Germinal

Emile Zola's attention to the natural forces which affect human life as well as his meticulous observation of the social forces which mold human behavior revolutionized the novel. In Germinal, the artistic genius he brought to his method found vital expression. Its hero, Étienne Lantier, leaves the shambles of his Paris life and joins the victims of poverty and industrial oppression in the coal mines of northern France. The senseless injustice of their plight has left the miners with no existence outside the pit except in drink, sex, and brawling. Lantier unites his fate with theirs in a violent struggle to resist their own destruction. Humanity is the real hero of Germinal and Zola one of humanity's most eloquent spokesmen.