McTeague, A Story of San Francisco, by Frank Norris 9.6 out of 10

 McTeague, A Story of San Francisco, by Frank Norris

9.6 out of 10

The novel that has been published in 1899 is included on The Guardian 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list -https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/23/bestbooks-fiction – in the State of the Nation section, presumably because it is relevant to the thinking, style of living in America, in the second half of the 19^th century – although we might recognize the profile of voters for one particular ‘best president ever’, who speaks of himself in terms of ‘my great and unmatched wisdom’, just as he abandons loyal allies to be slaughtered, because they had not helped in World War II – which they did actually.

The hero - at least in the beginning, for he gradually becomes an antihero - of the story is a so called dentist – he is sent by his mother in the company of a travelling charlatan, who claims to be a dentist and who would teach the teenager his trade, however, no diploma would be obtained at the end of any studies – who has an impressive physique, apparently he is a gentle giant – unless of course we take into account the moments when he loses his temper, becomes vicious when someone wants to ‘make little of him’ and after he drinks, he is so vicious as to become potentially, maybe even literally lethal.

McTeague, called by friends Mac, manages to open a dentist shop in San Francisco – but the legality of his business would be challenged by the authorities at one stage, when his lack of a diploma would cause a paper calling for him to cease and desist – where he meets with Marcus Schouler, who becomes his best friend…until that is the two transform themselves into the fiercest enemies and the result is a conflict that increases in intensity up to the climax, or the nadir, depending on how we look at it, and the two men would envisage and even try to kill each other at different moments.

Marcus is also a neighbor of the ‘dentist’- the author would refer to the main character as the dentist, even after the officials force him to abandon his practice, for which he had never been qualified in a recognized school – and he presents the cousin, Trina Sieppe, that he is also dating (at that time, relationships and even marital bonds between such relatives were not uncommon) who needs an intervention, after she falls and she has trouble with two teeth, for which the inventive giant would find a solution, creating a bridge, for he is skilled, even if he lacks a legal license to practice.

As he has to work over a longer period of time, some weeks, the ‘beast’ from within the formerly gentle giant awakes, the dentist becomes infatuated with the patient, enchanted by the perfume, the sensuality, charm of the young girl and he even kisses her, when she is under the anesthesia of the time ( he uses ether) and then he declares his feelings, once the woman is conscious, asking ‘what would be wrong with us getting married’ and in response, the girl is scared and pushes the man away, with vigor.

When McTeague declares his feelings to his best friend, the latter says with magnanimity that he would clear the way – Marcus contemplates the perspective of marrying his cousin and sees that, although he likes her, he would in no way be ready for something as serious and definitive as that – and thus Mac would be able to be happy, enjoy the company of the wonderful girl and all will be satisfied with the new arrangement, which, indeed, takes shape quite soon, after a rather amusing picnic, where the whole family takes part and after which the dentist and the girl start seeing each other regularly and he becomes ‘her new man’.

When the girl wins $ 5,000 at a lottery ( which could be the equivalent of more than five million today) her mother announces the marriage of her daughter with ‘the doctor’ ( for they all call him doctor or simply doc) and after a period of apparent bliss, during which Trina decides to take the big win and place the money with her rich uncle and get from him about twenty five dollars per month, which, added to the money from the dental shop and what the wife gets for her work, should be enough for them to live more than comfortably – positive psychology studies have concentrated on lottery winners (with prizes in excess of one million dollars) and discovered that winning a small or bigger fortune does not alter the level of happiness, generally speaking.

The big win has had a dramatic effect upon Markus, who is aghast at the idea that he had lost so much, for he now blames McTeague as the one who had stolen happiness from him, by marrying the cousin he was dating (obviously forgetting that he stepped aside and felt at the time that he was not ready for such a long term commitment) and to top it all, this vicious fool has taken money that are rightfully his and this way of thinking results in a first serious clash between the two, in which the envious cousin throws a knife which falls within a very small distance from the head of the dentist.

After that first attempt, the two fight again and in the course of that battle, the weaker man bites the brutish ‘doctor’s ‘ ear and the aggrieved giant takes the hand of his opponent and breaks it, ready to kill him, until those present intervene and save Schouler – he might yet be at the door of Elysium, or some other place of eternal rest or damnation, later on – who was very near the end of his struggle and suffering over the five thousand, which would not have been in his possession anyway, for even if he were to marry Trina, this woman is so obsessed with money as to not spend a penny, even when it is absolutely necessary – in one instance, her spouse has to go and look for a job, after his lucrative position as dentist is gone, and the wife refuses to give him a penny for the tram, in case it rains, and when it does, he is soaked during a long walk and this would contribute to the eventual separation.

Indeed, it is not just Schouler and McTeague that lose their initial intimacy, but the marriage is increasingly tense, the miser wife would not spend a penny, she decides to move house – they are not able to afford anything decent now, with the husband unemployed – even if she still has the five thousand dollars and furthermore, she had been able to set aside some three hundred dollars, but insists on eating badly and living in squalor, up to the point where the man who drinks regularly now, and upon whom alcohol has a counterintuitive effect, making him smarter, not dizzy, is so infuriated with the wife that he now hates that he becomes extremely violent and in the first stage, when he abuses her she loses a few fingers, but later this would go a terrible stage…