McTeague
by Frank Norris

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Book Reviews of McTeague

Book Review: A powerful portrayal of greed (in spite of its stereotypes)
Summary: 4 Stars

McTeague is an unschooled, middle-class dentist who marries Trina, a daughter of German immigrants who is also the sweetheart of her distant cousin Marcus. Their lives are irrevocably changed when Trina wins $5,000 from a lottery, and their story is an examination of the resulting greed, miserliness, jealousies, intrigues, abuse, and homicide. Norris's worldview is not entirely gloomy, however: he introduces two endearing and unforgettable characters, Old Grannis and Miss Baker, an elderly couple whose only pleasure in the world is the knowledge of each other's existence on the other side of the shared wall of their two apartments. They are the antithesis of greed, and the simplicity of their desires provide much-needed comic (and, yes, romantic) relief.

The 21st-century reader, however, should be warned that Norris's ethnic stereotypes are not pretty. Zerkow, a Polish Jew, is a parsimonious junk peddler who has "bloodless lips" and "claw-like, prehensile fingers--the fingers of a man who accumulates, but never disburses." He dreams incessantly of gold, and is entranced by the long-lost (and undoubtedly imaginary) gold dinnerware described by a Mexican maid, Maria, whom he eventually marries in order to monopolize her memories of the treasure. Maria herself is a dim-witted and unrepentant petty thief, yet her portrayal is more sympathetic in its evocation of naivety and innocence and suffering. Yet it's difficult to overcome the cringe factor created by Norris's depiction of these two characters. (To confirm that I was not overreacting, I searched the Web and found that, unfortunately, these passages are cited or reprinted gleefully and favorably on a number of anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi sites.)

Happily, the remainder of the novel's characters are not so one-dimensional, yet all the main characters turn out to be, in their own way, as narrow-minded and greedy as Zerkow and Maria. There are two ways to see the disparity in the presentation of these characters. Critics tend to point out the Zerkow is presented first, as the archetype of greed--and that the remainder of the novel shows how McTeague, Trina, and Marcus are as greedy as Zerkow--or as "greedy as a Jew." The more charitable analysis reverses the perspective: that Norris mitigates his representation of Zerkow by demonstrating, in effect, that he is no different than anyone else--that all humans are basically brutes (a word Norris uses often).

Norris's novel is above all a stark condemnation of human baseness. The various characters pursue their inescapable and expected demise, and the suddenness and shock of the ending is breathtaking. The power of the novel's underlying message ultimately overwhelms its dated bigotry, and "McTeague" is still a must-read for anyone interested in American literature.

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