Violence in Collective Behavior

Mob in Action in Zola’s

Germinal

JIMWEL V. GUTIERREZ
Ph. D English Student
 Emile Zola

1840-1902

Emile Edward Charles Antoine Zola was bom in Paris on 2nd April, 1840 and was the
only child of Francesco Aubert. The heredity of this convinced believer in the power of inherited
characteristics is of some interest. From the romanticist writer of melodramatic poetry, he turned
himself to a naturalist writer of novel.
The work of Émile Zola reigns, alongside the work of Honoré de Balzac, Guy de
Maupassant, Gustave Flaubert, Stendhal and George Sand, as the most expansive literary tableau
of life in France during the country’s most ostensibly prosperous period, the latter half of the
nineteenth century. Zola saw his work as a continuation of Balzac’s ambitious project to
fictionally document every aspect of the French landscape of his life and times. Balzac’s
immense series of novels La comédie humaine would find a worthy successor in Zola’s Rougon-
Macquart series tracing the fortunes of a family under the Second Empire (1852-1870, in which
parliament is dissolved and all governmental power is held by the emperor Napoleon III).
 Brief Summary

Etienne Lantier came from Paris to a small village named Montsou to find a job. The
times were rough so and old man Vincent Maheu, named Bonnemort, who worked the night shift
in unloading the wagons, did not give him much help nor hope. Etienne met the old man when he
stumbled upon the mine Voreux. Bonnemort was a member of a family that worked in a mine
for a very long time now.
It was early and all of the work-capable members of the family Maheu were getting ready
for work. Between the members, we have the oldest son Zacharie, daughter Catherine, eleven
years old Jeanlin and father Toussaint. When they are working 6 years old Lenora, 4 years old
Henri, 9 years old Alzira, newborn Estelle and their mother are at home. The whole family lives
in a humble house and their life is filled with misery.
Their house is so small that they are all obliged to sleep, eat and bathe in that small area.
The life of the miners was miserable and the people were promiscuous, prone to alcohol and
sometimes even violent.
Etienne came to the mine hoping for a job and as he moved towards, he saw many people
enter the small gate that reminded him of a mythical animal. The father of the family Maheu was
the leader of his group and he had just lost a member so Etienne filled in for him. He was
amazed by the Maheus and they by him.
He worked with Catherine that he thought was a boy at first because she was very strong
and also with Zacharie and Chaval who was well known for his roughness. From the beginning,
Etienne and Chaval hated each other and Etienne didn’t even realize that he interfered with the
relationship between Chaval and Catherine who he considered being his wife while he obeyed
him with no complaint.
At the beginning, we can see the difference between the workingmen and the rich people
that are the owners of the mines. Unlike the family Maheu who lives in poor conditions we meet
the Gregorie family, mine owners who lived wealthy and Maheu’s wife came to ask them for
money. The rich family that had only one daughter did not have any mercy upon her so they only
gave her one bagel. In the meantime Miss Hennebeau comes with some prestige guests from
Paris to visit the village and she tells them that everyone will be well settled in and that every
now and then these surroundings are good because of the peaceful atmosphere and clean air.
The work in the mine is getting more and more dangerous because of the fear of
collapsing. The workmen were paid by the quantity of the material they dig up and to make more
money they had to put more time into building a safe construction. They had no time to waste so
they weren’t careful enough in their work. Because of their carelessness on the workplace, they
would often have to pay which led them into a bigger misery.
Etienne lived in a bar at Rasseneura who worked in the mine until he set up a strike.
Etienne met Souverin there, an immigrant from Russia, under whose influence he started to think
about rebelling against the capitalists. He got enthusiastic about that idea and even founded a
miner’s organization in case they want to go on strike. Unlike him, Souverin thought that they
should tear down everything and start from the bottom.
As time passed by the situation in the family, Maheu was getting worse and especially
when Zacharie got married and received an empty house in the village from the company. He left
his home and one paycheck was gone with him.
Etienne then accepted their offer and moved in their house. He and Catherine slept in the
same room and emotions started building between them but despite that she stayed submissive to
Chaval who tortured her every day. Soon she had to leave her family for him and move away
because of his jealousy.
The first hint of the strike was the news from the company that they are changing their
conditions. They will be paying less money for a wagon of coal because they would save more
money like that but the workmen’s rage was getting bigger and bigger. The event that triggered
the strike was the accident in which Jeanlin Maheu hurt both of his legs.
 Etienne was the leader of the strike. The workmen wanted to, in a peaceful way, get their
right back but Souverin was more revolutionary and wanted to use violence to make their
employers change their minds. Despite the strike, the situation was not getting better. Family
Maheu lost another family member and that was their daughter Alzira. The miners couldn’t get
along anymore and many of them went and worked in other mines as well as Chaval and
Catherine.

