Germinal by Émile Zola (Book Analysis) E-Book

Bright Summaries

• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 27

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of Germinal with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of Germinal by Émile Zola, which is often considered to be his masterpiece. It follows Étienne Lantier as he settles in a mining community in Northern France, where his growing interest in socialism and his horror at the miners’ miserable working conditions eventually lead him to incite a strike. Germinal forms part of Les Rougon-Macquart, an ambitious cycle of 20 novels which tells the story of one extended family under the Second French Empire. Émile Zola was the leading figure of the literary school of naturalism, as well as an influential social thinker, and is now regarded as one of France’s greatest novelists.

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• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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Leseprobe

Émile Zola

French writer and journalist

Born in Paris in 1840.Died in Paris in 1902.Notable works:Nana (1880), novelThe Ladies’ Paradise (1883), novelGerminal (1885), novel

Émile Zola was born in 1840 and is one of the most celebrated novelists of 19th century France. He died in 1902, and is renowned as the leading figure of naturalism, a literary movement which aimed to incorporate the latest scientific innovations of the era. In his novels, Zola introduces a hypothesis formed following real-life observation and then tests it through experimentation. This aesthetic is exemplified by the Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels. This series of 20 books was Zola’s most significant literary output, and was hugely successful despite its many detractors.

Zola is also famous for the political stances he took, which often led to reprisals against him. The best-known of these incidents was his condemnation of the Dreyfus affair, when Zola wrote a public letter entitled J’accuse…! (“I accuse”, 1898) which made a significant contribution to the resolution of the affair and Captain Dreyfus being cleared of the charges levelled against him.

Germinal

The emergence of socialism during the rise of capitalism

Genre: novelReference edition: Zola, É. (1998) Germinal. Trans. Collier, P. Oxford: Oxford University Press.1st edition: 1885Themes: mining, work, love, violence, friendship, hope, death, socialism, working conditions

Germinal is the 13th volume in the Rougon-Macquart cycle. In this novel, which was published in 1885, Zola describes the struggles of a group of miners frustrated by their woeful quality of life, set against the backdrop of the emergence of socialism. In order to create the most accurate portrayal of a mining community possible, the writer took an extended trip to Anzin (Northern France), where he immersed himself in the mining community for several months.

The fact that cries of “Germinal!” could be heard during Zola’s funeral, shouted by a group of miners, speaks volumes about the importance and impact of this novel, both socially as well as in strictly literary terms.

Summary

Part One

Étienne Lantier, a recently qualified mechanic, is wandering across Northern France in search of employment. He is eventually hired as a trammer (a worker who transports coal by pushing small wagons) at the Montsou Mining Company, as part of a team headed up by Maheu, who is the patriarch of a mining family. The team also includes Chaval, Maheu’s son Zacharie, his neighbour Levaque and his daughter Catherine. Lantier eventually falls in love with Catherine, who is also a trammer and helps him to settle into the mining community. Étienne soon discovers that the miners’ world is defined by miserable working conditions and exhausting work, for which their only reward is a meagre salary which is often cut even further due to fines imposed by the foremen. Worn out by his first day, Étienne manages to find lodgings with a former miner called Rasseneur, who now owns a café.

Part Two

The Montsou mine is owned by the Grégoires, a bourgeois family consisting of a married couple and their spoiled daughter, Cécile. In spite of the industrial crisis, the Grégoires’ profits have remained steady. Monsieur Grégoire’s cousin Deneulin, who owns a different mine, comes to visit one lunchtime.