Emile Zola's Germinal

Emile Zola's Germinal was published in 1885, and its main characters represent some of the important political and economic theories of that time. In particular, the novel focuses on the revolutionary ideas which Zola saw as being a potential threat to society. For example, Zola's concern with Marxist Socialism is reflected in the characters of Pluchart and Etienne Lantier.

Pluchart is the secretary of the Workers' International, and his lectures are designed to spread the revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx. The basic idea behind Marxism is that workers are exploited by the bourgeoisie, or the capitalist owners of the means of production. In order to change this situation, the workers need to rebel against their capitalist oppressors. When Pluchart gives a speech to the coal miners at the Montsou Company, he tells them of the many benefits they would receive under a Marxist economic system. His description of a Marxist society sounds very good on the surface, with "the workers of the whole world united by a common hunger for justice, sweeping away the rotten bourgeoisie, establishing at long last the free society in which he who does not work does not reap!" (242). Pluchart is the one who recommends the use of a strike in order for the coal miners to make the Montsou Company give them higher wages and better working conditions.

Although Pluchart recommends the use of a strike, it is Etienne Lantier who becomes the leader of the strike and thus puts the Marxist rev

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by the mob is described by Zola as "a paroxysm of blind faith" (281). Zola also makes the point that this type of mob behavior is fickle. Thus, when the strike has failed, the people turn on Etienne and threaten to kill him. Zola also denounces anarchy as a means for political and economic change. The nihilistic attitude of anarchy is shown in the character of Souvarine, the Russian who helps Etienne plan his strike. Souvarine considers Etienne's ideas for a worker revolt to be "balderdash." He feels that it is necessary to destroy the old society before a new one can be created. Whereas Pluchart and Lantier are followers of Marx, Souvarine's "Master" is "Bakunin the Destroyer" (236). Souvarine takes Bakunin's political ideas to their extreme. Thus, he claims that a revolution should "raise fires in the four corners of the cities, mow people down, wipe everything out, and when nothing whatever is left of this rotten world perhaps a better one will spring up" (144). Souvarine is obviously a fanatic with a bleak view of the world around him. Zola indicates that he is obsessed with "mystic dreams" and "bloody visions" (381). Souvarine's ideas for violent revolution are clearly flawed and they serve no purpose except to

Category: Literature - E