Germinal Lesson Plan

How does Zola create an atmosphere of oppression in the novel's early chapters, before we even descend into the Voreux?

Although it later becomes apparent how management mistreats its workers in this mine, Zola nonetheless effectively creates an atmosphere of oppression, struggle, and discontent before the reader joins the Maheus in the mine. Have students consider the first evening we spend with Étienne: he arrives at the Voreux on a cold night, desperate for any kind of warmth, and finds workers sick with black lung and resigned to their lives in the coal mines.

Refer also to the chapter that details how the Maheu family gets ready for the day: there is an...