Frank Norris Research Paper

Frank Norris is noted as one of the first novelists to influence Naturalism in American literature. After discovering the idea from a French novelist, Norris began to incorporate it into his writing. He used Naturalism to express how the environment influences a person’s attitudes and behaviors. Norris effectively executed this and conveyed the ideas of scientific determinism to his audience during the Progressive Era. Many of his works have become widely recognized due to their impact on America during a time of many social and economic issues. McTeague was the first important novel by Frank Norris that embodied Naturalism in a significant historical time period. Many of the aspects that Norris incorporated into his novels were influenced by the experiences he encountered over the course of his life. Norris grew up in Chicago, Illinois in the 1870’s. At the age of fourteen, he moved to San
This novel tells the story of a practicing dentist named McTeague and his descent into a life of poverty and greed. One day while performing dental work, McTeague met a girl named Trina and quickly became infatuated with her. A surprise suddenly came to the couple when Trina discovered that she possessed a winning lottery ticket worth five thousand dollars. Although it seemed like a great fortune, Trina decided not to spend the money. Instead, she became stingy and saved as much as she possibly could. Without the use of the five thousand, the couple was forced to live a life of poverty after McTeague lost his dental practice. Trina’s greed and stingy habits quickly worsened and McTeague decided that he can no longer bear it. After he left Trina, he eventually decided to come back to kill her because she would not give him any more money. This situation shown by Trina and McTeague in McTeague exemplifies how habits caused by human nature can lead to a life of misery and