They do not form an edifying group,
these Rougon-Macquarts, but Zola, who had based his whole theory of the
experimental novel upon the analogy of medical research, was not on the
outlook for healthy subjects; he wanted social sores to probe. This is
a fact much too often overlooked by readers of detached parts of the
series, for it should always be kept in mind that the whole was written
with the express purpose of laying bare all the social evils of one of
the most corrupt periods in recent history, in the belief that through
publicity might come regeneration. Zola was all along a reformer as
well as a novelist, and his zeal was shown in many a bitter newspaper
controversy. It has been urged against him that there were plenty of
virtuous people about whom he could have written, but these critics
appear to forget that he was in a sense a propagandist, and that it was
not his _metier_ to convert persons already in the odour of sanctity.
_La Fortune des Rougon_ was not particularly successful on its
publication, but in view of the fact that the war with Germany was
barely concluded no surprise need be experienced.
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