Examples Of Social Darwinism In Mcteague

“Socialism in McTeague”

Naturalism is a theory that was present immensely in the the twentieth century. A stem off of this idea is the thought of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism states that human organization was based on the survival of the fittest and that certain classes and races dominated because they were biologically superior. Frank Norris makes known the theory of Social Darwinism in his novel McTeague by revealing how characters such as the McTeague's, Zurkow and Maria revert back to animalism when presented with situations where only the fittest will come out on top.

McTeague presents the theory of Social Darwinism in many situations throughout the novel McTeague. McTeague is a happy man at the beginning of the story.
Zurkow, a greedy Jew and Maria, a crazy Latino bond over a lie about nonexistent gold dishes. Already, this shows that the relationship they have is built on greed and lust. The relationship between Maria and Zurkow was never meant to survive. Since the beginning of the novel, it was set for failure and set up to succumb to the pressures of Social Darwinism, along with the pressures of society. All the psychotic couple cared about was their social class and receiving money they did not deserve. When the two get married, they accidentally have a baby who dies after birth. Zurkow is not fazed by the death of his child, however, Maria’s mind is set right. The birth of this unwanted child foreshadows the saddening death of Maria and Zurkow’s so called love for one another. It also foreshadows the death of Social Darwinism which played a major role in the lives of these two people. Maria will never survive because her mental state does not help her. She is not strong enough to stand up to Zurkow and run from him. Zurkow is the dominating male figure. One reason this is is because his head is run by the illusions and greed of the gold dishes. Darwinism entails that the one’s that survive must produce offspring that will survive and carry on the species. The death of Maria and Zurkow’s baby shows that the two will never survive in the world, while they become sucked into
Not only do these novels make for great life lessons, but they also make for great novels in American Literature today. Frank Norris is one of America’s greatest literary authors. A theme that is present in his novels, such as McTeague, is Social Darwinism. In McTeague, Zurkow and Maria show that they are not meant to survive by allowing their greed to take over their everyday lives. This couple also shows that they do not provide the community with viable offspring. The marriage of McTeague and Trina is not meant to survive due to the fact that Trina succumbs to the power of a man, and McTeague can not control his animalistic urges. The characters in this novel never had a chance to live, because they were set up for failure from the