Frank Norris’s Novel McTeague Essay -- Frank Norris McTeague Essays

Frank Norris’s Novel McTeague   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frank Norris’s novel McTeague explores the decay of society in the early twentieth century. Set in San Francisco, â€Å"a place where anything can happen†¦where fact is often stranger than fiction† (McElrath, Jr. 447), Norris explores themes of greed and naturalism, revealing the darker side of human psyche. What can be found most disturbing is the way that Norris portrays McTeague, in shocking detail, as nothing more than a brute animal at his core. Norris explores the greed and savage animalism that lurks inside McTeague.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  McTeague is first portrayed as a gentle giant. The reader is introduced to McTeague as he sits in his dental parlor, smoking his cigar and drinking his steam beer. He is described as a tall, slowly moving man. McTeague’s mind was as his body, heavy, slow to act, sluggish. Yet there was nothing vicious about the man. Altogether he suggested the draft horse, immensely strong, stupid, docile, obedient (Norris 7). Immediately one can visualize McTeague, a large lumbering mass, going about his daily activities in quiet solitude. The dental practice that McTeague runs provides him with a sound income, and in the first few chapters of the novel, he desires nothing more out of life than to practice what he loves. â€Å"When he opened his Dental Parlors, he felt that his life was a success, that he could hope for nothing better† (Norris 7). Upon meeting Trina, his best friend Marcus’s love interest who comes to him because of a broken tooth, his psyche begins to change and animalistic feelings begin to well up inside McTeague. â€Å"The male, virile desire in him tardily awakened, aroused itself, strong and brutal. It was resistless, untrained, a thing not to be held in a leash an instant† (Norris 25). Norris uses the animal imagery to describe the deterioration of McTeague’s human qualities. When McTeague tells Marcus of his intentions with Trina, there is a palpable tension between the two characters. Although at first they act like gentlemen, there is a silent rivalry between them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Well, what are we going to do about it, Mac?† he said. â€Å"I don’ know,† answered McTeague in great distress. â€Å"I don’ want anything to—to come between us, Mark.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å"Well, say, Mac,† he cried, striking the table with his fist, â€Å"go ahead. I guess you—you want her pretty bad. I’ll pull out; yes, I will. I’ll give he... ...ull at his right wrist; something held it fast. Looking down, he saw that Marcus in that last struggle had found strength enough to handcuff their wrists together. Marcus was dead now; McTeague locked to the body. All about him, vast interminable, stretched the measureless leagues of Death Valley (Norris 340). In this last scene, McTeague is left to die in the brutal conditions of Death Valley, a force that his primitiveness and greed cannot escape.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Norris develops the novel in a way that takes the reader through the mind of McTeague. The final effect is one of chilling realism. McTeague develops a greed and brute quality that can be realized in all of us. Norris magnifies the deconstructive traits that lurk inside of society and all of us and shows them too us, if we dare to look for them. Works Cited Brief, Peter. 1,300 Critical Evaluations of Selected Novels and Plays: â€Å"McTeague.† Vol. 3, McT-ROB. Salem Press, 1978. McElrath Jr, Joseph. Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: â€Å"McTeague.† Vol. 24. Gale Research Company, 1987. Norris, Frank. McTeague. USA: Signet Classic, 1964. Rexroth, Kenneth. Afterword from â€Å"McTeague.† USA: New American Library, 1964.