La Mort d'Olivier Bécaille

by Émile Zola

Olivier Bécaille est mort un matin, après trois jours de maladie. Le médecin est formel, et l’enterrement doit avoir lieu quelques jours plus tard. Mais, en réalité, Bécaille est bien vivant. Terrassé par une crise de catalepsie, prisonnier de son propre corps mais conscient de tout ce qui l’entoure, il assiste, impuissant, au chagrin de sa femme, aux préparatifs de sa mise en bière et à l’intervention d’un voisin un peu trop charmant…
Dans ce conte macabre teinté de nostalgie, Zola nous livre une réflexion douce-amère sur la mort et ses conséquences parfois inattendues.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, France, Fiction, Horror, French Literature, School

96 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Émile Zola was a prominent French novelist, journalist, and playwright widely regarded as a key figure in the development of literary naturalism. His work profoundly influenced both literature and society through its commitment to depicting reality with scientific objectivity and exploring the impact of environment and heredity on human behavior. Born and raised in France, Zola experienced early personal hardship following the death of his father, which deeply affected his understanding of social and economic struggles—a theme that would later permeate his writings.
Zola began his literary career working as a clerk for a publishing house, where he developed his skills and cultivated a passion for literature. His early novels, such as Thérèse Raquin, gained recognition for their intense psychological insight and frank depiction of human desires and moral conflicts. However, it was his monumental twenty-volume series, Les Rougon-Macquart, that established his lasting reputation. This cycle of novels offered a sweeping examination of life under the Second French Empire, portraying the lives of a family across generations and illustrating how hereditary traits and social conditions shape individuals’ destinies. The series embodies the naturalist commitment to exploring human behavior through a lens informed by emerging scientific thought.
Beyond his literary achievements, Zola was a committed social and political activist. His involvement in the Dreyfus Affair is one of the most notable examples of his dedication to justice. When Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused and convicted of treason, Zola published his famous open letter, J’Accuse…!, which condemned the French military and government for corruption and anti-Semitism. This act of courage led to his prosecution and temporary exile but played a crucial role in eventual justice for Dreyfus and exposed deep divisions in French society.
Zola’s personal life was marked by both stability and complexity. He married Éléonore-Alexandrine Meley, who managed much of his household affairs, and later had a long-term relationship with Jeanne Rozerot, with whom he fathered two children. Throughout his life, Zola remained an incredibly prolific writer, producing not only novels but also essays, plays, and critical works that investigated the intersections between literature, science, and society.
His legacy continues to resonate for its profound impact on literature and for his fearless commitment to social justice. Zola’s work remains essential reading for its rich narrative detail, social critique, and pioneering approach to the realistic portrayal of human life. His role in the Dreyfus Affair stands as a powerful example of the intellectual’s responsibility to speak truth to power.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell]

“My God, my God! He is dead!”

What makes Émile Zola's tale all the more compelling is the fact the first-person narrator is Olivier Becaille himself. Oh, yes, poor Olivier can not move a muscle, he can not utter a word or syllable but Olivier has retained full awareness, partial sight and can hear the voices and sounds around him.

Olivier reasons, "I must have fallen into one of those cataleptic states that I had read of." So when Olivier hears his dear wife Marguerite cry out that he is dead, he's absolutely helpless to let her know he's not dead, far from it, he's still very much alive.

Olivier lies in a bed in a small room, his passing, so called, taking place at a cheap lodginghouse of the Rue Dauphine in Paris.

We're right there with Olivier, every step of the way, from Marguerite and others discussing his death at the lodginghouse, the funeral preparations, the funeral procession to Olivier finally being buried alive.

Woops. Did I say "finally?" I take it back. Oliver's burial is anything but final. Quite the contrary, it's at this juncture the drama of Zola's tale becomes even more deadly serious. Woops again. Being buried alive is no punning matter. However, I dare not say too much so as to spoil for a reader.

Originally published in 1884, The Death of Olivier Becaille is a small masterpiece - small in length, that is, being about 30 pages. As a work of Naturalism, Émile Zola's tale is huge, containing ferocious bites of social commentary on at least two counts.

First, the author's precision in his portrayal of character, among their number: Marguerite, an elderly woman who occupies a room on the same floor, the elderly woman's child of ten, a harried doctor and wealthy Simoneau, a dashing gentleman who quickly develops a strong emotional bond with Marguerite. Additionally, all of the characters' conversations and interactions, mostly centered on the various practical considerations now that Marguerite's husband is dead and requires burial.

