Germinal is often pointed out not only as Émile Zola's finest work but also as one of the best novels of French literature. The main focus of the novel is on the cruel but true story of the miners’ strike and how they work under unfair conditions and face unjust treatment in northern France in the 1860s. The story expresses clearly the disparity between those who are rich in money and in the interests of their own acquisitions, and those who are in the struggle of earning a living for their family.