VSA Victoria Shanghai Academy
International Baccalaureate DP
English A: Literature
Part One: Perfume
1
Contents
Page
Biography / Context
3
Plot Overview
7
Plot Summary
8
Close Reading
11
Characterisation
50
Themes and Motifs
54
Settings / Objects
58
Style
60
Important Quotations
64
Independent Study
66
Essays
68
Appendix
74
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Biography / Context
Regarded as one of the wunderkinds of German letters in the 1980s, Süskind debuted onto
the German stage with Der Kontrabaß (1981; The Double Bass) which became one of the
most popular German plays of the decade. He later achieved international popular and
critical acclaim for his first novel Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders (1985; Perfume:
The Story of a Murderer), a historical fable about a murderous perfume-maker with a keen
sense of smell, who oddly lacks any human odor himself. In his fiction, Süskind typically
explores the effects of obsessive behavior upon an individual's life. The dense allusiveness
and pastiche style that mark his narrative technique have yielded richly diverse
interpretations, including readings that variously study Perfume as a detective story,
bildungsroman, and picaresque novel. Although critics have often classified all of Süskind's
slender output as definitive contributions to the development of German literary
postmodernism, the majority of scholarship has focused on Perfume, which poses for some
scholars the dilemma of reconciling the novel's literary merits with its hugely popular
appeal.
Biographical Information
Born in 1949, Süskind was raised in Ambach, Germany, the eldest son of Wilhelm Emanuel
Süskind, a writer and journalist best known in Germany for his collection of essays on
language, Aus dem Worterbuch des Unmenschen. In 1968 Süskind entered the University of
Munich to study history. He later completed a master of arts degree at the University of Aixen-Provence, France, in 1974. While studying in the perfume-producing country of southern
France, Süskind traveled and gathered material for what eventually became the
novelPerfume. Meanwhile, in the fall of 1981, Süskind's play The Double Basspremiered,
establishing him as one of the most popular playwrights of German theatre. Originally
conceived as prose piece that was repeatedly rejected for publication, The Double
Bass eventually appeared in novella form in 1984. Around the same time, Süskind began
collaborating with Helmut Dietl on the hit German television series, Monaco Franze. In late
1984 the newspaperFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung contracted Süskind to serially publish
his first prose work, Perfume. Published in book form the following
year, Perfumeimmediately became a German best-seller and subsequently sold over six
million copies worldwide by 1991. Wary of his newfound celebrity, Süskind declined a fivethousand dollar prize for best first novel from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 1986,
vowing to never again accept awards for writing. That same year, Süskind resumed his
collaboration with Dietl by co-writing the script for another popular television series, Kir
Royal, which revolved around the adventures of a titular Munich gossip columnist. In 1987
Süskind published the novella Die Taube (The Pigeon) which, though critically well received,
failed to attain the popular success of Perfume. Süskind and Dietl reteamed again in 1996 to
write the screenplay for the film Rossini: oder die mörderische Frage, wer mit wem
schlief, which follows the careers of a variety of characters in the German film industry as
their lives intersect in a Munich restaurant.
Major Works
The principal focus of Süskind's works has been the motivations and behavior of the typical
outsider. The Double Bass is a serio-comic monologue that explores a double-bass player's
relationship to his instrument, illuminating the instrument's—and the player's—supporting
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role in the orchestra and in life. The double-bass is alternately characterized as feminine,
reliable, discriminated against, and simultaneously protesting and threatening revolution.
However, in the end, both the instrument and its player allow themselves to conform and
play their allotted secondary part. Set in urban Paris and the French countryside of the
1700s, Perfume is a study of the dynamics of scents and the sense of smell. The bizarre and
ironic tale focuses on an alienated antihero, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a despised outcast
orphan who lacks any bodily odor. He roams through eighteenth-century France murdering
beautiful young women in order to distill their bodily scents into a perfume that will make
him the most desirable and powerful man on Earth—not to mention nominally human. In
addition,Perfume also weaves a detailed discourse on historical perfume-making techniques
into its narrative, complete with sensuous descriptions of both pleasant and repellent odors
as a recurrent motif.
The novella The Pigeon focuses on a single day in the life of Jonathan Noel, a Parisian bank
guard, who has finally attained a measure of happiness after years of personal strife. Totally
satisfied with his job and the isolation he secures in his small apartment, Noel finds his
serenity abruptly interrupted when a pigeon lands on his doorstep and remains there for
the rest of the day. The event is so unnerving for Noel that he goes to sleep vowing to kill
himself in the morning. In Die Geschichte vom Herrn Sommer (1991; The Story of Mr.
Sommer), the narrator recalls his post-war childhood, framing his growing knowledge of the
adult world in terms of his frequent encounters with the eccentric Herr Sommer, who
spends his days frantically traversing the local environs by foot, barely saying a word to
anyone but always carrying his extraordinarily long walking stick. The novella concludes with
the death of the wandering misfit, which teaches the boy valuable life lessons about
responsibility, suffering, and distress that contrast with his comfortable, contented
existence as a child. In the first story comprising Three Stories and a Reflection (1996), a
young artist retreats from the world and eventually kills herself because critics labeled her
art as superficial. The second story involves a game of chess in Luxembourg Gardens
between a dashing young stranger and a perennial elderly champion. As the game
progresses, the confidence and foolhardiness of the youthful novice unexpectedly yields a
victory over the expertise of the seasoned veteran, stunning the audience and ultimately
persuading the old man to abandon playing chess. The longest piece of the collection, “Das
Vermächtnis des Maitre Mussard,” consists of the first-person deathbed writings of
Mussard, a historical figure mentioned in Jean-Jacque Rousseau's Confessions (1782-89),
who is suffering from the delusion that petrifaction is overtaking the world. In an
addendum, an anonymous narrator tells us that Massard died of a strange form of paralysis
and had to be buried in a right-angled hole. The final item of the collection, “Amnesie in
litteris,” is a reflection on books, with Süskind proclaiming that he has long since forgotten
every book that had once deeply stirred him.
Critical Reception
Highly regarded by German critics for his contributions to German literary postmodernism,
Süskind has also been recognized worldwide as one of the most popular German-language
writers since Erich Maria Remarque publishedAll Quiet on the Western Front in 1929.
