# Pierron — Germinal character guide

> Pierron in Germinal by Émile Zola.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The astonished Pierron

**First appearance:** 0001-germinal

## Snapshot

A miner who hides himself and stammers whenever the strike forces him to choose a side, and whose wife is the head captain's mistress.

## Who they are

Pierron sits through the delegation's confrontation with Hennebeau and shrinks into silence whenever the argument turns hot, stammering when the manager appeals to him directly. His wife Pierronne is kept by Dansaert, the head captain, a joke the pit never tires of, and his refusal to commit to the strike marks him as the settlement's cautious trimmer. He matters because his evasions expose the fault lines of fear and favoritism that run through the miners' ranks even as they try to stand together.

## Relationships

### [Toussaint Maheu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/characters/toussaint_maheu)

_social_

Pierron is a fellow miner and colleague of Maheu, but their relationship is marked by Pierron's cowardice and self-interest during the strike.

### [Toussaint Maheu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/characters/toussaint_maheu)

_social_

Pierron is a fellow miner and colleague of Maheu, but their relationship is marked by Pierron's cowardice and self-interest during the strike.

### [Toussaint Maheu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/characters/toussaint_maheu)

_social_

Pierron is a fellow miner and colleague of Maheu, but their relationship is marked by Pierron's cowardice and self-interest during the strike.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/germinal_se/chapters/part-vii-vi)

Hustles Maheude to descend into the mine, resented by the miners as a sellout.

## Links

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