The Intrinsic Value Of Relationships, And The Drastic Effects Of Greed

For so many people one of the hardest things in life is maintaining a strong and healthy relationship with another person, but it is especially difficult in a romantic relationship. For the most part, successful relationships are based on honesty, communication, trust, and most importantly compromise. When you are in a relationship that has a foundation based on those characteristics, it makes you feel connected with that person. On the opposite end of the spectrum, however, traits such as jealousy, greed, deceit and selfishness can lead to disastrous relationships that will only leave people hurt.

Two classic books that we've read this semester are McTeague by Frank Norris, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Throughout both books, the reader can easily find an underlying theme of relationships if they look hard enough. In both novels it seems to be abundantly clear that the prominent relationship portrayed is a failed relationship. When analyzing the relationships between the people in the book, it becomes clear through the ways in which the characters interact with each other throughout the stories, that they are not actually relationships in the true essence of the word.

Another recurring theme that is common in both books by Norris and Fitzgerald is the attribute of greed. In McTeague, the greed that is on display is one that is present throughout the novel. The first time we are introduced to it is when Marcus claims that Trina's winning lottery ticket belongs to him, and it takes a tragic turn, ultimately leading to McTeague's killing of Trina and Marcus, before dying himself from dehydration in the desert shortly thereafter. In The Great Gatsby, a type of greed that is on a similar level was quite obvious within the relationships of Tom and Daisy as well as Gatsby and Daisy. This theme of greed, hidden behind the different relationships we read about in both books, was a main source of their failures.

In McTeague, Norris first portrays Marcus as the closest friend that McTeague has. McTeague and Marcus meet each other "at the car conductors' coffee -joint, where the two occupied the same table, and met at every meal" (Norris 10). One is naturally led to believe, based on their frequent meals together, and the close living proximity to one another, that the two were extremely close friends, conceivably even best friends.

Based on Norris' description of Marcus as one of McTeague's closest friends, probably his closest friend, we only have access to one side of the relationship, but no real indication of how Marcus's feels towards McTeague. There are many times when one would get the impression that Marcus is actually using McTeague for his benefit. One such example is when "on different occasions, McTeague had treated Marcus for an ulcerated tooth, and had refused to accept payment" (Norris 10). Another advantage of having McTeague around for Marcus was that he would come with him on walks, so he wouldn't have to be alone. "You'd better come along with me Mac, we'll take a little walk, you got nothing better to do" (Norris 11). During these times, Marcus was very interested in spending time with McTeague, but as the story unfolds, it is clear that Marcus' anger towards McTeague about losing Trina's lottery money to him had grown considerably. It seems as though once Trina won the lottery, a personality switch was triggered inside Marcus that turned him from a selfless best friend, into a bitter human being, filled with rage and jealousy. He even goes so far as attempting to murder McTeague, showing the evils of money, and greed, and how it can change people for the worst. The reader can no longer assume that the two were ever genuinely in a committed friendship.

As soon as money came into the picture, it is revealed that the friendship apparently was impure and tainted. In an authentic friendship under the same circumstances, although Marcus might feel a little bit of envy inside of him, he would also have been excited that his friend found the love and happiness he desired, rather succumbing to the drastic shift in personality that essentially took place. The fact that McTeague took the initiative, and tried to work out the issue out with Marcus himself was an indication that he intrinsically valued the friendship. Marcus, however, didn't want to reconcile, and was not at all willing to compromise. This so called friendship lacked the compromise and altruism needed to survive, and it was because of this that their relationship ended up failing the way it did.

Just as maintaining a relationship with someone is one of the hardest things to do in life, finding true love might be even tougher. Some people just give up on the thought of it, or don't believe in it at all, and in McTeague's case the notion never crossed his mind until the day he first met Trina. The love that we see McTeague is involved with, however, can be no more than a misinterpretation of an affection based solely on the physical. Norris makes it known that McTeague's first experience with a woman was with Trina. McTeague was inexperienced in this field, and really didn't know any better. He was experiencing something for the first time in his life, had certain feelings from it, and misconstrued those feelings as love. Norris goes on to describe an immense animalistic type urge, one that became so strong and overwhelming that he could not hold back from wanting to kiss her, or for that matter proposing to her, without even really getting to know who she was as a person.

A relationship with a foundation based purely on lust is doomed to fail at some point in the future. Once the people involved get passed the physical attraction, and there is nothing left for the relationship to stand on its own, the truth will rear its head soon thereafter. That almost identically resembles what took place when both McTeague and Trina declined to look past the raw physical attraction, the passion, and the immediate gratification of when they were together. Love is supposed to be based on caring for the other person, and as such, must not be hurried into. The idea is to make love last, and when your relationship is based strictly on attraction, it is impossible to sustain over time. The reader never establishes a true sense that what was happening with McTeague and Trina was true love, and the relationship can't be expected to last.

There are different proofs in the book that would make you question the validity of McTeague and Trina's love. From McTeague's side, we see his immediate reaction after he kisses Trina for the first time at the B Street Station. "The instant she allowed him to kiss her, he thought less of her. She was not so desirable after all"