Reviewers have acclaimed Perfume's masterful narrative and splendid evocation of
eighteenth-century France, while others have praised its detailed discourse on perfumemaking and the sensuality of its odiferous motif. Conversely, some have protested that
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segments of the novel seem contrived, objecting to the incongruity between its hero's own
lack of body odor and his highly developed olfactory nerves. Commentators have also noted
the novel's lack of secondary characters at the expense of developing an unsympathetic
protagonist, though most have generally conceded that Grenouille is portrayed as a
charismatic antihero. Such critics have also drawn parallels between Grenouille and Adolf
Hitler, echoing a perennial theme of contemporary German literature—Germany's Nazi
past. Acknowledging its pivotal role in the development of a new generation of German
writers, literary scholars have long recognized Perfume as a definitive example of German
literary postmodernism, particularly its pastiche of past literary and cinematic styles as well
as its intertextual play with numerous cultural and literary allusions. Subsequent scholarship
has yielded intertextual studies of Perfume in relation to such German narrative traditions
as the grotesque, the angst of existentialism, the vitality of the Ubermensch, the critique of
reason through folkloric myth, the romantic fascination with criminality, and the psychology
of aesthetic decadence and obsession. Others have conducted structural analyses of the
novel as a fairy tale, philosophical novel, and political allegory, while some have
deconstructed the significance and function of its textual allusions in relation to traditional
religious, philosophical, psychological, and societal structural models. In addition, critics
have also examined Perfume within the context of conventional ideas concerning the
relationship between authorship and the text, partly in reaction to Süskind's legendary
resistance to reveal literary influences and his alleged inability to recall other writers's works
he has read.
Literary Precedents
"In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and
abominable personages in an era . . ." runs the first line of Perfume in the translation of John
E. Woods. These words immediately remind the literate German reader of the opening of
another well-known tale: "Toward the middle of the sixteenth century, there lived . . . the
son of a schoolmaster, one of the most upright and at the same time one of the most
terrible men of his day.'r This is the translation by Martin Greenberg of the first line of the
novella Michael Kohlhaas, (1844; German, 1810) by Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811), a work
purporting similarly to deal with an historical personality, a lone figure larger than life who
confounds the social order of his time. Very reminiscent of Kohlhaas, the avenger who
refashions the world, is the scene of the God Grenouille creating his realm on the mountain
and directing the sun and the rains.
And further Kleistian touches abound. Amusingly characteristic of this author is Baldini's
premonition and the catastrophic consequences thereof. Fearing that there will be a
reckoning and he will have to pay the piper for having exploited Grenouille, the perfumer
resolves to attend church but fails to do so. That night a section of the bridge beneath
Baldini's house collapses into the Seine, and he and his wife disappear with their entire
business including the formulae for six hundred secret perfumes, all of which are never to
be seen again. Further, the formal style is sometimes reminiscent of Kleist, as is the
description of crowd scenes, particularly that of people gathering for Grenouille's execution.
The novel of the artist has its precedents in Cardillac, the Jeweler (1855; Das Fraulein von
Scuderi, 1819) by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), the story of an artist unable to part from
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his creations and compelled to murder to recover them until, like Grenouille, he is finally
discovered and apprehended. Tonio Kroger (1913-1915; German, 1903) by Thomas Mann
(1875-1955) is a novella which details the growing self-awareness of a sensitive, young
writer, who envies the normality of solid, middle-class people. The peculiar mixture of art
and criminality found in Perfume and Cardillac is similarly present in Mann'sFelix Krull (1955;
German 1954), an amusing, picaresque novel of the adventures of a confidence man.
And Siiskind borrows a number of familiar literary motifs. The return to civilization and
readaptation thereto after seven years in the wilds recalls the nineteenth-century legends
associated with Kaspar Hauser and other feral children. The man lacking an odor recalls a
classic of German romantic fiction about a fellow without a shadow in Peter Schlemihl's
Remarkable Story (1814;Peter Schlemihls zvundersame Geschichte, 1813) by Adalbert von
Chamisso (1781-1838). The absence of odor serves as a magic cape rendering its bearer
invisible by depriving man and beast of their olfactory facilities; the magic cape
or Tarnkappe is associated in German mythology with the dwarfs who inhabit the innermost
regions of the earth.
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Plot Overview - General
Perfume subtitled The Story of a Murder) is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a man with
a phenomenal sense of smell who lives in mid-eighteenth century France.
From the start, there is something sinister about Grenouille. The author calls him a tick and
a monster. Misfortune strikes those around him, and there is something chilling about his
presence, as though a draft comes into the room when he is around. Only Grenouille
realizes that this is a result of his complete lack of scent. He is too willful and ambitious to
let fear and censure keep him from his goals. In his mind, he knows that he is Grenouille the
Great and that one day he will rule the world through his unique ability.
During his childhood and well into his teens, Grenouille spends his time mentally cataloging
the thousands of different scents he comes across daily in Paris. He combines them to form
new smells, much as a composer might do with musical sounds. Grenouille is able to
“compose” all sorts of new aromas, leading to his success in the field of perfumes. His
success is not public, however; not only does he prefer to remain anonymous, but in
addition the perfumer for whom he works, Maître Baldini, takes all the credit for the
hundreds of perfumes Grenouille creates.
All the significant people in Grenouille’s life are greedy and take advantage of him: Madame
Gaillard, who ironically has no sense of smell; Grimal the tanner, who treats Grenouille
humanely only after he lives through a disease; Maître Baldini, who never trusts or respects
Grenouille despite the incredible riches and renown Grenouille brings him; the Marquis de
La Taillade-Espinasse, who uses Grenouille to fund exploration of his personal “scientific”
theories; and Druot, who is too busy making love to his former master’s widow to do his
share of labor in the perfumery.
None of this seems to bother Grenouille. He has his own agenda and is unaffected by
others’ greed; he never learned the difference between right and wrong and learned to be
greedy and selfish like those around him. From his youth, Grenouille learned that if he is
patient and compliant, things will come to him.
It is Grenouille’s sense of smell that determines his life. He is never fooled by appearances;
in fact, he rarely bothers to look at people or things. He does not fear the dark, and he does
not learn words that do not express things he can smell.
Grenouille is nearly thirty when he arrives in Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. He
has been living for seven years in a cave, reliving his olfactory memories. His ultimate plan is
clarified when he catches the scent of a young girl, a scent that he recognizes as beauty.
Realizing that it will be a few years before the scent fully develops, Grenouille works and
practices his techniques for scent extraction, first on inanimate objects, then on small
animals, and finally on young girls. He eventually manages to capture and bottle the
absolute essence of beauty, which he plans to use to rule the world. Grenouille discovers,
however, that there is no satisfaction in ruling people who do not even understand his
power. He realizes that his greatness will never be understood and decides to end his life.
