Article #165-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from McTeague: A Story of San Francisco, by Frank Norris

The six lugubrious airs that he knew, always carried him back to the
time when he was a car-boy at the Big Dipper Mine in Placer County, ten
years before. He remembered the years he had spent there trundling the
heavy cars of ore in and out of the tunnel under the direction of his
father. For thirteen days of each fortnight his father was a steady,
hard-working shift-boss of the mine. Every other Sunday he became an
irresponsible animal, a beast, a brute, crazy with alcohol.

McTeague remembered his mother, too, who, with the help of the Chinaman,
cooked for forty miners. She was an overworked drudge, fiery and
energetic for all that, filled with the one idea of having her son rise
in life and enter a profession. The chance had come at last when the
father died, corroded with alcohol, collapsing in a few hours. Two or
three years later a travelling dentist visited the mine and put up his
tent near the bunk-house. He was more or less of a charlatan, but he
fired Mrs. McTeague's ambition, and young McTeague went away with him
to learn his profession. He had learnt it after a fashion, mostly by
watching the charlatan operate. He had read many of the necessary books,
but he was too hopelessly stupid to get much benefit from them.

Then one day at San Francisco had come the news of his mother's death;
she had left him some money--not much, but enough to set him up in
business; so he had cut loose from the charlatan and had opened his
“Dental Parlors” on Polk Street, an “accommodation street” of small
shops in the residence quarter of the town. Here he had slowly
collected a clientele of butcher boys, shop girls, drug clerks, and car
conductors. He made but few acquaintances. Polk Street called him the
“Doctor” and spoke of his enormous strength. For McTeague was a young
giant, carrying his huge shock of blond hair six feet three inches
from the ground; moving his immense limbs, heavy with ropes of muscle,
slowly, ponderously. His hands were enormous, red, and covered with a
fell of stiff yellow hair; they were hard as wooden mallets, strong
as vises, the hands of the old-time car-boy. Often he dispensed with
forceps and extracted a refractory tooth with his thumb and finger.
His head was square-cut, angular; the jaw salient, like that of the
carnivora.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from McTeague: A Story of San Francisco by Frank Norris**

Context of the Novel

McTeague (1899) is a naturalist novel by Frank Norris, set in late 19th-century San Francisco. It follows the rise and fall of McTeague, a brutish, uneducated dentist, whose life is marked by greed, violence, and primal instincts. The novel explores themes of determinism, heredity, environmental influence, and the corrupting power of money, reflecting Norris’s belief in naturalism—the idea that human behavior is shaped by biological and social forces beyond individual control.

This excerpt introduces McTeague’s background, physicality, and psychological makeup, setting the stage for his eventual downfall. Norris paints him as a product of his environment—a man shaped by poverty, parental neglect, and limited intelligence, whose brute strength and animalistic tendencies foreshadow his tragic fate.

Breakdown of the Excerpt

1. Memory and the Past: The Weight of Heredity and Environment

The passage begins with McTeague’s nostalgic yet painful recollections of his childhood at the Big Dipper Mine in Placer County. The "six lugubrious [mournful] airs" he knows (likely tunes he plays on a concertina or harmonica) trigger memories of his harsh, labor-intensive past.

"Car-boy at the Big Dipper Mine": McTeague’s early life was one of physical toil—hauling heavy ore cars in a mine, a job that stunted his intellectual growth while reinforcing his brute strength.
Father’s Alcoholism: His father is described as a dual figure—a hardworking shift-boss for 13 days, but on "every other Sunday", he transforms into an "irresponsible animal, a beast, a brute, crazy with alcohol."
- This cyclical violence and instability suggests that McTeague inherits not just his father’s physical strength but also his capacity for self-destruction.
- The animalistic imagery ("beast," "brute") foreshadows McTeague’s own degeneration later in the novel.
Mother’s Sacrifice and Ambition: His mother, an "overworked drudge", represents the struggle for upward mobility in a harsh, working-class world.
- She is "fiery and energetic", driven by the single idea of her son escaping poverty through a profession.
- Her death (from overwork, implied) leaves McTeague some money, which he uses to open his dental practice—a fleeting attempt at respectability.
- The Chinaman’s presence (cooking for miners) subtly reinforces the racial and class hierarchies of the time, where immigrant labor is exploited.

