In 1893, Zola published this last volume of Rougon-Macquart. Doctor Pascal is a bit like his double. Moreover, he took refuge in London after the Dreyfus affair and signed his hotel card with this name.
This character has a special place in family history. It is the fictitious custodian of what the author wanted to demonstrate in this long-term work: the laws of heredity from generation to generation. Because it is the passion to which the doctor devotes his life, he wants to prove the consequences of an initial defect by examining his own family: the grandmother's madness, Adélaïde Foulque.
I have tenderness for this character, whose evocation logically closes the work since he embodies the author's project. There is sadness in his loneliness that moves. Despite being a devoted physician, he lives on the sidelines and often feels misunderstood. However, I also like his generosity and enthusiasm.
Above all, what gives an emotional aspect to her character is her second passion, tormented and plagued by others' intolerance: that for Clotilde, her tender and sincere niece, who assists her in her research and will become a disturbing, beautiful young woman. Their relationship has never seemed unhealthy to me; they have such purity, such innocence.
The author's last word evokes the child who will be born from their union: "And after so many terrible Rougons, so many abominable Macquartes, another was born. Life was not afraid to create one. one more, in the brave challenge of his eternity." This eternity is a fate to imagine beyond writing.