In Germinal, to what extent is Naturalist theory confirmed or contradicted by Zola's actual achievements as a writer?

In addition to this, Zola confirms the naturalist theory because his characters fit into certain social groups true to the time and Zola clearly represents the hierarchy present in social categories. For example, amongst the proletariat, la Pierrone is more highly regarded by the bourgeoisie than les Maheus due to the quality of her house keeping. Consequently, when officials from the mining company show their colleagues around the village Deux-Cent-Quarante, they prefer to show them round la Pierrone’s house.

“On les conduisait droit chez celle-là, parce que c’était propre.”

On a smaller scale one can also observe the staff working at the Grégoires where Mélanie, la cuisinière, is at the top of the hierarchy.

“Mélanie régnait la cuisine…”

Moreover, the characters in Germinal personify a genuine historical current. Souvarine for example is an anarchist and represents the opposition to socialist and dictatorial regimes. He speaks to Rasseneur and Etienne in favour of a bloody revolution.

“Oui! l’anarchie, plus rien, la terre lavée par le sang, purifiée par l’incendie!…”

Infact, Souvarine’s character is clearly accounted for in Laveleye’s Bakunin “Le Socialisme contemporain”, a text which Zola studied closely.

Despite much criticism it can also be argued that the abundance of poetic devices or symbolism in Germinal support the theory of naturalism as it aims to convey messages true to the reality of the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. In this sense it is not destroying the factual approach to writing. For example, the bloodstain on Catherine’s shirt after the troops fire at the strikers is not only a signal of the advent of puberty, but also of the progression of the working class to a higher, possibly more fecund stage of revolutionary development.  So one could choose to accept Zola as a naturalist where poetic devices interpret ideas such as the rise and fall of the proletariat. Moreover, Philip Walker views such devices as necessary in order that naturalism or factualism is truly successful.

“..reality can only be explored through our nerves. The Novel bombards us with sensations. The story is, indeed, largely presented to us through them.”

Contrary to these ideas, some critics would argue that Germinal is anything but scientific. According to Philip Walker, Germinal reveals the ambiguity of Zola’s philosophical ideas. So apart from trying to recreate a fictional version of the reality of the nineteenth century, he suggests that Zola wishes to gain the sympathy of the reader for the injustices done to the working classes and also conveys his pessimistic thoughts of the dark side of life and humanity. Walker argues that the light at the end of the novel is only a dream and serves to bring out through contrast, the darkness of the reality of the miners’ defeat. The reader can also explore Zola’s portrayal of the dark side of humanity through Chaval’s lust, jealousy and anger; in his fight for Catherine; and Maigrat’s lust and greed in handing bread to women only in return for his sexual gratification. Zola also portrays the evils of humanity such as hardship and poverty and misery.

“Le vent passait avec sa plainte, comme un cri de faim et de lassitude venu des profondeurs de la nuit.”

One could argue however that Zola portrays the strength of the working classes. One of the many striking examples is the strength of one of the youngest of the Maheu family, Alzire, who, although she is dying, still prefers to be sensitive to the feelings of her family.

“ Alzire non plus ne disait rien, tâchait de ne pas trembler, pour leur éviter de la peine.”

Nevertheless, in presenting not only pessimistic but also optimistic views, Zola’s thoughts are ambiguous, and are not compatible with a scientific and documentary style of writing.

One can also assert that the poetic devices used by Zola blur the evocation of fact- an argument which would contradict Naturalism. His style of writing is more than realism, it is a form of poetry (symbolism, imagery and lyricism) which  serves to create Zola’s epic narration and description. Ruth B. Antosh disagrees that Zola is a naturalist because of his use of symbolism. On several occasions Zola uses anthropomorphism to refer to the mine as a devouring monster. Not only does he refer to the mine as a ‘bête goulue’, or a ‘monstre’ , the name of the mine itself, ‘Le Voreux’, has been chosen to evoke words such as ‘dévorer’ and ‘vorace’. The seams of coal are presented as the intestines of the monster, ‘veines de l’houille’ and the air pumps as ‘la respiration’ of the monster.  The collapse of the mine is like a death scene as the beast staggers to the ground, ‘ la bête mauvais [..] venait de couler à l’abîme.’  Although this latter image of ‘Le voreux’ devouring and consuming itself personifies the power of the bourgeoisie being crushed, it is still a poetic device and requires the reader to read between the lines. In the same way, it can be argued that Zola’s prophecy of the events of the twentieth century are also expressed poetically and not scientifically. Souvarine’s pet rabbit ‘Pologne’ for example, was eaten on the last day of the strike. This prophecy of Poland being eaten up by Russia is only expressed through poetry. Furthermore, despite the fact that the miners lose the strike, Zola, through his use of metaphors, is able to envisage an optimistic future for the working classes.

“Une armée poussait des profondeurs des fosses une moisson de citoyens dont la semence germait et ferait éclater la terre, un jour de grand soleil.”

In conclusion, it is clear that the Naturalist theory, defined as the exact and scientific description of social reality, is unmistakeable in Zola’s Germinal. Zola’s method is similar to that of a scientist carrying out an experiment and introducing catalysts in order to observe human behaviour. He draws his material from documentary sources. In particular, his research on medical problems in the mining community, and the events in Germinal serve to illustrate the rise and fall of the proletariat. Characters fit into social categories and the characters themselves represent a genuine historical current. The individual developments of characters can also be supported by existing theories from Marx and Darwin where characters evolve according to their environment and heredity. In this respect the characters are denied the free will of purely fictional characters. There are, however, elements of Zola, which serve to contradict the naturalist theory. Namely, the ambiguity of his philosophical ideas, such as his pessimistic and optimistic views of humanity, where Zola either provokes sympathy in the reader for the harsh conditions of the miners, or respect for their inner-strengths when faced with struggle. Moreover, the poetic symbolism, imagery and lyricism are so abundant that Zola’s style is very unlike the documentary type of fiction that one would expect from the naturalist theory. Zola’s description of ‘Le Voreux’ is highly poetic and his prophetic imagery and vision of the proletariat rising forth is only achieved through this poetic style and device. However, Germinal is one of Zola’s greatest achievements and the most successful of the Rougon-Macquart collection, and it owes this success to the combination of his scientific approach and poetic style of writing. It would seem that Zola enhances his capacity to depict social reality through his extended use of poetic devices. This observation does not contradict naturalist theory, for in doing so he evokes a more sophisticated representation of reality. As a fiction writer a naturalist should be able to use the power of language to describe reality. For Zola, this reality consists of universally recognisable facts, but also elements that are ambiguous- and thus open to interpretation- just like Zola’s poetry. Thus, Zola’s achievements as a writer confirm the naturalist theory and go beyond it; he not only depicts the black and the white, but also the grey in between.

Bibliography

Grant Zola’s Germinal

Philip Walker, Germinal and Zola’s Philosophical and Religious Thought

Lloyd, J.-K.Huysman and The Fin-de-siècle Novel

Zola, Germinal, 1993, le livre de poche

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