The tension was getting bigger and bigger and the miners started destroying machines because of
which the owner of the mines called the army. There was a big confrontation and Maheu died in
it. After the bloodbath, Chaval turned Etienne in as the leader of the strike and because of that,
he ran away.
Etienne confronted Chaval and thanks to Catherine he managed to stay alive. Chaval was
angry and banished Catherine out of their house and she couldn’t go back to her parents who
rejected her. Also, she did not want to accept the help Etienne offered her because she thought
she wasn’t worthy of him.
Several weeks passed by while Etienne was recovering from his injuries. He was
disappointed by what happened and decided to leave the mine. Unfortunately, a lot of the miners
lost their lives and the ones that survived were working in other mines under the same
conditions. Even though we have a dark atmosphere in the novel the end is optimistic and the
point is that a man must take the matter into his own hand if he wants a better tomorrow.
 NOVEL ANALYSIS
Introduction

Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are two novels of Jose Rizal that depict the
despondent and dejected situation of Filipino people during the Spanish regime. The conclusions
that slavery, torture, partiality and discrimination are evident within the context of these novels
are remarkable to Filipinos until this very time. The same condition is also manifested in Zola’s
Germinal centering on depressed miners situation.
The analysis aims to attain the following objectives:
a. define the main characters and their struggles in the novel
b. determine the violence in collective behavior manifested among the characters in the novel
c. describe the mob (characters) in action within the plot of the novel

Methodology

“Germinal” is the 13th novel of the famous cycle Rougon-Macquart and the second
novel about working class. The main theme of the novel is the sufferings of miners and their
struggle for survival. It is one of the first novels with whom the author tried to show the
confrontation between the capitalists and the working class and therefore it is considered one of
the best novel about the labor movement.
The events described was based on a true story that happened in France in 1884. It was
the time when many miners went on strike because they wanted a change in their lifestyle.
In 20 novel Zola described the failing of certain members of the family Rougon-
Macquart due to a heritable burden. Next to the mentioned family Zola showed all of them social
layers during the Second Empire.
In “Germinal” he picked the names of the characters carefully because he was trying to
make a point and show his irony through their names. In the names, we can even find some
metaphors such as the name of the mine Voreux. Voreux comes from the Latin word vorax and
that means “the one that devours”. Even the word germinal has a meaning and it is the month of
the republican calendar.
It also symbolizes growth and blooming. This meaning is linked with the last scene in
which Etienne goes away from the small village. He leaves the same way he came and that is
with many dreams about justice in the society.
The novel is filled with contrast from the beginning till the end. While at the beginning of
the novel we have a dark atmosphere at the end the main character goes into beautiful light,
carrying the hope for a better tomorrow.
The contrast can also be found in the family lifestyles because on one side we have poor
miners and on the other rich owner of the mines.
“Germinal” has many naturalistic characteristics such as biological inheritance that leads
to misfortune. Zola tried to describe a realistic atmosphere of those times so he tried to describe
an event that actually happened and about which he found some information.
During his research Zola spent a lot of time with some miners so he got to know their
lifestyle and got some firsthand information about the strike members. Since he wanted to make
his work realistic Zola described the most brutal scenes from the strike.
The title refers to the name of a month of the French Republican Calendar, a spring
month. Germen is a Latin word which means "seed"; the novel describes the hope for a better
future that seeds amongst the miners. As the final lines of the novel read:
“Men were springing forth, a black avenging army, germinating slowly in the furrows, growing
towards the harvests of the next century, and their germination would soon overturn the earth”.
Discussion and Interpretation

a. define the main characters and their struggles in the novel

Etienne Lanter is the main character of the novel. Etienne was born outside of a marriage
and his mother was named Gervaise and had some problems with drinking. . He came from Paris
looking for a job.

“Morning,” the old man answered.

Silence. Feeling himself looked at with a resentful eye; the man said at once who he was.
“My name is Etienne Lantier and I am a mechanic. Any work going here?”
The firelight show him up; he looked about twenty-one, was very dark, handsome and
strong looking in spite of his slight build.
The haulier, reassured, shook his head.
“Work for a mechanic? No. Two of them tried yesterday. No. Nothing doing.”

