On PG. 182 Artie complains his father is almost a caricature.

A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person. It’s like an exaggerated stereotype. Artie says his father is looking like the stereotypical miserly old Jew in his book. Mala says that he has hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank yet he lives like a “pauper”. She accuses him of stealing towels from restrooms so he does not have to buy any.

A charicature is an exagerrated picture of an individual. Think political cartoons.