How far would you go?

A common topic in the stories was money.  The stories told of how much they made in the old country, how much they saved to come to America, how much it cost them to get here, how much they spent here, and how much they managed to save.  A story that stuck out to me was the “Story on an Italian Bootblack.”  Our narrator “Joe” tells us of his life as a beggar.  How him and his “brothers” would follow people around, get in there way, and play tricks on them.  Joe and his brother ran away to start new.  They started as beggars, then became fisherman, carried coal to the fires, collected rags and bottles, worked on the street, cleaned, polished, and then opened their own bootblack.  You read the struggles they went through to get money, have it taken away, and then having to start all over.  How many times will/can a person start over to become an honest person with money?  Or is it too hard to keep picking yourself up that it’s just be easier to fall back and play tricks?