Jean Roule

Jean Roule is the main fictional character in Octave Mirbeau’s proletarian tragedy, Les Mauvais Bergers (The Bad Shepherds) (1897).

This is what Jean Roule does upon his arrival at the Hargand factory, from which infernal smoke ascends, and more specifically, by converting to his ideal the young Madeleine, Thieux’s daughter, who reacts with sensitivity to his sincerity, his solidarity with the miners, and his charisma.

He ends up persuading his co-workers to stage a strike, in hopes of achieving through their struggle, not only tangible improvements to salaries, working conditions, and workplace safety, but also the right to culture and beauty.

[1] Unfortunately, the boss Hargand proves inflexible, hunger grips the strikers, and Jean Roule makes the mistake of refusing help offered by socialist deputies, who are no more in his eyes than mauvais bergers (bad sheperds) desiring only to "maintain and increase their electoral power".

Octave Mirbeau, who was also an anarchist,[3] shared the claims put forward by Jean Roule and he admired his energy, his determination and his sacrifice.