Germinal by Emile Zola - Book Report/Review Example

Industrialization provoked multiple and changing forms of political organization and protest, ranging from food riots and machine-breaking to the organization of trade unions and political parties. Analyze Zola’s depictions of these various forms of protest and how they were shaped by gender and class positions as well as by repression. (‘Germinal’ by Emil Zola) Part One – Germinal, an Overview Germinal (published in 1885) has been one of the most significant novels of Zola. The particular novel focuses on the coal mining industry. In the nineteenth century, the specific industry has been one of the main resources of development of French economy. It is for this reason that Germinal is valuable in order to understand the social and cultural values of French society of that period but also to make significant assumptions regarding the protest against the capital as it was formulated the particular period. These assumptions do not have just historical value but they can be used in order to understand modern social structures and forms of protest against the capital as this protest is being developed throughout the world. It should be noticed that in order to write Germinal, Zola has studied carefully all aspects of coal mining industry. In this context, it is mentioned by Ellis, referring to Zola, (Introduction, 2nd and 3rd lines) that ‘For six months he travelled about the coal-mining district in northern France and Belgium, especially the Borinage around Mons, note-book in hand’. It is for this reason that Germinal represents with accuracy all aspects of life of workers in the particular industry being one of the few novels in which such an issue is developed. The general story developed throughout Germinal could be described as following: Etienne Lantier is a young man that decides to go and live in a mining village. Soon, Etienne begins to work in the mine. However, after a while the daily problems of miners lead Etienne to urge them to protest against the capital (miner’s owners). In the meantime, Etienne – because of his capabilities has become a leader of miners and his view influences them. It is for this reason that influenced by Etienne miners decide for their first time to protest against the capital. Their protest, which has the form of a strike, causes severe financial losses to the miner’s owners and their reactions are characterized by violence and brutality. The story of the novel is ‘enriched’ by the extended reference to the daily life of a particular family of the village, the Maheu family. Etienne, who felt in love with the daughter, Catherine, decided to put the protest against the capital as the priority in his life and avoided to respond to his feelings. It should be noticed that Catherine was also a miner. After being ‘rejected’ by Etienne, Catherine decided to live with Chaval, a man that represented the desire of Catherine to survive and escape from her home where the conditions of living where extremely bad. On the other hand, the involvement of Etienne in the protest of miners (in fact he has been the one who first caused the protest against the capital in the specific village) did not have the required result. In fact, soon miners rejected Etienne as their leader and decided to follow their previous leader, Rasseneur. On the other hand, the particular protest and the strikes that followed had severe consequences on all villagers’ lives. More specifically, many of them (including the youngest children of Maheu family) died by starvation while others were trapped in a mine accident (flood) and others were shot by soldiers while participating in a strike rally (including the father of the family, Maheu). Current paper refers to the protest against the capital as presented by Zola through the events and the dialogues of the persons participated in his novel. Another issue which is also going to be examined is the role of particular elements (like the gender, the class and repression) in the development of protest against the capital. The above issues are going to be analyzed and evaluated mainly by observing and commenting the actions of novel’s main characters (i.e. Etienne, Catherine and Maheu) but also of other, secondary, characters (like miners). The general framework of the mining industry in the particular period is also going to be analyzed in order to understand the role of protest as it was developed in the specific village. Part Two – Germinal: Protest against the capital, role of gender, class and repression In order to understand the causes of protest in the particular village we should primarily refer to the daily conditions of work within the mine. In a scene of the novel where the work within the mine is described it is noticed that ‘Not a word was exchanged. They all hammered; one only heard these irregular blows, which seemed veiled and remote. The sounds had a sonorous hoarseness, without any echo in the dead air. And it seemed that the darkness was an unknown blackness, thickened by the floating coal dust, made heavy by the gas which weighed on the eyes. The wicks of the lamps beneath their caps of metallic tissue only showed as reddish points. One could distinguish nothing’ (Part One, Chapter Four, 4th paragraph, [1]). It is clear therefore that work conditions in the mine were extremely hard for all workers. However, the mine was the only source of income for all villagers and it was for that reason that most of them (including women) were working as miners. Gender and protest Throughout the novel the role of gender in the protest towards the capital is highlighted. A primary element of this equality between men and women in the political conflicts against the capital is the presentation of the daily routine of life of the Maheu family. First, it is clear that women are allowed to work in the mine (actually Catherine is working in the mine). Furthermore, women have to prepare the meal and do all housework. In other words, the role of women in France of the 19th century is decisive. In the case of Maheu family this ‘equality’ is represented by the following scene: In the Part Two of the novel – referring to the daily life of Maheu family – it is noticed that ‘on returning from the pit they were always so hungry that they ate in their damp clothes, without even cleaning themselves; and no one was waited for, the table was laid from morning to night; there was always someone there swallowing his portion, according to the chances of work’ (Part Two, Chapter Four, 1st paragraph). In accordance with the above, all life of Maheu family – as of all other villagers – was based on their work in the mine and therefore daily routine has been customized to their needs – and their shifts in the work. The scene described above also proves that all members of the family that worked in the mine (Maheu and Catherine) were equally repressed by the conditions of the work. It is for this reason that their participation in the protest that was developed later (against the mine owner) was equal. It should be noticed however that women reacted differently than men during the conflict with the capital. An indicative example is that of the following scene: ‘"The fires must be put out! To the boilers! to the boilers!" Some