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Plot Summary – Detail
Perfume is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a man born into eighteenth-century
France with a superhuman sense of smell, but with no personal odor of his own. He is
orphaned at birth, and grows up without love to become a cold and calculating
murderer. He is motivated in his crime by a desire to possess the scent of a young
woman named Laure Richis, which he intends to steal using the extraction methods he
has learned as a journeyman perfumer. From this girl's scent, he creates the most
powerful perfume in the world, which has the effect of making anyone who smells it
fall in love with the wearer. Grenouille uses the perfume to escape punishment for the
murders he has committed, even gaining forgiveness from Laure Richis' father. He is
not satisfied, however, for he still has no genuine scent of his own. In a bizarre
suicidal ending to the novel, Grenouille wanders into a camp of vagrants and douses
himself with his powerful scent. In a fit of passion, the vagrants attack and eat him.
Grenouille is born in a fish stall and left among the guts on the ground to die by his
mother. She is eventually executed for letting four previous children die, and
Grenouille is taken in by the church. The monk in charge of him has trouble finding a
wet nurse to feed him, however, because he is a ravenous eater and because he has no
smell. He is sent to live with a woman who takes in orphans, Madame Gaillard.
As Grenouille grows up under the harsh but fair hand of Gaillard, he realizes he has an
ability that nobody else has, which is a superhuman sense of smell. He is able to detect
the slightest odor from across the city, and can use scent the way others use vision to
perceive objects. Yet he has no individual scent of his own, something that makes him
practically invisible to others, who do not realize that they use their sense of smell to
detect the presence of other people.
Madame Gaillard sends Grenouille to work for a tanner named Grimal. He slaves
away for years for Grimal, doing the worst of chores, biding his time until an
opportunity comes along. He is gradually given more and more freedom by Grimal, which he
uses to explore the scents of the city. One night during a fireworks display,
he smells a scent so lovely that he is compelled to follow it. It comes from a young
woman who is sitting alone in a courtyard. Grenouille comes from behind her and
strangles her, taking in her scent as she dies. He creeps away and is not caught.
Opportunity turns up when he is asked to deliver a load of skins to Giuseppe Baldini, a
master perfumer. Grenouille maneuvers his way inside Baldini's workshop and talks
him into letting him create a perfume for him from the ingredients in his shop.
Grenouille has by this time memorized thousands of scents, and has a desire to create
new ones by learning the perfumer's art. Baldini is skeptical, but indulges Grenouille.
Grenouille astounds Baldini by creating a perfume that is overwhelmingly beautiful.
He takes Grenouille on as an assistant, and exploits his amazing ability to become a
rich and famous perfumer. He teaches Grenouille what he can about extracting the
scent from natural materials, but Grenouille wants to learn more. Baldini eventually
grants Grenouille his journeyman perfumer papers and lets him go, provided he never
8
tell that he was the secret of Baldini's success.
Grenouille sets out for Grasse, the center of the scent-making trade, to learn more
about the craft. Once outside the city, however, he begins to avoid the smell of
humans, and eventually finds himself on a desolate mountaintop with no trace of
human scent. Here he becomes a hermit, living in a dark cave for seven years, during
which time he lives in his imagination populated by all the smells he has ever
encountered. The most wonderful of these is the scent of the young girl he murdered.
Then suddenly he has the realization for the first time that he himself has no smell. He
panics and leaves the cave. He decides he must create a scent for himself and makes
off toward Grasse. On his way, he is taken in by a nobleman, Taillade-Espinasse, who
rehabilitates Grenouille and gives him some money. He steals away from
Taillade-Espinasse and makes his way to Grasse.
Arriving in Grasse, Grenouille once again encounters a smell like the one of the girl he
murdered in Paris. He follows the scent to the mansion of a scent wholesaler named Richis.
It is Richis's daughter that Grenouille can smell, and he begins to devise a plan
to possess her scent for himself. He takes a job in a perfumer's workshop and begins to
learn more about the methods of extracting scent from things. He begins to experiment
with robbing the scent of living beings such as small animals. After some success, he
begins to carry out his plan.
The town becomes terrified as several young girls turn up murdered, naked, and with
their hair cut off. The killer cannot be found. It is Grenouille killing the girls. He
wraps them in oil-soaked linen as they die and extracts their scent. This scent he
concentrates into an intense oil he keeps hidden in small bottles in his cabin. The town
of Grasse is desperate to stop the killings. One day the killings just stop. After six
months, they have largely forgotten about them.
There is one person who has not forgotten the murders, however, and that is Richis.
He has decided that he has some insight to the motive of the killer and believes,
correctly, that his own daughter is the ultimate target. He packs up his household and
pretends to leave for the town of Grenoble. On the way, he and his daughter break
away and head toward the sea. He intends to have her married to the son of a baron
right away. Once she has lost her virginity, he reasons, the killer will no longer desire
her.
Grenouille is able to track them with his nose, however. While they are stopped at an
inn, he climbs into Laure's window and kills her, taking her scent as he has done with
the other girls. He gets away and returns to Grasse.
He is soon caught, as he had been seen at the inn. He confesses to the murders and is
sentenced to be executed. On the day of the executions, however, he steps out of the
carriage that is carrying him to the scaffold, wearing the ultimate perfume that he has
created from the scents of his murder victims. At once the crowd is convinced that he
must be innocent. The scent makes them feel they are in love with him, and that he
must be set free. Even Richis falls into tears, begging Grenouille to forgive him.
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Meanwhile, the amassed crowd descend into a gigantic sexual orgy.
Grenouille passes out. He is overcome once again by the panic that he has no scent of
his own. He wakes up in Richis's mansion, in Laure's very bed. Richis asks him to be
his adopted son, he loves him so much. Grenouille agrees, but as soon as possible he
leaves the mansion and sets of out of Grasse toward Paris, with a bottle of his ultimate
perfume.
He is going to Paris to die. He can make people love him with his perfume, but it will only
ever be a hollow love because he has no scent of his own. He enters Paris and goes back to
the neighborhood where he was born, near a foul-smelling cemetery. There, a group of
vagrants have built a small fire and are gathered around it. Grenouille steps into the circle of
vagrants and douses himself with the ultimate perfume. The vagrants are overcome with
love and desire for Grenouille, to the point that they attack and eat him.
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Close Reading
Chapter 1
Plot Summary
This chapter begins with a summary of the setting of the novel, describing in detail the
smells of Paris and the time period. Following this description Grenouille’s mother, who is a
fishmonger, is giving birth to her son, Grenouille, whilst at work. She squats down beneath
the table and gives birth to her son, Grenouille. Not wishing to keep the child, she hides him
among the fish guts, hoping that he will be thrown away at the end of the day with guts.
