For those who have parent’s that were once immigrants or have strong culture beliefs causes background difficulty to adapt and fit into society. In the story of Frank Norris “McTeague” he provides examples of how the characters in one’s ethic background surpasses ethnic tendencies. In “McTeague” the reader is able to see the stereotypes of the 19th Century in America. The characters of McTeague, Trina and Zerkow are used to show the reader how their stereotypes have affected them through the novel and to some lead them to their death.
We start of with one of the main characters. Norris introduces us with the main character McTeague, he is not your typical American. He was a first generation Irish American. His traits describe him as your stereotypical Irish man. Norris describes him as “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” (264). During this era, Irish immigrants were known as drunk and violent, which put McTeague at a
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“It was impossible to look at Zerkow and not know instantly that greed-inordinate, insatiable greed-was the dominate passion of the man” (293). Norris symbolized Jewish stereotypes of his time period by virtue of his love of gold. During this time period, Jewish immigrants were considered outcasts of European society, but were despised in America as well. His obsession for gold, results in him marrying Maria who would tell him stories of her growing up in a mansion in South America with a set of solid gold plates. Zerkow’s cultural stereotypes results in his constant unhappiness with his lack of riches, the unhappiness and death of his wife, and also his unexpected death. Norris shows us how Zerkow is not only incapable of overcoming his racial tendencies, he deprives himself of rising from a lower to a higher social class