McTeague and Seven Gables - Greed and the Sins of the Father

Reflecting on both works, I see a similar theme in both stories.

The sins of the father.

In The House of the Seven Gables, we are continually reminded of the similarities of Geoffrey Pyncheon with his great anscestor the Colonel. No matter how he tries to reform, no matter how he tries to outwardly be a good person, there is an element at work far beyond his control. He has inherited the evil of his forefathers. The curse of the Pyncheons lies upon him.

McTeague too is a victim of his parentage.

His father was a drunkard. He spent money as he made it, mostly upon his addiction. Eventually, his alchoholism killed him.

The same mindset of money made by hard labor and easily spent has been passed down to McTeague. Norris repeatedly tells us McTeague possesses the miner's mentality towards money: it is a thing to spend, and quickly. When McTeague steals Trina's treasure, it is not a long time before he has spent nearly a decade's worth of savings.

McTeague is affected by alchohol just like his father. While we are not told that McTeague was abused with his father, it seems very likely that this was a possibility. Alchohol does strange things to both McTeague and his father. It makes them powerful. It makes them violent. There is no doubt that McTeaugue has inherited this vice from his father.

Norris goes even further than that, however. He claims that McTeague's character has inherited his brute, bestial characteristics from not just his father or grandfather, but thousands of generations before. His propensity for violence goes back to when Norris believes man was not man, but an animal. Norris, in fact, believes that man still is an animal, he has just been reformed a little throughout the years. He lives in cities now, has become a member of society.

While Norris' and Hawthorne's view about nurture vs. nature is similar, oddly enough it comes from opposing worldviews. Hawthorne follows the biblical principal of sin passing from the father unto the third and fourth generations. Norris believes that the animal nature of man comes from his animal anscestors. Though presuppositions differ, they do believe essentially the same thing: no matter how you dress up the brute, he still is a brute. Nice clothes and judgeship do not make a good man. Neither does civilization make an animal human.

Another theme the two stories share is that Greed can be deadly. Every character affected by money dies in McTeague. In the House of the Seven Gables, the Pyncheon patriarchs all meet their untimely demise as they either begin to enjoy the fruit of their greed, or as they attempt to pursue their impulse for more.

I find it intriguing that two authors from such different backgrounds and worldviews find common ground. I guess some things are apparent no matter your belief. We see the facts, and we interpret them according to our worldview. The naturalist finds a different explanation for the same phenomena observed by the Puritan.

WC: 506