How Does Frank Norris Present Social Darwinism In Mcteague

The novel McTeague written by Frank Norris is considered a parallel to the concept of social darwinism. Social darwinism is “the social concept based on Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection which suggested that human social organization was based on the survival of the fittest and the idea that certain classes and races dominated because they are biologically superior.” The novel Mcteague has numerous characters that parallel the concept of social darwinism. In the novel Mcteague, Norris portrays social darwinism through the characters maria and zerkow by the way they steadily remain in their class respectfully throughout the novel and the characters Mcteague and Trina who attempt to act as though they were in another class and made rapid attempts to move up in the social classes.
Zerkow was the stereotypical Jewish man, only worried about gold and wealth, while Maria was of hispanic descent who possessed many gold dishes. Maria was pregnant resulting in the release of many hormones, in her mind the dishes were real but in reality they were a myth. Zerkow and Maria’s marriage was motivated out of greed, readers become aware of this when Zerkow becomes very disrespectful towards his wife maria when her memory of the gold dishes start depleting. As Zerkow’s yearn for gold dishes increases the more impatient he becomes with Maria, resulting in the death of Maria after Zerkow slits her throat. According to Norris’s definition of social darwinism, Zerkow and Maria’s marriage was naturally bound to fail due to the social class they were born into.Therefore, Zerkow and Maria’s relationship express Frank Norris’s beliefs on social