However, Grenouille cries out and brings attention to himself. The crowd turns Grenouille’s
mother into the police, where she is tried and found guilty of multiple infanticide and killed.
Grenouille is given to a policemen, who decides to hand the baby over to the Church so that
Grenouille could be baptized.
Literary Features
This chapter focuses mainly on two aspects: introducing both the setting and plot.
Firstly it introduces the setting of not only the city of Paris, but the time period in general.
The narrator specifically explains the smells present in Paris at the time in a very detailed
manner. From this description of smells we can infer a great deal about the time period, and
are therefore introduced to the setting of the novel. Furthermore we, as the reader, are
introduced to Grenouille, the protagonist, through the description of his birth. These
important details about his birth will help the reader later on in establishing the character of
Grenouille.
Literary Devices
This is a fairly brief chapter and really only contains a description of Grenouille’s
birth and where it took place, however this does not mean that there are no literary devices
within this chapter; there is foreshadowing within this chapter. After Grenouille’s birth his
mother faints due to the, “unbearable, numbing something.” (5) which is the heat and the
smell of the day. However the author continues the passage with, “like a field of lilies or a
small room filled with too many daffodils.” (5) This suggests that very pleasant smells, such
as the lilies and daffodils, can cause numbing and change a person’s behavior. This is
foreshadowing Grenouille’s execution date when his perfume of the twenty five virgin girls,
an amazing smell, numbs the audience into a mass orgy.
Key Quotation
“And then, unexpectedly, the infant under the gutting table begins to squall. They
have a look, and beneath a swarm of flies and amid the offal and fish heads they discover
the newborn child.” (Süskind, 6)
This passage is important because it shows Grenouille’s initial will to live and to
survive. Furthermore it shows how Grenouille is completely self-absorbed and only cares for
himself, not thinking about other. Although he would not consciously know this at this time,
by crying out he is saving himself at the expense of his mother. This is a characteristic which
Grenouille shows throughout the novel, such as when Druot is blamed and killed for the
crimes which Grenouille committed.
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Vocabulary
abominable (p 1, par1) - adj. causing moral revulsion, very unpleasant.
succinctly (p 1, par 1) - adv. briefly and clearly expressed.
tumult (p 5, par 2) - noun. a loud, confused noise, often caused by a large mass of
people.
ecclesiastical (p 7, par1) adj. of or relating to the Christian Church or its clergy.
eleemosynary (p 7, par 1) adj. of, relating to, or dependent on charity.
Chapter 2
Summary
The second chapter commences with the introduction of Grenouille’s wet nurse,
Jeanne Bussie “at the gates of the cloister of Saint Marie”, waiting for the auspicious priest,
Father Terrier. Despite being tasked with the care of an infant, she finds Grenouille’s
ravenous and scentless nature unnerving. Desperate to be rid of Grenouille, she demands
that he be removed from her care. Father Terrier, unable to see an issue with the babe in
the basket, offers Bussie a raise for her troubles. Uncompromised by incentives to retain
Grenouille, Bussie attributes his lack of scent to satanic possession. Doubting this analysis,
Father Terrier accepts to take Grenouille from Jeanne and deliver him to a new wet nurse.
Significant Literary Features
-Setting: the debate over the custody of Grenouille in a religious establishment dedicated to
aiding needy children is tantamount to Grenouille’s abandonment. His rejection in this sort
of environment illustrates the degree to which Grenouille is rejected from established
society and social norms.
Literary Devices
-Foreshadowing: The ravenous parasitic hunger that Grenouille pertains to his wet nurse is
similar to the desire for scent that consumes him later in the novel. This hunger, combined
with his lack of scent, contribute to his second abandonment by his wet nurse and
furthering his alienation from established society.
-Metaphor:
Caramel: Jeanne Bussie’s assertion that most children smell like caramel is representative of
the perceived innocent nature of children. Grenouille’s lack of wholesome scent is parallel
to his corrupted personality.
Significant Quotation
“Because he’s stuffed himself on me. Because he’s pumped me dry to the bones. But I’ve
put a stop to that. Now you can feed him yourselves with goat’s milk, with pap, with beet
juice. He’ll gobble up anything, that bastard will”
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p.11
This passage is significant to this particular chapter for it introduces the reader into the basic
machinations of Grenouille’s personality and goals. Baby Grenouille’s tenancy to consume
the resources of others with ravenous hunger foreshadows the parasitic way he absorbs the
experience and scents that only other humans may provide.
Vocabulary
cloister - noun. a covered walk in a convent, monastery, college, or cathedral, typically
with a wall on one side and a colonnade open to a quadrangle on the other.
Chapter 3
Summary
This chapter takes place after Father Terrier receives Grenouille from the wet nurse,
Jeanne Bussie her claiming that the baby is possessed by the devil. The chapter opens with
some back story on Father Terrier; his hobbies, education, and his thought on superstitions
of the uneducated, related to the wet nurse’s claims about Grenouille. Father Terrier puts
baby Grenouille to bed as he thinks about what was said about Grenouille, and becomes
curious. He smells Grenouille, and finds that he indeed has no scent, and is surprised by this.
However Father Terrier dismisses this, as all children have not scent, they do not develop
one until they reach puberty.
Father Terrier watches over Grenouille as he sleeps, and begins to feel that he could
almost be the father of this child he is watching. At this moment, Father Terrier watches
Grenouille wake up. When Grenouille wakes up, he takes a deep sniff and everything
changes. Father Terrier feels that Grenouille is identifying him by sent, learning everything
about him this way. He feels exposed, and no longer looks at Grenouille with feelings of
love. Father Terrier no thinks of him as a creature, no longer human. Then, Grenouille
begins to cry loudly, and Father Terrier becomes scared. He now believes that Grenouille is
possessed, and has to get him as far away as possible. He then runs as fast as he can to
Madame Gaillard’s, and hands over Grenouille along with payment, all while Grenouille is
still crying. Father Terrier then returns home at the end of the chapter, relieved to be ridded
of Grenouille for good.
Literary Features
Character: The personality of Father Terrier is a kind, fatherly, existence, the sort
that could be the father figure for many an orphaned children. Although he has no
emotional attachment to most of the children that receive monetary aid from the church,
Grenouille is the first (mentioned) child that Terrier develops a personal relationship with.
Terrier is initially fond of Grenouille, but once he discovers Grenouille's nature as a parasitic
scent-monger, he cannot stand the presence of the child. This reaction is not intended for
the reader to sympathize with Terrier, but to introduce the reader to the societal attitude
towards Grenouille. If a man of the cloth, who by his oaths and nature, is supposed to love
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all, what must be the nature of this child to garner so much contempt? Such is the character
of Grenouille, the abandoned outcast who seeks self-satisfaction no matter the cost to
others.
