It’s weird to me that the most important event in the book, is when Trina buys the lottery ticket, which of course she wins. Because this event was the foundation of the plot there after, I wonder if the characters were actually the characters they became, I wonder if they hadn’t won the money would Trina have still been a hoarder, if she would have grown into this pleasure of saving every penny possible. Really up unto this point we are given no indicator that she is such a crazy person. Was it actually the money that changed her, would she have actually been a docile and loving wife had she not won the $5,000 dollars?
Every important event after Trina wins the money happens because of the money. Marcus resents McTeague and feels in the right of that money, he then proceeds to ruin McTeague’s profession, because he resents him. The McTeague’s become “destitute” without his profession, but only “destitute” according to Trina, because of the money. McTeague becomes resentful of Trina because she takes all his money, and built him up to sophisticated preferences, for which he is not “capable” of affording anymore. His resentment he then took out by biting Trina’s fingers, which is what led to those fingers being removed and her having to find a new profession.
 |
| They've got money in their eyes! |
Please excuse the shortness of this post. I had most of this written this weekend, and forgot to finish it before my surgery! So my last few lines were written on the after effect of anesthesia…. So they might be a little looney haha.
I’ll probably make another post, because I want to talk about the weirdo ending!!
I agree with the point about the money. I too wondered if there had been no money how differently all the characters would have developed. Here is my question for you though- if Trina had won the money and became a miser just the same, but married Marcus instead would she have died? I wonder because the brute in McTeague rears his ugly head and defiles Trina, but we see no such monster in Marcus. Sure he ruins McTeague's profession, but honestly if a man felt slighted and lost his woman it seems like a reasonable action. But I wonder if Norris would cause Marcus to become a beast as well, all due to Trina's action and her gold.
ReplyDeleteI think that Trina's reaction goes back to the Naturalist style of treating characters as test subjects in a laboratory. The author inserts some kind of variable (winning the lottery which is in itself an event of random fortune) and then examines how those characters react under the changed conditions. I think that the character's actions are then broadened to make a more general statement about humanity.
ReplyDeleteGood points, all.
ReplyDelete