The novels central character is tienne Lantier previously seen in LAssommoir1877 a young migrant worker who arrives at the forbidding coalmining town ofMontsou ... » 

The novels central character is tienne Lantier previously seen in LAssommoir1877 a young migrant worker who arrives at the forbidding coalmining town ofMontsou in the bleak far north of France to earn a living as a miner. Sackedfrom his previous job on the railways for assaulting a superior he befriendsthe veteran miner Maheu who finds him somewhere to stay and gets him a jobpushing the carts down the pit. tienne is portrayed as a hardworking idealistbut also a nave youth Zolas genetic theories come into play as tienne ispresumed to have inherited his Macquart ancestors traits of hotheadedimpulsiveness and an addictive personality capable of exploding into rage underthe influence of drink or strong passions «