Secondly, Olivier's mindset is completely and thoroughly materialist. At every single stage of his "death" and even when he is buried alive in a Catholic cemetery, not once does our young man mention religion or the church, Christianity or Catholicism, heaven, paradise or the prospect of a Christian afterlife. Well, my goodness, Zola's tale underscores there's little doubt we most definitely inhabit a secular, modern world.

Some may call this Zola tale shocking, macabre, horrid, hideous, frightening or terms much more grisly. But however you categorize The Death of Olivier Becaille, one thing is certain - it's unforgettable. Can be read online. Link: https://spensabayalibrary.files.wordp...


Émile Zola, 1840-1902, French author identified with the school of Naturalism in literature

"Romanticism will race a reader through the streets of a city slum; Realism will walk a reader through the streets of a city slum; Naturalism will drag a reader through the streets of a city slum." - I vividly recall my high school world literature teacher saying this.

"I cannot tell if others have endured the same torture; I only know that my own life was made a torment by it. Death ever rose between me and all I loved; I can remember how the thought of it poisoned the happiest moments I spent with Marguerite. During the first months of our married life, when she lay sleeping by my side and I dreamed of a fair future for her and with her, the foreboding of some fatal separation dashed my hopes aside and embittered my delights. Perhaps we should be parted on the morrow—nay, perhaps in an hour's time. Then utter discouragement assailed me; I wondered what the bliss of being united availed me if it were to end in so cruel a disruption." - Émile Zola, The Death of Olivier Becaille

[Zahra · Rating 4 out of 5]

خود داستان اولیویه بکای فکر کنم چهل صفحه هم نشه و نسخه‌ای که من خوندم علاوه بر داستان بکای، چندین داستان کوتاه دیگه از زولا رو هم داشت. تقریباً همه داستان‌هاش رو دوست داشتم. تم کلی داستان‌ها درباره مرگه و فضای داستان‌ها هم خیلی شبیه داستان های ادگار آلن پوئه. در کل خیلی پیشنهادش میکنم خصوصاً اگه حال خوندن داستان‌های پونصد صفحه به بالای زولا رو ندارید.

[Helga چـو ایـران نباشد تن من مـباد · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

A dark, blood-curdling, distressing and sad short story.

Oh, to sleep like the stones, to be no more!

It is on a Saturday, at six in the morning, that the young Olivier Bécaille dies after a three days’ illness.

I was no more.

As his widow and a helpful but nosey neighbor begin the funeral arrangements, we are told by the deceased himself that he isn’t really dead; that he has merely lost consciousness; that soon he will be able to move his limbs and tell his wife that he is alive; that he loves her.

[Théo d'Or]

Four short stories, merged in only 128 pages, just good to read on the train ( I even read them on the train).
The first one caught my attention, - " The Death of Mr.Becaille" - by the fact of discovering an unusual Zola, which I did not find in the novels that consecrated it.

The beginning of the novel leaves the impression of a science fiction, having an unexpected subject , thinking about the realism that characterizes Zola : a crisis of catalepsy, which, as in the case of Count de Monte-Cristo - ( remember ?) - changes the life of the central character, in this case rendering not freedom, but clairvoyance, ( which, in the end, it's the same) - Olivier, married to a much younger woman.
Certainly, this is not the reason for the plot, but it can be an important factor in the end, as we shall see.
I must admit that the sensations experienced by Olivier, during his own funeral, ( buried alive ! ) - and described as incredibly credible by Zola, ruffled my hair, and that in the context in which I'm a fan of Steven Jones's horrors...Sometimes, we may need to " die", to discover life as it is...
The ending is somehow predictable, wich does not diminish the charm of this insight into this " Vanity Fair " - which is Life.

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many stories have been written about being buried alive. The most famous is probably Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial published in 1844. In the 19th century, being buried alive was a more common fear than it is today. In this story it happens to Olivier Becaille, a married, but poor and sickly Frenchman who has just moved to Paris with his wife. Zola doesn't focus so much on the horror of the event as he does on the life of Becaille and his young wife Marguerite. And the idea that if you escaped your grave, unknown by anyone, what would you do. What would you do? Would you go back to your old life, back to your spouse, or would you start anew? All of this makes for a very interesting story, and with the exceptional skills of Emile Zola, it is delivered perfectly.

