In the first chapter of the book Thrse Raquin Zola creates a detailed description of the setting creating an atmosphere that is some what less then desirable We are instantly taken into the bleak dark narrow corridor that runs between the Rue Mazarine and the Rue de Seine Out of this sinister atmosphere that is created we are then introduced to mysterious characters that dwell in the the darkness that is at home in the middle of the day Zola creates a tight claustrophobic almost suffocating atm