Germinal, Part 2, Chapter 1 summary

What happens

1. Madame Grégoire orders a breakfast surprise for Cécile, and both parents lovingly watch their daughter sleep.
2. The narrator traces the family's mining investment from Honoré Grégoire's purchase to Léon Grégoire's substantial income.
3. Cécile wakes after twelve hours, and the household shares its pleasure in hot brioche and chocolate.
4. Deneulin visits, describes the industrial crisis, and retreats from a tentative request for investment when his cousins look troubled.
5. Grégoire suggests selling Vandame to Montsou, but Deneulin fiercely refuses and criticizes the Company's powerful leaders.
6. After Deneulin leaves, the family admits Maheude and her children, who enter cold, hungry, and frightened.

In this chapter

What to notice

Deneulin’s remark exposes the basis of the Grégoires' comfort. Their secure income depends on work performed by others.

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