Joe has lived all of his life in the united states, while apu was raised in the hindu faith in india. when presented with a dilemma concerning the morality of stealing,

Apu would be much more likely to make a care-based decision when he is presented with a predicament that regarding the morality of stealing since Apu was raised in India with its Hindu faith. In Hindu faith, the bad karma of thievery will rebound, and the thief will lose the thing he stole or he will suffer in some way that would take care of original intent of his act of stealing.