Death&Death&Death

The ending to McTeague by Frank Norris is disturbing to say the least. McTeague’s struggles finally overtake him. Despite his early desires to suppress the wild giant inside him, the big bad blonde man succeeds in annihilating himself, his friends, and the entire world he knows as Norris writes: “McTeague did not know how he killed is enemy, but all at once Marcus grew still beneath his blows. Then there was a sudden last return of energy. McTeague’s right wrist was caught; something clicked upon it’ then the struggling body fell limp and motionless with a long breath” (347).  McTeague had blindly destroyed and had been destroyed.

In the end, Marcus represents the baggage that McTeague could never rid from himself. Norris emphasizes Mac’s inescapable old life, using Marcus to capture McTeague in the end. The money had made Mac crave a higher position, but to achieve it, he would necessarily abandon the life he had always known. Marcus, even in death, ensures that MacTeague cannot escape with his corrupt desires.

The reader must remember what started the collapse. Norris reminds the reader continually during the second half of his novel. The money undoubtedly corrupts them all. Trina rolls in her own gold. MacTeague twice steals money from Trina and twice kills for money (Trina and Marcus). Marcus challenges McTeague, betting his own life for the sack of money McTeague had stolen.

The reader must ask what Norris really desires to convey. Is it the evil of money in itself? Is it the ever-growing industrial world that allows money to accumulate?