He does not try to run away from the surroundings he grew up in. At the beginning of the
novel, while he talks to Catherine, we can see that he did not distance himself much from the
violence which is shown at the end of the novel when he gets into a confrontation.

“You read us that”, said Maheu, who was not very good at reading either. So Etienne
began to read out the poster. It was a notice from to miners in all pits, informing them that, in
view of the lack of attention paid to timbering and as it was tired of inflicting useless fines, it had
decided to introduce a new system of payment for coal-getting. …..
“God Almighty!” muttered Maheu., If we accept this we are bloody fools…

Despite the fact that his life was predestined by the place he lived in, he tried to live
another life in another way. He tried to show that the people should listen to new ideas.
Everything he’s been through, from the strike to losing Catherina, made him a stronger person
and strengthened his beliefs in revolutionary ideas.

”We don’t mean any harm, sir” But work must stop everywhere alike”

Catherine was Maheu’s daughter that worked in the mine. She is the complete example of
the person that was scared by the tragic life of her family and the surroundings she lived in. She
had a kind heart and she showed it when she saved Etienne from dying but she ended up being
the victim of the society she lived in.

At the moment there came from a landing a sort of growl. It was Maheu’s voice, thick with
sleep.
“God! it’s time… You lighting up, Catherine?”
“Yes, Dad; it’s just struck four downstairs.”
“Look sharp, you lazy faggot! If you hadn’t dance quite so much yesterday, being
Sunday, you would have woken us up a bit earlier. There’s a lazy life for you!”
Born and raised in poverty she thought that she did not deserve anything better than
Chaval because she did not know about anything better. Her tragic ending is just another proof
that people living in those times could not save themselves from the destiny they had since the
day they were born.
b. determine the violence in collective behavior manifested among the characters in the novel

Germinal starts when a young man by the name of Etienne Lantier arrives on foot at the
Voreux pit. He is around 21-years-old, skinny but strong looking. He is greeted by a 58-year-old
man nicknamed Bonnemort. The man tells him that there is no work for a mechanic in the mine.
Bonnemort lives in the Village Two Hundred and Forty along with his son Maheu, Maheu's wife,
and their seven children. Etienne Lantier finds work in the mine as a hewer and is integrated with
the mining team that includes Maheu, Chaval and Catherine. Lantier immediately likes Catherine
but Chaval sees nothing in Lantier but a competitor and a stranger who will steal the miners'
salary. Two supervisors show up and after a quick inspection, they impose a fine on the team for
faulty timbering. Maheu decides that the day is lost and that it is time for the team to go back
home. Etienne follows the advice of some of his coworkers and rents a room at The Advantage,
an Inn managed by Rasseneur. Etienne Lantier goes out for a walk and witnesses the rape of
Catherine but doesn't intervene.
Etienne Lantier becomes a good hewer and meets Souvarine, a Russian anarchist. Joined
by Rasseneur, the men hold long discussions concerning the future of the workers. After
consulting with his friend Pluchart, Etienne Lantier creates a new local division of the
"International" and moves in with the Maheus. On a payday in October, the mining company
disguises a lowering of the salaries as a new mode of payment. The miners take offense as it
adds insult to injury and decide to strike as the working conditions deteriorate quickly.

Suddenly a new cry rang out!

“We want bread out”! “We want bread out”!
It was midday, and the hunger of a six-week’s strike, intensified by this march across country,
was growing acute in their empty bellies.
“To the spits! Stop all work! We want bread”!

Chaval is getting extremely jealous of the relationship between Catherine Maheu and
Etienne Lantier. He takes her away to work at Jean-Bart, an independent coalmine. On
December 15, the miners go on strike. A delegation led by Maheu meets with the mine director
and demands a just mode of payment and bread everyday, but nothing is solved. The strike
spreads and most of the Company's mines are stopped. Only Jean-Bart's miners, which is an
independent mine, continue to work. The miners join the International. The company proves
inflexible but the miners are determined to win.

“What’s all this about? Isn’t this a free country? I’ve been frozen for the last hour and I
want a wash. Let me go!

It was true that the coal stuck to his skin by sweat was beginning to hurt him, and there was very
little warmth in his jersey.

Just keep on marching or we’ll give you a wash! answered Etienne. You shouldn’t have
gone one better than everybody else and asked for blood.”

Behind a shed Etienne saw some labourers filling a coal-cart.

“Bugger off, will you?, he shouted. “Not one bit is going out of here!”