Literary Devices
Metaphor: The character of Terrier is not a character whom the reader should
sympathize with, per se, but he exists as a metaphorical representation of the societal
perception and attitude towards Grenouille. The rejection by an outwardly generous (if
somewhat exhausted) priest shows the degree to which Grenouille is shunned by his
contemporaries.
Key Quotation
“ He felt naked and ugly, as if someone were gaping at him while revealing nothing
of himself. The child seemed to be smelling right through his skin, into his innards. His most
tender emotions, his filthiest thoughts lay exposed to that greedy little nose....” p.17
The significance of this passage is illustrated in the fact that this represents the
turning point in Father Terrier's opinion of Grenouille. Whilst Grenouille was a sleeping
babe, Terrier considered him adorable. Yet once Grenouille awoke and revealed his scentfueled nature to Terrier, Terrier becomes consumed by a primordial terror, the likes of
which he had not the misfortune to experience. His fear and hatred of Grenouille are the
key factors in Terrier's decision to send Grenouille as far away as possible to Madame
Gaillard's, ironically prolonging his life.
Vocabulary
Gullet p.18
-oesophagus, throat cavity.
Chapter 4
Plot Summary
This chapter is all about Grenouille’s time with Madame Gaillard. Grenouille is sent
to Madame Gaillard’s by Father Terrier, and this is where he spends his childhood. The
chapter beings with a history of Madame Gaillard; how she lacks emotion due to abuse from
her father, and how that has resulted in a very strict environment for the children that she
raises. The narrator continues to describe the characteristics of Grenouille as a child; how
the children fear him because he is different, and because they get a chilling sense when
around them. This results in multiple attempts made by the children to murder Grenouille,
however they are not successful since they will not physically touch him. Grenouille explores
his surroundings, gaining lots of different smells which he classifies in his head. Madame
Galliard starts to get nervous about him because she believes that he has supernatural
powers because he can do strange things with his sense of smell such as smelling money
through the wall or a person approaching. This leads her to want to get rid of Grenouille,
and when the Church stops paying for his care this provides the perfect excuse, so she sells
him to a tanner.
Literary Features
14
Setting: The weathered and seasoned foster home of Madame Gaillard is an
environment in which only a parasite like Grenouille could live in harmony, even thrive.
Here, Grenouille displays his tick-like tenancies by biding his time in an area full of life and
activity, making himself inconspicuous until his opportune time to strike.
Literary Devices
Metaphor: This chapter contains one of the first references to Grenouille being ticklike. His parasitic tendencies are referenced in full detail near the end of the chapter as he
bides his time in the foster home, like a tick waiting to sniff out a perfect host. The reliance
on scent is a parallel between Grenouille and the bloodsuckers, as the example given by the
author details a very clear preference for scent in both creatures.
Key Quotation
“For his soul he required nothing. Security, attention, tenderness, love - or whatever
all those things are called that children are said to require - were totally dispensable for the
young Grenouille. Or rather, so it seems to us, he had totally dispensed with them just to go
on living - from the very start.” (Süskind, 20-21)
This passage is important because it shows how Grenouille is more of a creature
than he is a human being. As the passage explains, Grenouille lacks the requirements of
attention and love that a normal person would need. Instead of this he is able to thrive off
of barely nothing at all so that he could survive his harsh birth. This likens him to a creature,
which is prevalent throughout the novel.
Vocabulary
annuity (p 20, par 1) noun. a fixed sum of money paid to someone each year,
typically for the rest of their life.
modicum (p 21, par 1) noun. a small quantity of a particular thing, especially
something considered desirable or valuable.
Chapter 5:
Growing up
Talks, walks
First word: wood
Leaves Madame Galliard’s because she’s creeped out – money excuse
-Madame dies many years later the way she didn’t want to (same way as husband)
Chapter 6:
Goes to work for Grimal (tanner)
Tough work
Survived anthrax so became more valuable as a tanner
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Chapter 7:
Explored Paris & smell gained momentum
Learned to categorize smells and understand his nose
First encounter with perfume realizes that many scents put together to make up one
Chapter 8:
Anniversary of king’s coronation
Went to smell fireworks; disappointed at sulphur smell (nothing new)
Smells something faint that wonderful and follows it
Turns out to be a red-headed girl
Suffocates her and strips her down and smells her; takes her smell in his memory
Makes decision to become “the greatest perfumer of all time” (p 44)
Literary Features:
Character:
Madame Galliard






closest to Grenouille in the sense of lacking emotion
couldn’t feel what Grenouille didn’t have (smell)
despite this, she was creeped out by Grenouille because of his ability to “see through
walls” and that he would do things other children would never do, i.e. going into
dark places
planned out entire life (to die with dignity) and this was taken from her
first character the reader sees follow through to her death
only character to die of natural causes
(tick analogy – quality of life decreases over time)
Grimal



“a man capable of thrashing him to death for the least infraction”
We can see that he was a man not to be messed with
Softened up to Grenouille because Grenouille became extraordinarily valuable to
him as he became immune to anthrax
Grenouille


Large character development (in a sense puberty)
He learns how to use his talent of smell – categorizing and manipulating smells
16


He has his first murder – first time he smells such a smell
He is born for the first time - “it was as if he had been born a second time; no, not a
second time, the first time, for until now he had merely existed like an animal with a
most nebulous self-awareness” (p 43)
Setting:
The setting of Paris is really developed in these chapters. It is not developed through typical
imagery, however, but almost entirely through smell. Grenouille has an indifference to the
setting except for the smells. Once he got to explore Paris and the smells it contained, “it
was like living in utopia” (p 33).
Style/Imagery:
Süskind uses a unique style of writing in the use of diction to emphasize imagery. The
diction is extremely descriptive in the instances of describing smell, and often bland in
describing everything else. Diction such as olfactory and odoriferous (p 43) is used to
attempt in creating an atypical imagery.