[Fereshteh · Rating 5 out of 5]

اگر زنده به خاک سپرده بشیم چه می کنیم؟

مرگ الیویه بکی داستان کوتاهیست نوشته امیل زولا که از کتاب کافه پاریس خوندمش. با این که داستان کوتاهیه اما خیلی منظم تو پنج فصل نوشته شده. الیویه به دلیل بیماریش به حالتی فرو رفته که از نظر سایرین مرده ولی خودش هوشیاره هرچند قادر به حرکت و تکلم نیست. راوی داستان خود الیویه بکیه تحت فشار از این که زودتر به حال عادی برگرده و قبل از این که زمان از دست بره و به خاک سپرده بشه بیدار شه، این هراس و وحشت رو به خواننده هم القا می کنه. چهار فصل اول پر از استرس و ترس شدیدیه که خواننده همراه با الیویه حس میکنه

ولی فصل آخر شاید دوست داشتنی ترین قسمت داستانه... اعلام زندگی یا تظاهر به مردگی؟..لحظه تصمیم گیری های سخت و دوست داشتنی، فداکاری و گذشت برای راحت گذاشتن کسی که الیویه دوستش داشت ولی شاید بدون الیویه زندگی شاد و پایدارتری خواهد داشت


من مرد شجاعی بودم که دوباره زنده شده بودم ولی قطعا نباید بی رحم می بودم
...
من دیگر دلیلی برای زندگی کردن نداشتم اما حتی مرگ هم مرا از یاد برده بود

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been thinking of going back and reading some Zola for quite a long time , and chose this short story because I wasn’t ready to tackle 600 pages of ‘Germinal’ or ‘La Bête Humaine’ just now. ‘The Death of Olivier Becaille’ is a premature burial story in a naturalist style and works on that level. We are what natural forces made us. I feel I lean more to a realist position but enjoyed, if enjoyed is really the right word, the story as told.

[Iris ☾ (iriis.dreamer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estamos ante uno de los relatos con mayor reconocimiento del exitoso escritor francés Émile Zola, que se publicó en 1884 en un recopilatorio de cuentos del autor. Después de muchos años retrasando su lectura, por fin me he decidido por esta obra corta que en la actualidad siento deciros que no dispone de traducción al castellano (insistamos a editoriales).

“La muerte de Olivier Bécaille” relata la historia, con una narración en primera persona, de la supuesta muerte de su protagonista. Olivier Bécaille, un joven marcado por tener una salud frágil y su querida mujer, Marguerite, viven juntos en un piso en París. Una mañana, esta encuentra a su esposo en un estado inconsciente e inmediatamente asume que este ha fallecido. Tras la comprobación del médico, este es oficialmente declarado muerto, pero Olivier es consciente en todo momento de lo que sucede a su alrededor…

No quiero explayarme en exceso con la trama de esta nouvelle, básicamente porque es tan cortita que es ideal para leer de una sentada pero también porque siento que es estupendo el adentrarte en ella sin saber qué está sucediendo realmente.

En tan poco, Zola trata temas como la salud, los celos y el duelo pero se centra principalmente en el enfrentamiento prematuro con la muerte, aquella de la que tanto desconocemos y que trastorna tanto al protagonista. Son muchas las reflexiones que deja al lector, sin perderse en filosofar en abundancia, ni en descripciones recargadas basadas en el existencialismo, nos sumerge en la mente de nuestro narrador sintiendo su misma angustia y horror.

Para concluir, siento que he quedado muy satisfecha con esta primera toma de contacto con el creador del naturalismo francés, su narración es pausada y profundiza en los sentimientos de su protagonista. Brinda una historia breve, bien llevada a cabo y sobre todo con un final apasionado y dramático. Pronto seguiré con “Thérèse Raquin” para luego ir directa a la saga de los Rougon-Macquart que leeré en orden.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

(1880).
What would you do if you were buried alive?
No, really, what would you do?

This story takes this horrific scenario, and deals with it remarkably calmly and realistically. A man becomes conscious of his wife wailing over his seemingly-dead body. He can hear and see, and is aware of everything in the room around him. However, he's unable to move a muscle to respond to her. He wonders: is he actually dead? Might it be that consciousness does not depart the dead body?