2. The False Promise of Profession: McTeague’s Limited Intelligence

McTeague’s entry into dentistry is accidental and superficial:

He learns from a "charlatan" (a fraudulent dentist) who visits the mine.
He "learnt it after a fashion"—mostly by observation, not study—and is "too hopelessly stupid" to benefit from books.
- This lack of real education symbolizes his incapacity for true social ascent; his "profession" is a sham, just like the charlatan who taught him.
- His intellectual limitations make him vulnerable to greed and manipulation later in the novel.

3. Physical Description: The Beast in Human Form

Norris’s detailed, almost grotesque description of McTeague’s body emphasizes his animalistic, primitive nature:

"Young giant" (6’3”) with "huge shock of blond hair": His size is unnatural, almost monstrous.
"Immense limbs, heavy with ropes of muscle": His body is mechanical, labor-built, not refined.
"Hands... hard as wooden mallets, strong as vises": His hands are tools, not instruments of precision.
- The fact that he can pull teeth with his fingers (instead of forceps) reinforces his brutality over skill.
"Square-cut, angular" face with a "salient jaw like that of the carnivora":
- "Carnivora" (meat-eating animals) suggests predatory instincts.
- His physical traits align with Darwinian naturalism—he is a throwback to a more primitive state, ill-suited for civilized society.

McTeague’s dental practice is in a working-class neighborhood (Polk Street), catering to "butcher boys, shop girls, drug clerks, and car conductors"—people of modest means.
The neighborhood calls him "the Doctor"—a mocking title, since he is barely qualified.
His strength is his defining trait, not his skill. He is feared, not respected.

Key Themes in the Excerpt

Naturalism & Determinism
- McTeague is shaped by heredity (his father’s alcoholism, his mother’s drudgery) and environment (the mine, poverty, lack of education).
- His physical and mental limitations suggest he is doomed from the start—his rise is temporary, his fall inevitable.
Animalistic vs. Civilized
- The repeated animal imagery ("beast," "brute," "carnivora") portrays McTeague as more instinct-driven than rational.
- His attempt at a profession (dentistry) is a thin veneer over his primal nature.
The Illusion of the American Dream
- McTeague’s mother dreams of upward mobility, but his lack of intelligence and discipline ensures he never truly escapes his working-class roots.
- His dental practice is a facade—he is still trapped in his past.
Greed and Materialism (Foreshadowing)
- The mention of his mother’s money hints at the corrupting influence of wealth, a major theme when McTeague later becomes obsessed with money and violence.

Literary Devices

Imagery (Sensory & Grotesque)
- Visual: "huge shock of blond hair," "hands covered with a fell of stiff yellow hair" → creates a repulsive, almost inhuman picture.
- Tactile: "hard as wooden mallets" → emphasizes brute force over finesse.
Animal Metaphors & Similes
- "Beast," "brute," "jaw like that of the carnivora" → dehumanizes McTeague, reinforcing naturalist themes.
Foreshadowing
- The father’s alcoholism and violent Sundays foreshadow McTeague’s own descent into madness and crime.
- The charlatan dentist symbolizes the hollow nature of McTeague’s "success."
Irony
- McTeague is called "Doctor" despite being barely literate and unskilled—a darkly comic touch that underscores the hypocrisy of his social standing.

Significance of the Passage

This excerpt establishes McTeague as a tragic figure—a man doomed by his biology and environment. Norris uses him to critique:

The myth of self-made success (McTeague’s "profession" is a sham).
The dehumanizing effects of poverty and labor (his body is a product of manual toil, not refinement).
The thin line between civilization and savagery (his animalistic traits will resurface under pressure).