Key Passage
“That night, his closet seemed to him a palace, and his plank bed a four-poster. Never
before in his life had he know what happiness was. He knew at most some very rare states
of numbered contentment. But now he was quivering with a happiness and could not sleep
for pure bliss. It was as if he had been born a second time; no, not a second time, the first
time, for until now he had merely existed like an animal with a most nebulous selfawareness. But after today, he felt as if he finally knew who he really was: nothing less than
a genius. And that meaning and goal and purpose of his life had a higher destiny: nothing
less than to revolutionize the odoriferous world. And that he alone in all the world
possessed the means to carry it off: namely, his exquisite nose, his phenomenal memory,
and most important, the master scent taken from the girl in the rue des Marais…It was clear
to him now why he had clung to life so tenaciously, so savagely. He must become a creator
of scents. And not just an average one. But, rather, the greatest perfumer of all time.” (p4344)
This passage shows Grenouille experiencing an epiphany. He goes from being an animal
looking only for survival to a master of the scents. It also shows Grenouille’s lack or
materialism and his reasons for happiness. This is the first time Grenouille recognizes
himself or really reflects upon himself. It also shows the development and reason for his lifegoal: to become the best perfumer of all time. We see this goal as essentially the only goal
that Grenouille has throughout the entire novel, thus this excerpt is vital. All in all this
provides a major base for Grenouille’s character and illustrates the reason of Grenouille’s
narcissism.
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Unknown Words:
Pelargonium (23) - any plant of the genus Pelargonium, the cultivated species of which are
usually called geranium.
Jacqueslorreur (23) - Art - community of artists and those devoted to art.
Olfactory (25) - of or pertaining to the sense of smell: olfactory organs.
Autodidact: (26) a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher
or formal education; a self-taught person.
Wunderkind (26) - a wonder child or child prodigy.
Coolies (28) - an unskilled laborer employed cheaply, esp. one brought from Asia.
Contumacy (30) - stubborn perverseness or rebelliousness; willful and obstinate
resistance or disobedience to authority.
Neroli (36) - An essential oil obtained by distillation from the flowers of the orange. It
has a strong odor, and is used in perfumery, etc.
Nebulous (43) - hazy, vague, indistinct, or confused, cloudy or cloudlike.
Literary Devices:
Foreshadowing:
How Madame Gaillard had “lost for good all sense of smell and every of human warmth and
human cold ness- indeed, every human passion” (Suskind, 19). The character of Madame
Gaillard is the closest resemblance to the character of Grenouille. This foreshadows the
extended life that Madame Gaillard would live, as she was the only character in the novel
that wanted to die, and the point of her life was to die with dignity. Additionally, her
extended life is also foreshowing the extent in which Madame Gaillard would be affected, as
every person Grenouille came into contact with died a relatively short time after they
depart. However as Madame Gaillard was so similar to Grenouille, this process took a
longer time to take affect, but did eventually lead to her eventual demise, resulting in death.
Chapter 9
Plot
This chapter introduces us to the character of Baldini, one of the oldest and most successful
perfumers in Paris. His success, however, has long since dried up, as he in his seniority is
having difficulty smelling the perfumes that he creates. The narrative describes the
thousands of smells and perfumes stored in his shop in the bridge named “Pont-auChange”, and sets the atmosphere for Baldini’s perfumery.
18
Literary Features
The primary literary feature being focused on in this particular chapter is the atmosphere,
divided into environment and mood, of Baldini’s perfumery. The author combines the real
and the surreal in a fashion that indicates the state of financial disrepair that the shop is
unfortunately in. With supplies stored everywhere, and a thousand scents co-mingling, the
stage is set perfectly for Grenouille to enter, and being to craft his first perfumes.
Literary Devices
“Baldini had thousands of them. His stock ranged from essences absolues-floral oils,
tinctures, extracts, secretions, balms, resins, and other drugs in dry liquid or waxy
from-through diverse pomades, pastes, powders, soaps, creams, sachets,
bandolines, brilliantines, moustache waxes, wart removers, and beauty spots….”
Page 46
This pattern continues for half a page, listing off the perfume reagents held in
Baldini’s perfumery. Such repetition causes imagery- but it does so by demonstrating
how crowded the environment of Baldini’s shop is, as by the time the reader has
finished reading the enormous list, chances are they’ll have already forgotten the
majority of the items listed.

“The blend of odors was almost unbearable, as if each musician in a thousandmember orchestra were playing a different melody at fortissimo.” Page 47
The use of simile compares the sense of smell to that of sound, in order to better
portray the agony that somebody subject to so many odors at once might feel.
Quote
“Behind the counter of light boxwood, however, stood Baldinin himself, old and stiff as a
pillar, in a silver-powdered wig and a blue coat adorned with gold frogs.” Page 45
Interesting to note is the adorning of gold frogs on Baldini’s jacket. Frogs are not
representative of perfume, so it is odd that he would wear such symbols, unless the author
is subtly hinting at his future involvement with Grenouille. Because gold is the colour of
wealth, and Grenouille brought no end to riches for Baldini, it is quite possible that this is
symbolic of their symbiotic relationship.
Vocabulary
Bandoline – “–noun
19
a mucilaginous preparation made from quince seeds and used for smoothing,
glossing, or waving the hair”
Brilliantine – –noun
“an oily preparation used to make the hair lustrous”
Fortissimo - –adjective
(a direction) very loud.
Chapter 10
Summary:
Throughout chapter 10 we find ourselves in Baldini’s perfumery where he and Chénier are
having a conversation. Baldini is on his way towards his study where he says he aims to
create a new perfume for Count Verhamont to impregnate the Spanish hides. The Count
would like the perfume to be similar to that of Pélissier’s perfume, Amor and Psyche. As
Baldini heads to his study, Chénier remains in the shop and he knew that within the next
few hours there would be no one who would enter the shop and there would be no new
and fabulous creation made in the study. Chénier also accounts Baldini’s routine in his
study, of sitting and waiting for inspiration that would never come.
Literary Features:


Character: We learn of Baldini’s inablility to create perfume showing that he portrays
a false image to others around him. His is in face not a very good perfumer which
becomes important when Grenouille is introduced into the situation.
Text structure: from pg. 48-49 the author has changed the structure of the
paragraphs from a typical dialogue to that of a script between Baldini and Chénier.
This is used as the situation that it presents, that of Baldini having to create a new
perfume and bound to not succeed, is an occurrence that appears often within the
shop and therefore this particular conversation is such a common occurrence that it
is to the point where it has become scripted.
Literary Devices:

Simile: “And with that, he shuffled away – not at all like a statue, bit but as befitted
his age, bent over, but so far that he looked almost as if he had been beaten – and
slowly climbed the stairs to his study on the second floor.”
This simile of comparing the way in which Baldini walks is like that of a beaten man
which is indicative of where he is in his perfumery business. He is beaten out by
others such as Pélissier and is incapable of overcoming it himself.
Important Quote:
“Baldini was no longer a great perfumer.” (50)
20
This quote is important as it leads to opening up the possibility for Grenouille to come into
employment from which he can later benefit.
