Poverty, anarchy and destruction

Having failed to put aside time to read Emile Zola's Germinal during the term, I promised myself that I would make sure that I would read it over Christmas. Following completion, I thought I would write a short review/report of the novel:


Germinal tells a bleak story of suffering, destruction and death, in Zola's style of realism. Description of the events are told in such a way that you can really see a picture in your head of what Zola is describing.

The novel tells the story of the mining town of Montsou and follows the main protagonist Etienne Lantier. Poverty stricken Montsou is faced with yet more suffering when the mine owners announce plans to lower their wages. Etienne, portrayed as young and naive political activist, takes the role of leader of the miners. He convinces the miners to strike. Days follow and the bosses fail to give in to pressure from the group, until one day, the miners can take no more and a furious riot takes place. Soldiers and police turn to gun fire when the can no longer control the crowd, leaving some dead and others arrested. Admitting defeat some miners can no longer take the poverty and give in, returning to the mines. In the meantime Etienne's friend Souvarine, an anarchist focused on the fact that society can only be pure when there is nothing and destruction is the only way to go about that, begins his plans by damaging some of the mine shaft. Disaster strikes when some of the shaft collapses and leaves Etienne and others trapped in the mine, leading to a dramatic rescue to save the failed strike leader.

Zola's description of the suffering and destruction really stands out as a brilliant piece of literature. The way that a chapter can go from description of the Montsou people, struggling for warmth or soup, straight into a chapter surrounding the Hennebeau family's lavish lifestyle that owners of the mines enjoy, creates such a dynamic juxtaposition.

Destruction and anarchism are two of the key themes to the story. Souvarine's ideas that destruction is the only way for the workers to redeem their rights are at first dismissed by Etienne, but once the workers decided that there was no other way Etienne was turned on and seen as a failure and blamed for the increased suffering of the colliers. Following the violent rampage of the miners, including the castration of shop owner Maigrat, Souvarine's ideal seemed to be becoming the similar wish of the miners, yet whereas the colliers were so non-bourgeois, Souvarine was against society and power structures on the whole.

Germinal is a brilliant tale of sorrow, community spirit, power and wealth divide and rebellion, painting such a vivid picture of the life of a miner in North France.