doesn't remember anything about her, and Max, his father, clearly preferred Lennie, his older son, to Duddy. Max loved …showed first 75 words of 737 total…

…showed last 75 words of 737 total…still tells the story of the new Boy Wonder to his friends, even though he knows that what Duddy has done does not make zeyda happy. But, unlike Dingleman, the new head of the Kravitz family may still have a chance to realize that money and power are not the most important things in his life. Duddy still has time to ask Simcha and his friends for forgiveness, he still has time to become somebody.