Vocabulary:
Impregnate- to be filled, imbued, permeated or saturated
Bungler- one who acts or works clumsily or awkwardly
Tincture- a slight admixture
Veritable –being in fact the thing named and not false, unreal or imaginary
Furor- an angry or maniacal fit
Befitted- to be proper or becoming to
Acquiesce- to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively
Chapter 11
Plot
Baldini is trying to extract the recipe for Amor and Psyche from a sample that he had a
contact of his purchase for him. He recalls how his perfuming business was grand before the
arrival of radical pioneers such as Pelissier – whom he frequently notes had no formal
training. He also tells himself that Pelissier has no talent, and simply copies the great arts of
others. Near the end of the chapter, Baldini reveals how he hates how the water in the river
flows away from his house, symbolic of his riches eroding away.
Literary Features
Chapter 11 is almost entirely devoted to establishment of Baldini’s character. Here we are
shown his unfortunate circumstances, his devote religion (frequently referencing the
authority of God’s church and the grace of God), and his utter lack of skill in his trade now
that he is in his old age. Indeed, Baldini is painted as a hypocritical and almost weak
character to prepare him for his interaction with Grenouille.
Literary Devices
Symbol – “Here everything flowed away from you – the empty and the heavily laden ships,
the rowboats, and the flat-bottomed punts of the fishermen, the dirty brown and the
golden-curled water – everything flowed away, slowly, broadly, and inevitably.” Page 58
The river flowing away from Baldini’s house is representative of his fortune and reputation
as a great perfumer, which are also being gradually eroded from him. It may also be hinting
at the inevitable fate of his house plummeting into the water, as the supports are being
worn away by the tides.
21
Dialogue – “A perfumer was fifty percent alchemist who created miracles – that’s what
people wanted. Fine!” Page 51
The narrative ventures directly into Baldini’s mind. Instead of an omniscient narrator
describing him from the outside, we are placed directly in Baldini’s thoughts as he speaks to
himself. This creates a more intimate look at the character, and provides background on his
attitude that would otherwise be very difficult to do from a 3 rd person narrative given that
our character is solitary, without anybody else to speak to.
Quote
“What did people need with a new perfume every season? Was that necessary? The public
had been very content before with violet cologne and simply floral bouquets…” Page 53-54
This quote shows perfectly how Baldini can no longer keep with the times. He is frustrated
in his seniority that the public are no longer satisfied with his outdated perfumes and need a
new brand every month. This is also somewhat funny for the reader, as fashion trends are
such a common element of today’s society.
Vocabulary
Mountebank - noun
a person who sells quack medicines, as from a platform in public places, attracting and
influencing an audience by tricks, storytelling, etc.
Rodomontade - –noun
vainglorious boasting or bragging; pretentious, blustering talk.=
Perfidious - –adjective
deliberately faithless; treacherous; deceitful: a perfidious lover.
Chapter 12
Summary:
Throughout this chapter Baldini is in his study examining Pélissier’s Amor and Psyche in
attempt to recreate it or something close to it that will suffice in scenting the Spanish hides
for Count Verhamont. In attempt to determine all of the multiple different combinations of
scents in the perfume, Baldini uses a white handkerchief, holds his head far back, pinching
his nostrils together, and places a few drops of the perfume on the handkerchief allowing
the scent to run under his nose. He completes this over and over again to try and pick apart
each of the specific scents one by one. Baldini also states about the importance of a
perfume to smell good in all stages, its youth, maturity and old age.
22
Literary Features:

Narration: Throughout this chapter, the narration changes slightly by using ‘we’
instead of ‘he’ and therefore bringing the reader into the conversation. The point of
view also shifts away from that of and exterior narrator and towards a narration by
Baldini. These shifts are noted when it is stated, “We, Baldini, perfumer, shall catch
Pélissier, the vinegar man, at his tricks.” (62)
Literary Devises:

“He sprinkled a few drips onto the handkerchief, waved it in the air to drive off the
alcohol, and then held it to his nose. In three short, jerky tugs, he snatched up the
scent as if it were a powder, immediately blew it out again, fanned himself, took
another sniff in waltz time, and finally drew one long, deep breath, which he then
exhaled slowly with several pauses, as if letting it slide down a long, gently sloping
staircase.” (60)
Throughout this chapter, particularly in this quote however, Suskind has used a form
of listing out the manner in which Baldini is proceeding to analyse the perfume to
create great imagery. He integrates smaller devises such as the simile comparing the
scent to powder as well as in his reference to ‘waltz time’ to create depth to the
writing and make it interesting.
Important Quote:
“The second rule is: perfume lives in time; it has its youth, its maturity, and its old age. And
only if it gives off a scent equally pleasant at all three different stages of its life, can it be call
successful.” (62)
This quote is important as it demonstrates the different ages of perfumes and the necessity
for the scent to be maintained throughout the perfume’s years. This is presented later in the
novel with Laure and her need to develop in order to ensure that her scent was at its best
and was successful in maintaining its equally pleasant scent after years.
Vocabulary:
Flacon: a small usually ornamental bottle with a tight cap
Profiteer: one who makes what is considered an unreasonable profit especially on the sale
of essential goods during times of emergency
Olfactory: of or relating to the sense of smell
Efflorescent: the period or state of flowering
Unctuous: smooth or greasy in texture or appearance
Bombastic: marked by or given to bombast
23
Eulogies: a commendatory oration or writing especially in honour of one who is deceased
Hackneyed: lacking in freshness or originality
Civet: a think yellowish musky-odoured substance found in a sac near the anus of the civet
(animal)
Ostensibly: to all outward appearances
Chapter 13
In this chapter, Baldini attempts to create a perfume like Pelissiers’ Amor and Psyche
because a good customer of his requested for it. To save his slumping business, Baldini tries
to dissect the scent of Amor and Psyche. All day long, he smells the perfume until he is
unable to smell anything. Despite such effort, Baldini fails to figure out the ingredients of
the perfume. Therefore, he considers sending a person over to Pelissiers and get a original
Amor and Psyche for his own customer. Then, he suddenly comes to a conclusion that he
would sell his business to someone else when it is still in a firm state and before it is too
late. Baldini is satisfied with his decision and it lets him be in such delightful mood. Later,
someone who wishes become the world’s best perfumer visits him with goatskins to deliver;
Grenouille.
