Passion Essay, Research Paper

Destroying Passion

Passion is any strong emotion or great enthusiasm. Everyone has passion

for something in life. Some people have passion for sport, some for gardening and

some for money. Depending on person s personality and strength of a passion, it can

be harmful or helpful to a person s destiny. In novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy

Kravitz by M. Richler, the author shows how main character s passion becomes an

obsession, and harms him and people around him.

Duddy Kravitz, a Jewish boy who grew up in a poor neighborhood of

Montreal, became obsessed with his grandfather s words that man without land

is nobody. Duddy heard this phrase many times but only at moment he saw the

land around a beautiful lake something was triggered in his mind. From now on,

an idea of buying a land became the center of universe for Duddy. Nothing could

stop him on the way to his goal. He uses Yvette, a girlfriend of his, to buy a land

on her name, since he, himself, is under age. Duddy does not care much of her

feelings and he remembers about her only when he needs help. He understands

that owner of the land may not want to sell to a Jew, so he needs Yvette to buy a

land for him.

Second person Duddy harms on his way is a Virgil, an epileptic person

who becomes a handicapped because of Duddy s greed. Duddy, knowing about

Virgil s sickness, sends him to drive a truck with movie equipment. Virgil had an

accident that sends him to wheelchair for the rest of his life. But Duddy is not done

with Virgil yet. When it comes to buying the last piece of land, Duddy does not

have money. He knows Virgil has money but Yvette was protecting Virgil s money

and Duddy could not do anything about it. So, he forged Virgil s checque and got

money from the bank. After Virgil learned about it, his epilepsy attacks became more

severe. Yvette left Duddy and she told Duddy s grandfather, Simcha, how Duddy got

money. And one more person was hurt over Duddy s obsession. Simcha, who never

took anything from anybody, saw that his favorite grandson becomes a monster.

Passion is a good motivation and it can help people to reach their goals. But

sometimes it can take an extreme form and destroy a person. This happened to a main

character of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by M. Richler. In less than a year,

Duddy became dreadful person without any consideration for anybody. M. Richler

shows how passion slowly step by step becomes an obsession and changes Duddy.