A hundred strikers ran up at his command and the men only just had time to get away..
 The owner of Jean-Bart and Chaval manage to avoid a strike, but the strikers of the
Montsou Company demolish the installations of the independent mine. The miners on strike
march toward Montsou. They assault the mine's director house and nearly kill Cecile, the
daughter of one of the mine's investors. The mob then assaults the local grocer's store and
mutilates the grocer's dead body. In early February, the army is occupying Montsou. One of
Maheu's children kills a young soldier and hides him under rocks. The striking miners face the
armed soldiers at the mining pit and try to push them back. The armed guards fire and 14 miners
end up dead. The miners put an end to the strike, but Souvarine proceeds to sabotage the mining
pit. Water floods the mine and Chaval, Lantier and Catherine are trapped in the imploded mine
while the rescue workers start to dig for possible survivors. Cecile is strangled by Bonnemort.
Lantier kills Chaval, and after nine days, the two remaining lovers make love. Catherine dies
soon afterward from exhaustion and after a few days, Etienne is rescued on the brink of
starvation. He recovers in the hospital and leaves the mine behind him to go to Paris.

c. describe the mob (characters) in action within the plot of the novel

The story is a simple one. Maheu family lived crowded together in a cold and smoky
cottage not far from the mines.They do backbreaking work to earn their living, and expect their
children to do the same; indeed, the mother frankly states that one reason for having children is
so that they can work, and bring more money to the family.
The wages in the local pits seem carefully calculated down to the last franc, to support
life and the ability to work while not providing one franc more. The miners are unable ever to
gather enough capital to leave the district, or to make a different choice of work.
They are trapped between servitude and starvation.

Then the yelling began again. The women rushed forward, seized with a thirst for blood.

“Then there is a God after all! you swine, you’re done for now”!

They surrounded the warm body and insulted it with jeers, called his smashed head an ugly mug,
screaming into his face all the long pent-up hatred of their starved lives.

“I owe you sixty francs. Well, you’re paid now, you thief!” said Mahuede, now as
frenzied as anybody else. “ won’t refuse me any more credit. Just wait a minute, I must fatten
you up a bit more!”

“Here you are eat it!, Go on , eat way like you used to eat us!”

Zola lays this groundwork against a backdrop of the daily life in the district, as season
follows season and the workers struggle to maintain even simple humanity in the face of their
grim conditions. Meanwhile, we see the lives of the mine owners and managers, with their great
houses, their Paris fashions, their carriages, their banquets and parties. Berri is fond of cutting
back and forth between poverty and affluence, as Zola was in his novel, and the message is
unmistakable: The owners are stealing the fruits of the workers' labor.

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it!”

The horrible trophy was greeted with shrill imprecations.

“You bugger, you won’t fill up our girls anymore!”

“Yes no more paying you with our bodies! Never again shall we have to go through that, offering
our backsides for a loaf of bread!”
Theoretical Background

“The naturalist novel” like Germinal, Zola insists, “disrupts the ‘formula’ of traditional novels
with their complicated plots to become a study ‘without peripeteia or denouement, the analysis
of a year’s existence, the history of a passion, the biography of a character, notes taken from life
and logically classified”. In this novel, Zola promoted two types of fiction: plotless novels
recounting the disillusioning trivialities of everyday existence and novels of catastrophic
degeneration ‘motivated’ by scientific theories, two types which he insistently termed naturalist
works and situated within great positivist tradition and in a lineage of writers stretching back to
Balzac and beyond. “In opposition to the literature of the. romantic tradition,to the popular
literature of illusion and distraction, and to the moralizing literature which sought to consolidate
the values of the prevailing order, the naturalist writers sought to represent life undisguisedly in
its truthful aspects, however shocking or banal, with all the rigour and scrupulous concern for
detail of the positivist historian or the scientific researcher”

Conclusions

Germinal the celebrated documentary in mining, describes the career of Gervaise

Macquart’s eldest son, Etienne, first as a miner then as a political agitator. It reflects Zola’s
sympathy with socialism, but his critical attitude towards the protagonist shows how far he was
from being a revolutionary.

References
Hemmings F.W.J. - Emile Zola, Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1953.

Bagveley David “Land Marks of World Literature – Zola L ’Assomoir pg-100

Tumell Martin - The Art of French Fiction. Prevost Stendhal Zola Maupassant gede Mauriae
Proust Pg 117

Bagueley David “Landmarks of World Literature - Zola:L Assomoir” Pg 48-49