Frank Norris

Name: McTeague — Chapter 1
Author: Frank Norris

Summary

“McTeague — Chapter 1”, published in 1899, is a work by Frank Norris. It explores elements such as McTeague, Marcus and o'clock.

Quotes from McTeague — Chapter 1 (Frank Norris)

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ Marcus would cry. "The masses must learn self-control; it stands to reason. Look at the figures, look at the figures. Decrease the number of wage earners and you increase wages, don't you? don't you?"
Absolutely stupid, and understanding never a word, McTeague would answer:
"Yes, yes, that's it--self-control--that's the word."
"It's the capitalists that's ruining the cause of labor," shouted Marcus, banging the table with his fist till the beer glasses danced; "white-livered drones, traitors, with their livers white as snow, eatun the bread of widows and orphuns; there's where the evil lies." ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ From noon to evening the population of the street was of a mixed character. The street was busiest at that time; a vast and prolonged murmur arose--the mingled shuffling of feet, the rattle of wheels, the heavy trundling of cable cars. At four o'clock the school children once more swarmed the sidewalks, again disappearing with surprising suddenness. At six the great homeward march commenced; the cars were crowded, the laborers thronged the sidewalks, the newsboys chanted the evening papers. Then all at once the street fell quiet; hardly a soul was in sight; the sidewalks were deserted. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ Towards eleven o'clock the ladies from the great avenue a block above Polk Street made their appearance, promenading the sidewalks leisurely, deliberately. They were at their morning's marketing. They were handsome women, beautifully dressed. They knew by name their butchers and grocers and vegetable men. From his window McTeague saw them in front of the stalls, gloved and veiled and daintily shod, the subservient provision men at their elbows, scribbling hastily in the order books. They all seemed to know one another, these grand ladies from the fashionable avenue. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ The cable cars were loaded with theatre-goers--men in high hats and young girls in furred opera cloaks. On the sidewalks were groups and couples--the plumbers' apprentices, the girls of the ribbon counters, the little families that lived on the second stories over their shops, the dressmakers, the small doctors, the harness-makers--all the various inhabitants of the street were abroad, strolling idly from shop window to shop window, taking the air after the day's work. Groups of girls collected on the corners, talking and laughing very loud, making remarks upon the young men that passed them. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ As he stood in the bay window, after finishing his beer, wiping his lips, and looking out into the street, McTeague was conscious of the difference. Nearly all the stores were closed. No wagons passed. A few people hurried up and down the sidewalks, dressed in cheap Sunday finery. A cable car went by; on the outside seats were a party of returning picnickers. The mother, the father, a young man, and a young girl, and three children. The two older people held empty lunch baskets in their laps, while the bands of the children's hats were stuck full of oak leaves. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ She was an overworked drudge, fiery and energetic for all that, filled with the one idea of having her son rise in life and enter a profession. The chance had come at last when the father died, corroded with alcohol, collapsing in a few hours. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Frank Norris, McTeague — Chapter 1 (1899)

“ Chapter 1 It was Sunday, and, according to his custom on that day, McTeague took his dinner at two in the afternoon at the car conductors' coffee-joint on Polk Street. He had a thick gray soup; heavy, underdone meat, very hot, on a cold plate; two kinds of vegetables; and a sort of suet pudding, full of strong butter and sugar. On his way back to his office, one block above, he stopped at Joe Frenna's saloon and bought a pitcher of steam beer. ”

Frank Norris

Summary

Quotes from McTeague — Chapter 1 (Frank Norris)

Common terms

Similar works

Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature