Do you know what it is like to be unemployed at 21? And then, when you finally find employment, you realize you’re overworked and underpaid. You barely make ends meet because you have bills to pay. You bite your tongue and go to work anyway. By the end of the day, you are so exhausted. Rinse, repeat, and start all over again the next day. It’s a recipe for depression when you don’t have time to improve your skills and take care of yourself. It also doesn’t help when social media amplify how far behind you are compared to your peers. Some people are just more luckier in life than others. It’s a different type of stress. But can you imagine being broke, cold, and starving?

Homeless and out of work, he had only one thing on his vacant mind: the hope that the cold would be less severe once day had broken (Chapter 1).

In this book, Germinal by Émile Zola, we follow the journey of a young miner named Étienne Lantier. He leads a protest for a better quality of life for his coal-mine comrades.

Synopsis

Étienne is a former mechanic who found work at the Le Voreux mine in Northern France as a miner. He became exceptionally skilled at his job, but he was not content. All around him, he saw the horrendous, poor working conditions of his comrades. It wasn’t just working conditions that were awful. There was no future or hope for a better standard of living. Many families worked in the coal mines for generations. When the mining company starts to cut wages, the miners begin to feel the blow. How can anyone work with an empty belly? It makes sense to revolt.

What Stood Out to Me from this Book

Certain events don’t just happen randomly or overnight. It’s something that has been germinating underground. When it can no longer contain itself, it erupts. The miners are cold and starving. All they want is some bread. However, Mme Hennebeau, the spouse of the coal mine owner, fails to understand their situation. She said, “So they’re on strike. Well, what’s that to us?… We’ve still got to eat, haven’t we (P.202)?” Of course, there is something to do with her. The miners toil in the coal mines with empty stomachs. They can no longer work to provide the bourgeoisie (their employer) with a luxurious lifestyle. How can the upper class be so delusional? This book reminds me of the film Parasite by Bong Joon Ho. It’s a powerful film that highlights the contrast between the working class and the wealthy.

Final Thoughts

Of course, there is more to this book, but I want to keep it light and nonpolitical. The writing style isn’t flowery, but romantic enough to lighten up the prose. It is a dramatic book filled with human compassion and love. It’s also a book about hope and, at the same time, hypocrisy. Étienne leads a protest to revolt against the bourgeoisie. Along the way, he realizes he is becoming one of them. He starts to see himself above the miners. This poses a lot of questions. Revolution is not an easy task, and the aftermath is not always as pretty as envisioned.