After watching Max trudge to school, what does Feld decide about Max?

After watching Max trudge to school, Feld decides that Max, in his pursuit of education, is everything a diligent and determined young man should be. Watching Max and thinking about him makes Feld wish he had a son. However, being a practical man, he decides that Max will fulfill a different purpose instead.

So it is that when Max appears before Feld, the scheming shoemaker engages in a bit of matchmaking. He rationalizes his actions...

After watching Max trudge to school, Feld decides that Max, in his pursuit of education, is everything a diligent and determined young man should be. Watching Max and thinking about him makes Feld wish he had a son. However, being a practical man, he decides that Max will fulfill a different purpose instead.

So it is that when Max appears before Feld, the scheming shoemaker engages in a bit of matchmaking. He rationalizes his actions by reassuring himself that Miriam and Max would have met sooner or later; he was merely speeding up the process by making introductions in the present. Feld's thought is that Max would find Miriam perfectly suited to his taste.

Because he doesn't approve of Miriam working in an office with "loud-mouthed salesmen and illiterate shipping clerks," Feld wants Max and Miriam to become acquainted. The hope is that Max's dedication to his education would inspire Miriam to pursue her own studies. Even if that doesn't happen, Feld relishes the thought of having Max for a son-in-law. By marrying such a "fine scholarly boy," Feld imagines that Miriam would live a better life than the one she lives now.