The consequences and implications of the capitalist mode of production for the working class are addressed in the novel Germinal by Emile Zola. However, the perceptions of Zola and Karl Marx's approach in both the problems of the modern economic system and the solution to these problems are very different. While Zola believes compassion will solve the working class' problems, Marx believes it is only through revolution that anything can be solved. This essay will first evaluate what are the problems of the working class and the flaws in the capitalist system, which is the exploitation of the proletariats and the over production of commodities. From this evaluation, Zola's argument will be brought to light to understand what her overall argument is, why it can be valid and then negated by Marx's revolutionary theories because even though Zola's argument of compassion is right in some ways, this essay will reveal why Zola's argument of compassion is only a small portion of the bigger picture and why Marx's theories of revolution is the only solution to the problems confronting the working class in the modern industrial world. In order to fully assess both Zola and Marx's arguments about the problems of the working class, we must first look into what is happening in the capitalist system and how that is affecting the lives of those involved in, like the characters in Germinal. The working class are being exploited for their work because the working class, or proletariats more specifically, have sold their labor power as a commodity.1 This means that the amount of labor the worker puts in, then that is how much his labor will cost. Therefore, the value of the labor-power comes from the value of the amount of time the worker needs to sustain himself. 2 From this, the worker alienates himself from his labor because he no longer owns what he creates and the worker's labor-power becomes a commodity in the market because not only is its value established the same way as other commodities but the capitalist uses the worker's labor-power like any other commodity in the process of production. Ultimately, there is no exploitation in this because the capitalist, or the bourgeoisie, agrees to pay the worker a value of the full day's labor that is needed to sustain himself. However, if it only takes less than a day's work to sustain the worker needed to keep himself alive, then the capitalist can pay the worker for that amount and then continue to use the worker for that entire day because they both came to an agreement that the worker will work for full day's labor. Therefore there is a surplus-value because the capitalist gains double what he pays for because of the extra value of work that is created from the worker that the capitalist does not need to pay for since he already paid for the amount that is needed to sustain that worker. As a result, the worker is working for the said value he asked for but is producing more than the value that the worker asked for, ultimately giving that capitalist profit. While this process shows how easily a laborer can be exploited, it is difficult for the laborer to complain that he is not getting the pay for the actual amount he produces because in the worker's agreement with the capitalist, the worker is getting paid the value he said he was worth therefore once the worker is receives the pay for a day's work the capitalist can still use the worker for the day.* Marx states that another reason why workers have allowed this exploitation to continue is because they cannot work without the capitalist since they are the ones that own the means of production.* Marx's theories explains the problems going on in Germinal. The miners are the workers being exploited and the bourgeoisie like the Gregoires are the capitalists who are interested in only protecting the profit and increasing the profit. The Gregoires are so interested in protecting their profit that they do not lend any money to La Maheude and her children because he thinks that they will waste that money on alcohol thus this logic reveals the capitalist mindset in the Gregoires. Although the miners try to complain about their working conditions and unfair wages, they cannot do anything about it since they are technically being paid the value that is needed to sustain themselves and without the Montsou Company, the miners cannot produce coal because they don't own the means of production, which is the Voreux. But one thing to point out is that workers are not the only ones being affected by this vicious system of capitalism but the bourgeoisie are too. By paying the workers less and less for their amount of time due to advanced technology that can put in a larger amount of labor, this drives more and more skilled labors out unless they accept the lower pay than they deserve. Although workers will try to get out of this exploitation and try to gain the amount of money they deserve, the capitalist system demands this because if