This is Zola’s first novel in which not only the middle bourgeoisie is portrayed, but also the lower strata of society. The image of the Central Market—one of the most visible signs of the urban culture of mature capitalism—becomes a metaphor for the social relations taking shape in that era.
The plot centers on Florent, once a schoolteacher. In 1851, during the unrest accompanying the state coup of December 2, 1851, this man was mistakenly taken for an opponent of the new regime and sentenced to hard labor in Cayenne. After serving several years, Florent escaped from the penal colony at the risk of his life and managed to reach Paris, where he can barely scrape together a living. Florent is described as a man who instinctively rejects the regime of Napoleon III’s personal rule, but who is poorly adapted to real life and to fighting for his ideals.