Ancient Evil in McTeague

In McTeague, once the dentist has become self-aware of the brute within himself during one of Trina’s many consultations, a sort of brooding evil is presented as a commonality in man’s disposition throughout his evolutionary history. Describing this sense of fraternal belonging awakened in McTeague, Norris writes, “The evil of an entire race flowed in his veins” (Norris 24). Now of course, the presentation of McTeague as an oafish simpleton in his daily life could be considered a play on Darwin’s presentation of Man; but this mysterious evil Norris evokes seems like an imaginative notion of Darwin’s savages who lack the evolutionary development of utilitarian mutual aid. I find these sort of ‘ancient evil’ sentiments to be dramatized to the point of distraction in McTeague, offering only an ambiguous explanation of gender relations for the story’s sake rather than reacting to Darwin’s evolutionary theory. Perhaps, I just don’t understand the point of elevating these transformative reflections, as we readily see the complications in the courtship between Trina and McTeague without Norris noting Trina is apprehensive due to the “intuitive feminine fear of the male” (Norris 26). Is this evil that provokes the “intuitive feminine fear of the male” essentially the notion that men throughout the ages have hurt women physically and emotionally? I tend to think this may be the case, but again, I don’t really know how to handle these ancient sentiments that react to a Darwinian conception of inheritance while attaching the stigma of a longstanding ‘evil.’