According to Britannica.com, the definition of Social Darwinism is defined as the theory that persons, groups, and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection. This was mainly popular within the late 19th and early 20th century where in most cases the weak were destroyed and it was “Survival of the fittest”. Human beings were not only judged based on race and religion, but also their economic wealth and living status. McTeague by Frank Norris creates satirical writings through the characters, Maria and Zerkow and McTeague and Trina through many different situations. The main characters for his satirical writings were McTeague and Trina. The downfall they both encounter leads down many different paths of ridicule and want for something they do not have. McTeague and Trina were both lower class people striving to become a higher class. After purchasing an illegal lottery ticket from Maria and winning $5,000 dollars, the doctor and his wife are inserted into the wealthier social class. McTeague, after losing his job, starts to become more like his father, a drunk. Trina, on the other hand, becomes a cheapskate and hoards all of her money and treats it as if it is the only thing she will ever need. Both McTeague and Trina depend on their social class to “better their lives”, but in the end…show more content… With both couples of people placed within different situations, many people can better understand how Norris wrote the novel as a satirical writing to exaggerate how people wish to become more of a higher class, or otherwise known as “the survival of the fittest”. Unfortunately, in the end, everyone but McTeague ends up being dead or wandering about in the desert. This leads to show that many people try to be who they really are not, thus “survival of the fittest” may not always
