ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Émile Zola

Emile Zola was a man who lived a long, long time ago in France. He was a very smart man who wrote stories and books that lots of people liked to read. When he was young, he was very poor and had to work hard to make money. But he loved writing so much that he kept doing it even when it was hard.

One of the most famous things about Emile Zola is something called "naturalism." That's when writers try to make their stories sound like real life as much as possible. It's kind of like when you play make-believe with your friends and you try to make it seem like you're really in a castle or on a pirate ship.

Emile Zola wrote a lot of books and stories about ordinary people in France. He wanted to show what their lives were really like, even if it wasn't always pretty. He wrote about things like poverty, crime, and unfairness. Some of his books were very popular, but others made people angry because they didn't want to think about those kinds of things.

Later in his life, Emile Zola got involved in something called the Dreyfus Affair. That was when a Jewish man was accused of spying for another country and a lot of people thought he was guilty just because of his religion. Emile Zola thought this was very wrong, and he wrote a newspaper article about it called "J'Accuse!" He said that the government and the army were being unfair and that they had made a big mistake. This made a lot of people angry too, but other people thought he was very brave for speaking out.

Emile Zola died a long time ago, but people still read his books and stories today. He is remembered as a writer who wanted to show people the truth about life, even if it wasn't always easy to hear.