Other branch
born Vincent Maheu
Bonnemort
Retired coal miner
The ancient patriarch of the Maheu mining family in Germinal. His nickname — 'good death' — is darkly ironic: he has survived fifty years underground when most men are killed or broken in twenty. He sits at the novel's opening in a kind of stupor, coughing black coal dust, a monument to what the mine does to men. His shocking act of violence late in the novel is one of Germinal's most unforgettable moments.
Ancien patriarche mineur dans Germinal. Son surnom 'Bonnemort' est ironique : il a survécu cinquante ans sous terre. Sa violence finale est l'un des moments les plus marquants du roman.
Enormous, slow, with a face the colour of ash and the vacant look of a man whose mind has returned underground. His legs are swollen, his cough constant and black.
Enormous, slow, with a face the colour of ash and the vacant look of a man whose mind has returned underground. His legs are swollen, his cough constant and black.