McTeague’s physical and psychological traits set up the novel’s central conflict: Can a man like him ever truly escape his nature? The answer, in naturalist fashion, is no—his greed, violence, and stupidity will lead to his downfall.

Conclusion: McTeague as a Naturalist Tragedy

This passage is not just character introduction—it’s a verdict. Norris presents McTeague as a victim of his own biology and circumstances, a man incapable of rising above his instincts. His strength is his curse, his ambition is hollow, and his fate is sealed by forces beyond his control. The excerpt foreshadows the novel’s brutal climax, where McTeague’s primal nature fully consumes him.

In McTeague, Norris rejects romantic individualism—instead, he shows a world where people are shaped by heredity, environment, and luck, and where civilization is a fragile mask over animalistic urges. This passage is the foundation of that grim philosophy.

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of McTeague’s father—“a steady, hard-working shift-boss” who transforms into “an irresponsible animal, a beast, a brute, crazy with alcohol”—primarily serves to:

A. illustrate the cyclical nature of addiction as a social critique of industrial labor conditions.
B. establish a moral contrast between the father’s professional diligence and his personal depravity.
C. highlight the economic precarity of mining families in late 19th-century California.
D. foreshadow McTeague’s own capacity for self-destruction through inherited temperament.
E. underscore the naturalist theme that human behavior is governed by biological and environmental determinism.

Question 2

The description of McTeague’s hands—“hard as wooden mallets, strong as vises”—functions most significantly as:

A. a synecdoche for his inability to transcend his working-class origins, despite superficial professional trappings.
B. a metaphor for the industrial machinery of the mine, linking his body to the dehumanizing forces of labor.
C. an example of grotesque realism, emphasizing his physical repulsion to alienate the reader.
D. a symbolic representation of his latent violence, which will manifest in later narrative events.
E. an ironic juxtaposition with his profession, where manual dexterity is theoretically required.

Question 3

The passage’s reference to the “Chinaman” who assists McTeague’s mother in cooking for the miners is most plausibly intended to:

A. reinforce the racial and class hierarchies of the period, subtly implying the exploitation of immigrant labor as foundational to McTeague’s limited ascent.
B. provide historical verisimilitude by acknowledging the presence of Chinese immigrants in 19th-century mining communities.
C. contrast the mother’s work ethic with the perceived passivity of the Asian laborer, reflecting contemporaneous stereotypes.
D. foreshadow McTeague’s later interactions with marginalized groups, which will expose his prejudices.
E. highlight the mother’s resourcefulness in managing a large-scale operation despite her overworked condition.

Question 4

The narrative’s assertion that McTeague “had read many of the necessary books, but he was too hopelessly stupid to get much benefit from them” primarily serves to:

A. critique the inadequacy of autodidacticism in professional fields requiring formal training.
B. emphasize the futility of intellectual aspiration for those constrained by innate cognitive limitations.
C. suggest that his later failures stem from a lack of mentorship rather than personal deficiency.
D. establish his intellectual humility as a counterpoint to his physical dominance.
E. illustrate the naturalist contention that environment and heredity override individual effort in shaping destiny.

Question 5

The neighborhood’s ironic appellation of McTeague as “the Doctor” is most effectively interpreted as:

A. a darkly comic indictment of the performative nature of professional identity in a stratified society.
B. a literal acknowledgment of his technical proficiency, despite his unorthodox methods.
C. a reflection of the community’s desperation for any semblance of medical expertise.
D. an unintentional prophecy of his eventual downfall, given the hubris implicit in the title.
E. a narrative device to underscore the gap between his self-perception and his actual competence.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: E

Why E is most correct: The father’s duality—disciplined worker and alcoholic brute—exemplifies naturalist determinism: his behavior is not a moral failing but a product of biological predisposition (alcoholism) and environmental stress (mining life). This aligns with Norris’s theme that human actions are governed by forces beyond individual control, a cornerstone of naturalism. The passage does not moralize; it observes and attributes causality to heredity and environment, making E the most defensible choice.