women followed her. Maheude hastened to prevent them from smashing everything, just as her husband had tried to reason with the men. She was the calmest of them; one could demand ones rights without making a mess in peoples places. When she entered the boiler building the women were already chasing away the two stokers, and the Brulé, armed with a large shovel, and crouching down before one of the stoves, was violently emptying it, throwing the red-hot coke on to the brick floor, where it continued to burn with black smoke. There were ten stoves for the five boilers’ (Part 5, Chapter 3, approximately 36 paragraphs after the beginning). In this case where the conflict had led to a strong opposition and shots again the miners began, women intervened in order to calm the conflict. There participation is also an opposition but it has mostly the form of support to the protest of men. Class and protest Generally, it could be stated that the work in the miner does not influence only the lifestyle of miners. It has a severe influence on their rights as part of the society. In fact in accordance with Zola ‘In the old mans time the miner lived in the mine like a brute, like a machine for extracting coal, always under the earth, with ears and eyes stopped to outward events. So the rich, who governed, found it easy to sell him and buy him, and to devour his flesh; he did not even know what was going on. But now the miner was waking up down there, germinating in the earth just as a grain germinates’ (Part Three, Chapter Three, 13th paragraph). In the above context, a miner in France of the particular period (19th century) had no social and political rights. He was living just in order to work in the mine. Any activity that was related with the political and social framework was in fact forbidden (not by law but by ethics held in society). It should be noticed that when referring to miners there is no differentiation among men and women regarding the civil and social rights. In fact both genders face the same ‘social discrimination’ and exclusion from activities that are considered to be a common part of civilians across a specific state. In this way, the difficulties that miners face in work and the inequality that they face regarding their wages and their conditions of living are common in men and women. The position of miners within the society does not allow (as already explained above) oppositions towards the decisions made by employers. When such an opposition takes place, it is regarded as an event that should be quickly supplanted. In the novel, the beginning of the strike in December as a result of the new wage system was not expected by employers. More specifically, it is noticed that ‘When, on the 1st of December, the Company had adopted the new wage system, the miners remained calm… At the end of the fortnight not one made the least protest on pay-day… Everybody, from the manager down to the last overseer, considered the tariff as accepted; and great was their surprise in the morning at this declaration of war, made with a tactical unity which seemed to indicate energetic leadership’ (Part Four, Chapter Four, 1st paragraph). In other words, even if opposition of miners towards the employers occurs, this is not regarded as their initiative (they are not considered to have the necessary ‘strength’ to begin such a conflict) but as an event caused by a particular person. Repression and Protest The protest of miners could be characterized as justified if taking into account the level of their wages and their conditions of life on a daily basis. However, if considered the extended financial crisis that characterized France in the 19th century, we could state that the protest of miners in the particular phase was not critical for the improvement of their life (as it is proved in the next chapter) because there was no deposit for the satisfaction of their demands (the owner of the miner was also facing financial difficulties). It seems that the main reason for the particular protest was the repression of the miners. In fact in Part 4 (Chapter 7) Etienne addressed the miners in the beginning of their protest saying: ‘Comrades, since they forbid us to speak, since they send the police after us as if we were robbers, we have come to talk here! Here we are free, we are at home. No one can silence us any more than they can silence the birds and beasts!" It is clear that repression has been one of the main reasons for the development of the protest in this village. The fact that miners paid even with their life their desire to improve their level of living shows that there would be more reasons for the specific protest (apart from the monetary ones) and repression should be considered to be the most important. Part Three - Conclusion The development of the conflict until the end of the novel even if having a severe price for the people involved (miners) has proved that in this conflict there was no differentiation among miners regarding the gender or the class (Etienne was educated however he participated equally in the conflict). On the other hand, repression has proved to have a significant role in the beginning and the development of the conflict. It is repression that leads Maheu to fight until the end (he was finally shot by soldiers during a protest rally) in order to protest for his rights. On the other hand, the protest made against employers by miners – as described in Germinal – should be regarded as a complex situation which has caused damages to both sides involved (miners and employers). In fact in a dialogue made between Etienne and the owner of the miner (Mr. Hennebeau) the latter says to the former that: ‘A well-equipped pit today costs from fifteen hundred thousand francs to two millions; and it is difficult enough to get a moderate interest on the vast sum that is thus swallowed. Nearly half the mining companies in France are bankrupt …. Can you believe that the Company has not as much to lose as you have in the present crisis? It does not govern wages; it obeys competition under pain of ruin’ (Mr. Hennebeau, the miner’s owner talking to Etienne, Part Fourt, Chapter Four, approximately 18 paragraphs before the end of the chapter). In accordance with the above, the role of protest of miners in the improvement of their conditions of life cannot be precisely described. It seems that mine’s owners are also ‘trapped’ within the system. They have also to face a strong competition, which leads them to keep the wages of the workers at relatively low levels. The general conditions related with the industrial development in Europe of the 19th century should be considered to have the main responsibility for the low wages of workers in the greater region the particular period. Under these terms, employers and employees could not easily communicate and protest has been chosen by workers in all industrial sectors as the most appropriate method for asserting their rights. Germinal should be considered as a ‘classic’ novel of the specific period describing with accuracy the conditions of work and life of mine workers in France in the 19th century. References Emil Zola ‘Germinal’ (1885), Translated by Havelock Ellis (1894) http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/ez/germinal.html [1] Read More