[Maan Kawas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful but bone-chilling short story about a person who got into a cataleptic spell, but was mistaken to be dead, and consequently was buried alive. The suspense and anxiety arise when Oliver, the hero, watches and hears about his death and funeral arrangements, unable to say anything, especially, when he they closed his eyes. The climax is when he was buried in his coffin underground. Although he was lucky to be able to break the coffin and get out of the grave, but returning to his wife after few months, he bitterly discovered that she was about to get married to Simoneau, the man who helped her during the funeral arrangements of her husband, Olivier. What I particularly loved in this short story is the final unselfish decision of Oliver to leave his wife to get married and live a stable and happy marriage with Simoneau, as she lived miserably with him. One of the most annoying points in the story is when the doctor fails to diagnose the illness and could not recognize that Olivier was still living, thus declared him dead. The most scary moment in the story was when Olivier was trying to get out the coffin, struggling with clay and shortage of oxygen. A really beautiful story by the great naturalist novelist Emile Zola.

[Rick Slane · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Zola short story so far like Kafka & Edgar Allen Poe without the ornate language.

[Mehrnoosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

ساعت شش صبح روز شنبه بود که پس از سه روز بیماری مردم.
شروعش عالی بود!

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

ne montrez pas ce livre à gaspar noe

[Joselyn Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was an interesting story, poor Olivier had quite the adventure while dead.

The topic was very dark yes as it was the mind of our protagonist, but it wasn't bad at all, very enlightening to the very end.

Poor Marguerite, I can only imagine her life, but the only character I could be very relatable to was Olivier he had a very weird life and by the end I was happy to see everything actually went well for him in a way.

What I liked more of this one is that it gives you perspective on life in a very different angle.

[Mahi - ماهی · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ah ! comme je désirais la mort, à cette heure ! Toute
ma vie, j'avais tremblé devant le néant ; et je le voulais, je le réclamais, jamais il ne serait assez noir. Quel enfantillage que de redouter ce sommeil sans rêve, cette éternité de silence et de ténèbres ! La mort n'était bonne que parce qu'elle supprimait l'être d'un coup, pour toujours. Oh ! dormir comme les pierres, rentrer dans l'argile, n'être plus !”

[Romain · Rating 5 out of 5]

« Je frisonnais parfois, lorsque je trouvais dans un journal une date future du siècle prochain : je ne vivrais certainement plus à cette date, et cette année d'un avenir que je ne verrai pas, où je ne serais pas, m'emplissait d'angoisse. »

[Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

« Jusque-là, j’avais résisté au vertige, aux souffles de rage qui montaient par instant en moi, comme une fumée d’ivresse. »

[Leniwa Wenus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would you live your life differently if you knew you were going to die soon? And how would you live your life if you had a chance to “undie”? Zola says “like an ordinary person”.

[Beata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smutna i niepokojąca opowieść. Podobno obrazuje lęki bardzo powszechne w czasach, kiedy powstała. Podobała mi się.

[Dominik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jakiej odpowiedzi udzieliłbym, gdyby postawiono mi pytanie o francuskich mistrzów krótkich form? Kogo wskazałbym bez chwili zawahania? Obok de Maupassanta od dziś także Emila Zolę. Podejrzewam, że tego drugiego mógłbym zaliczyć także do grona bardzo zdolnych pisarzy!? Co zamierzam? Po prostu przekonać się o tym.

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

In: Four Short Stories By Emile Zola:
NANA
THE MILLER'S DAUGHTER
CAPTAIN BURLE
THE DEATH OF OLIVIER BECAILLE

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Eu, porém, caminhava sem nada ver em meio às ruínas. Eu tinha minhas ruínas, eu tinha meus mortos, e eles me esmagavam (...) A única coisa que me resta são eles, essa imagem pavorosa, essas duas belas crianças infladas pela água, desfiguradas, que ainda conservam em seus rostos lívidos o heroísmo de sua ternura. Olho para eles e choro."

Que surpresa fantástica foi iniciar Émile Zola esse ano! A primeira história desta obra, "A morte de Oliver Bécaille", já havia sido muito boa, com reflexões que tragam o leitor para a mente do personagem, entre seu desespero sobre a morte e o horror da sua não-existência após o minuto final, em contraste com a súplica pela sua chegada, ao se deparar com uma situação da qual será quase impossível escapar.

