The first chapter of the book had to probably be the most descriptive in terms of setting, in which Norris went all out in describing the atmosphere in which this story was to take place. In the first chapter Norris paints a picture of a town setting. He describes Polk Street as “one of those cross streets peculiar to Western cities, situated in the heart of the residence quarter, but occupied by small trades people who lived in the rooms above their shops. There were corner drug stores with huge jars of red, yellow and green liquids in their windows, very brave and gay; stationers’ stores, where illustrated weeklies were tacked upon bulletin boards; barber shops

Some topics in this essay:
Polk Street, San Francisco, Finally Marcus, Maria Zerkow, san francisco, Francisco Throughout, Frank Norris’, polk street, , throughout novel, 19th century, Maria McTeague, strong survive weak, survive weak, separation classes, late 19th, town setting, novel reader, greed deception, late 19th century, san francisco century,