Point of View

L'Assommoir is written in the third person perspective, with occasional moments where Zola mimics the thought pattern of a character for a few lines. As Zola does this with more than one character, the text is third person omniscient, as opposed to limited, which would follow only one character's thoughts.

There are a number of reasons as to why Zola may have chosen to use a third person omniscient, but the clearest is its uses within his naturalistic style. In attempting to realistically depict any social setting or atmosphere, an author has the ability to describe the setting in a reliable manner, whereas a character’s perspective of a specific place says as much about the character as the setting (which in itself has its own vital uses in other works of fiction).

Zola’s occasional mimicry of character’s through or perspectives (without ever...