"Nantas", a segunda história, por outro lado, apesar de oferecer uma leitura fluida e um personagem que é quase uma contraparte de seu antecessor no que diz respeito à maneira como encara a morte, não me foi tão tentadora. Os capítulos transcorreram sem nenhum empecilho, sendo lidos de uma vez só, mas, apesar dessa facilidade, não houve nada de tocante, não me despertou nenhuma emoção além do normal. O final foi, até mesmo, um tanto decepcionante.

Agora, ao meu ver, o grande presente que existe nesta obra é sua última história, "A inundação". Onírica na maneira como os fatos se desenrolam, ela é paradoxalmente real. Durante todo o tempo, fiquei me perguntando se é daquela maneira que as pessoas vítimas de desastres naturais, principalmente nas proporções da inundação descrita nesta história, se sentem ao olharem ao redor e se depararem com a iminência daquela destruição, com a vida de todos por um fio: sem o mínimo de controle, sem a menor escapatória, sem saber se existirá, após tudo isso, uma verdadeira salvação. O final é de partir o coração em mil pedaços.

[Mayumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Três histórias sobre morte, todas diferentes. Na primeira, eu achei que ia ser uma coisa achei que ele tinha morrido mesmo, e era o fantasma (?) dele que estava contando a história e no final foi outra ele estava catatônico, mas acharam que ele estava morto, daí ele escutou toda a preparação do enterro, foi enterrado vivo e conseguiu sair do caixão. No fim das contas, ele viu que a vida da esposa poderia estar melhor do que com ele, então resolveu não voltar pra ela. Surpreendente demais, desesperador demais. Na segunda, a morte era desejada. Um dramalhão que eu não gostei tanto. A terceira foi uma grande tragédia. A morte pairou o protagonista durante toda a inundação do título, chegando exatamente como uma: primeiro como susto, aumentando em violência, passando por horrores sem sentido até chegar no amortecimento da aceitação.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Jednakże śmierć nie jest nicością zupełną, pomyślałem, skoro byłem w stanie słyszeć i rozumować. A tylko nicość przerażała mnie od dzieciństwa. Nie byłem nigdy w stanie wyobrazić sobie całkowite zniknięcie mego ja, kompletne unicestwienie tego, czem jestem, i to na zawsze, na wieki wieków, z wykluczeniem powtórnej kiedykolwiek egzystencji. Dreszcz mnie nieraz przebiegał, kiedym napotkał w jakiej gazecie jednę z dat przyszłych najbliższego stulecia i pomyślał: Nie będzie mnie już z pewnością podówczas przy życiu; a ów rok przyszłości, której nie obaczę, w której nie będę już istniał, ranił mnie w samo serce. Czemuż nie jestem światem całym! i czemu nie runie wszystko po mem odejściu!"

[Ebony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read this in a while so I was sure that this was a story about the thoughts of a dead man. Reading it without knowing the plot made it more enjoyable and thrilling/ creepy. I had been listening to the podcast LORE and the episode I was listening to covered the same creep subject so that enhanced my interest in the plot even more. The writing is great and I have been reading a lot by Zola. My favorite story is  Le Ventre de Paris (The Belly of Paris) or The Fat and the Thin.

[Jarjar · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Ça aurait pu être une nouvelle parfaite. D'autant plus qu'elle résonne beaucoup avec des pensées que j'ai pu penser par le passé ou des questions que je me pose encore. Mais le fait que le personnage principal parle de sa femme en utilisant le terme "enfant" euh Monsieur il faut consulter là 💀
Sinon, la quasi-totalité de la nouvelle peut servir de citation. C'est le premier Zola que je lis et je comprends pourquoi c'est un auteur incontournable.

[Gregory Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A review?

This is a story that is impossible to review without spoiling its twists. It begins as one type of story, suddenly shifts to something that one might compare to Poe, and then ends as something quite different. Being 40 pages it is a reasonably quick read and holds your your interest until the end. It's weird but also kind of wonderful.

[Medy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Was I not the whole world, and would not the universe
crumble away when I was no more?" (9)

"Death no longer frightens me, but it does not seem to
care for me now that I have no motive in living, and I sometimes
fear that I have been forgotten upon earth." (35)

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked this one.

[Juna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and chilling description, really enjoyed it. A little tough for a non-native speaker when read in the original.