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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in McTeague, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed and Self-Destruction
Naturalism
Gender Stereotypes
Class Struggle
Isolation vs. Connection
Summary
Analysis
Trina learns to use a scrubbing brush despite her injured hand and becomes a caretaker in a small kindergarten on Pacific Street, thanks to Selina’s help. Her room, overlooking a sunny courtyard with cherry trees, provides some comfort. Trina’s job involves cleaning the kindergarten and earning extra money by washing steps and cleaning vacant houses. She remains isolated and works all day long.
Trina’s ability to work despite her injury demonstrates her determination to gain wealth and survive. However, her isolation and the menial nature of her work make for a bleak existence. Even at this low point in her life, he does not withdraw the $5,000 she has invested in her uncle’s store.
Themes
After her hospital discharge, Trina finds herself alone with her $5,000, relying on the interest for support. She considers joining her family in the south but receives a letter from Mrs. Sieppe detailing their misfortunes, including the failure of their business. Mrs. Sieppe informs Trina that the family is planning to move to New Zealand. Realizing she cannot depend on them, Trina focuses on her savings. Trina’s obsession with money grows, overshadowing her grief of McTeague’s abandonment. She becomes emaciated and miserly, constantly mourning the loss of the money McTeague stole. She sells the rest of her belongings, including McTeague’s concertina, to get some of the money back.
Trina’s physical health and mental health continue to decline in tandem. Although she has already abandoned her family, now she feels that they are abandoning her as they plan to move across the world. She is deeply alone and yet, still, money is the most important thing on her mind. She has sunk so much of her time and energy into acquiring wealth that she does not feel she can abandon her mission, even if it means abandoning everything and everyone else in her life.
Themes
Unable to bear it any longer, Trina requests $400 from Uncle Oelbermann, despite knowing it will reduce her interest income. He reluctantly agrees because he can tell by her maimed hand that she is going through a hard time. Trina ecstatically brings the gold coins home, spending hours counting and polishing them. Soon, the thought of the remaining $4,600 in Uncle Oelbermann’s vault tempts her. Despite knowing it will diminish her monthly income, she eventually gives in to the urge to withdraw more money.
Earlier in the novel, Trina tells McTeague that they will never touch the $5,000 she has invested. Yet, here, she finds herself literally touching the money, as it is the only thing that brings her comfort. There is an erotic charge to Trina’s relationship with money, suggesting that she is sublimating her sexual desires into accruing wealth.
Themes
Trina decides to withdraw an additional $100. This marks the beginning of her a series of withdrawals from her capital. Her need for money overwhelms her, prompting sudden trips to Uncle Oelbermann’s store to withdraw varying amounts. Despite warnings from Uncle Oelbermann about the irregularity and inconvenience of her withdrawals, Trina continues until she ultimately requests the remaining $3,700. She takes the money home, reveling in its presence, and spends hours counting and polishing the gold pieces. Her love for money becomes her dominant passion, overshadowing every other emotion.
Trina’s repeated trips to withdraw money, despite warnings from Uncle Oelbermann, highlight her compulsive behavior and the all-consuming nature of her greed. Trina’s fixation on the physical presence of the gold coins reflects the extent to which her love for money has become her primary source of satisfaction. While Trina’s obsessive behavior does not make her happy, it is the only thing she has left to resort to. It temporarily satisfies her to know that she has money when other people do not, even if she does not use it.
Themes
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One night, three months after moving to the kindergarten, Trina hears a tap on her window. She finds McTeague outside, pleading for food and shelter. He looks gaunt and desperate, but Trina, remembering the pain he caused her, refuses to help. McTeague, angry that Trina will not help him, threatens her before leaving. Trina watches him disappear into the night, feeling a mixture of triumph and cold indifference.
Trina’s refusal to help McTeague, despite his gaunt and desperate appearance, reveal the extent of her emotional detachment from him. He stole money from her, which was always more important to her than he ever was.
Themes
Despite being miserly, Trina regrets her decision almost immediately after McTeague leaves. She stands by the window, feeling sorry for him and fearing what she has become. She calls out to him but gets no response. McTeague, truly starving, spent the last of the stolen $400 recklessly, and he has been living hand to mouth ever since. After searching for Trina and learning from Uncle Oelbermann that she has withdrawn all her money, McTeague is filled with rage.
Here, Trina finally has a moment of clarify after a significant period of Zerkow-like delusion. However, it may be too late. For his part, McTeague’s reckless spending and subsequent rage upon discovering Trina’s withdrawals start him down a destructive path that does not seem like it will end well for Trina.
Themes
McTeague wanders the streets. Eventually he finds work at a music store, where his strength proves useful. He becomes a handler, living in a small room at the store, and drinks heavily, which makes him more vicious and hateful toward Trina. One day, McTeague discovers his old concertina at the music store and realizes Trina sold it. This discovery fuels his anger further, and he plans to confront Trina about it.
McTeague’s descent into a more vicious and hateful state continues. His discovery of the concertina represents the loss of his past and fuels his growing anger toward Trina. It is a betrayal akin to stealing Trina’s money, in McTeague’s mind, as the concertina is his most prized possession after the canary.
Themes
On a night close to Christmas, McTeague, drunk and furious, breaks into the kindergarten where Trina works. He demands the money, but she refuses. In a fit of rage, he beats her brutally, killing her. McTeague then takes the money from her trunk and leaves, planning his escape. As he leaves, McTeague realizes he cannot leave his canary to starve, so he takes it with him. The next morning, kindergarten children arrive. A strange smell leads them to the cloakroom, where they discover Trina’s body.
Here, the tragedy of McTeague and Trina’s relationship finally reaches its logical conclusion. Although McTeague never thought of wealth as his first priority, Trina drove him to such impoverished lengths that it sparked greed within him. Additionally, the detail of McTeague taking his canary with him reflects a twisted sense of attachment to the bird, which contrasts sharply and strangely with the brutal detachment of his heinous murder of Trina.
Themes
