# Monsieur Deneulin — Germinal character guide

> Monsieur Deneulin in Germinal by Émile Zola.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Deneulin, M. Deneulin

**First appearance:** 0008-part-ii-i

## Snapshot

A small mine owner whose Vandame pit is being squeezed out by the all-devouring Montsou Company, he fights to keep his men and his independence.

## Who they are

Deneulin belongs to the class of modest proprietors caught between the great Company and the workers it grinds down, and he watches the Montsou directors swallow his neighbors' pits with a mixture of envy and dread. His struggle to hold Vandame against the Company's offers gives the strike a second front, showing that even owners can be crushed by the machine of concentrated capital. His fate sharpens the novel's portrait of a system that devours the small as readily as the poor.

## In the story

### [Chapter I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/chapters/part-ii-i)

Cousin of M. Grégoire, an enterprising engineer who sold his Montsou share to invest in the Vandame concession, now struggling due to the industrial crisis.

### [Chapter I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/chapters/part-iv-i)

A mine owner who fears the strike is well-organized and warns of revolution. He advocates for a strong government.

### [Chapter I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/chapters/part-v-i)

Manager of Jean-Bart mine, struggles to prevent a strike by reasoning with his workers and later bribing Chaval.

### [Chapter III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/chapters/part-v-iii)

Confronts the strikers at Jean-Bart, refuses to stop work, and later surveys his ruined pit.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/characters/monsieur_deneulin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/characters