In this chapter, the author seems to develop the character of Baldini. Although once
he used to be considered one of the greatest perfumers in Paris, it is apparent that Baldini
lacks talents as a perfumer compared to other perfumers like Pelissiers. Although he is
properly trained since he was young, Baldini is unable to dissect the scent that Pelissiers,
who he considers as an improperly trained perfumer. Therefore, the author reveals Baldini’s
lack of talent as a great perfumer. As well, Baldini also seems to recognize his own
weakness. He therefore understands the fact that his business is slumping, and realizes that
he has no power to change anything. This shows the desperate situation that Baldini’s in,
and sets the stage for Grenouille, by reflecting Baldini’s need for Grenouille. Also, Baldini’s
strength/stubbornness is reflected in this chapter for Baldini’s decision to sell his business
instead of saving his business and his refusal to admit is incapability as a great perfumer.
As well, the author uses a foreshadowing technique to indicate his early future as a
successful businessman by gaining Grenouille. “It was flowing toward Baldini, a shimmering
flood of pure gold.”(65) Considering that gold is a valuable object, it seems to predict the
arrival of Grenouille because Grenouille is the main source of Baldini’s future wealth.
Some of the “new to you” vocabulary in this chapters are valise, sachets, jalousie,
serrating.
Chapter 14
24
In this chapter, Baldini lets Grenouille in the laboratory to allow him to deliver his
goat skins. After laying the goatskins on the desk, Grenouille stands in the laboratory
without leaving. Baldini wants him to leave then Grenouille asks him if he can become a
perfumer. Baldini first laughs at Grenouille’s demand, yet he is surprised with Grenouille’s
nose that is able to smell literally everything. Immediately, Grenouille tells him the
ingredients of the Amor and Psyche Baldini is unable to discover. Baldini seems to deny
admitting the fact that Grenouille is more talented than him as a perfumer, insisting that a
perfumer should be able to create new scents and provide exact formulas for scents. He
insists that the formula of scents is the most important thing in perfumery. However,
Grenoille suggests that he is able to produce a scent that is identical to the Amor and Psyche
without the use of formula. Then, Baldini takes a risk and decides to give Grenouille a
chance to show his ability. Therefore, Baldini gives an approval to Grenouille a chance to use
his laboratory.
This chapter is very significant in terms of the development of the plot because the
journey of tick-like Grenouille truly begins. Taking account the fact that Grenouille is finally
able to pursue his destined goal to make the world’s best perfume/scent only because of
the jouneyman’s paper Baldini provides, it can be considered that this chapter which clearly
shows the first interaction between Baldini and the protagonist is very significant as the
stage-setting chapter for the following plotlines.
Some of the “new to you” vocabulary in this chapters are storax, pipette, jeopardize,
superabundance, wunderkind, tincture, admonition.
Chapter 15
Grenouille begins to make a Amour and Psyche in an extremely unorthodox fashion which
creates anger and fear in Baldini. To Baldini Grenouille appears to be a child “despite his
scarred, pocket marked face and his bulbous old-man’s nose.”(Page 81). He sees Grenoille
as a child who would take over the world if he was not restrained. Furthermore Baldini
believes that he is going to teach Grenouille a lesson. Baldini is so caught up in personal
exasperation that when Grenouille caps the flacon and begins to shake it vigorously he
explodes in anger and begins to heavily insult Grenouille. As Baldini begins to rant on, the
air becomes saturated by the odour of Amour and Psyche. Balidini continues to rant but
loses the inner motivation to continue as such is the power of the odour. When he falls
silent Grenouille announces the perfume is finished and Balidini tests it. It is
indistinguishable form Amour and Psyche causing Baldini to enter a numbed state, but
Grenouille claims it is bad and says he can improve it. Grenouille adds to the mock Amour
and Psyche and corks the new scent. Grenouille asks Baldini if he wants to test the scent
but Baldini waves him off telling him to go and that he will test it later. Grenouille begs
Baldini if he can come work for him and Baldini responds with “I don’t know” (page 85) and
sends him off. When Baldini re-enters the shop he is filled with a scent so heavenly it fills
his eyes with tears and takes him on a nostalgic return to his youth. Baldini trims and scents
25
the leather and names the perfume Nuit Napolitaine. At supper he says nothing to his wife
and she nothing to him. He does not walk to Notre-Dame to “thank God for strength of
character” (page 86). For the first time ever, Baldini goes to sleep without saying his
evening prayers.
Significant literary features
Atmosphere: Slightly dark but occasionally full of Baldini’s exasperation then delight at the
realization that he has discovered a genius.
Setting:
Baldini’s workshop/house
Literary devices
Point of view: The Point of view shifts from Baldini’s to an omniscient narrator back to
Baldini
Significant Quotation
“The scent was so heavenly that tears welled into Baldini’s eyes.” (Page 85
New words
Megalomaniacal:
Demijohn:
A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies
of wealth, power, or omnipotence.
A large bottle having a short, narrow neck, and usually being encased in
wickerwork.
Chapter 16
Baldini goes to Grimal the next morning and invites him to the Tour d’Argent. Baldini claims
he needs unskilled labour and will purchase Grenouille for 20 livres, an enormous sum.
Grimal accepts and thinking he has got the best deal of his life gets “rip-roaring drunk” (Page
87) gets lost on his way home, falls in the river and dies. Meanwhile Grenouille goes to bed
in Baldini’s house, rolls himself into a ball like a tick and imagines within himself a gigantic
banquet of smell held in his honour.
Significant literary features
Atmosphere: Dark with the death of Grimal but mostly with the careless matter of fact
attitude of the entire novel.
Setting:
The streets of Paris, the river and Baldini’s house
Literary devices
Point of view: Omniscient narrator
26
Significant Quotation
As he fell off to sleep, he sank deeper and deeper into himself, leading the triumphant entry
into his innermost fortress, where he dreamed of an odoriferous victory banquet, a gigantic
orgy with clouds of incense and fogs of myrrh, held in his own honour” (Page 88)
New words
Odoriferous: yielding or diffusing an odour.
Summaries
Chapter 17 Summary
Baldini has just purchased Grenouille from Grimal, who only hours after Grenouille’s
departure died when walking home. Grenouille brings great success to the House of
Giuseppe, Chenier became mesmerized by the monies and success of the shop, with people
of all ranking’s coming to the House of Giuseppe. Baldini locked himself in the laboratory
with Grenouille, dumbfounded by his talents, however justified his actions to Chenier as a
theory he held “division of labor and increased productivity”. Where he proclaimed that no
longer would he stand back while “Pelissier and his ilk, made a shambles of his business” he
attributed the new success to his unskilled helper who would replace Chenier in the
laboratory so that he could tend to customers. Chenier was so overwhelmed by the success
that he seldom questioned it, only briefly attributing the creations to the new “awkward
gnome” and not Baldini. Baldini also overwhelmed by successes attempted to salvage his
pride and self-confidence, forcing Grenouille to record and use proper measurements in his
creations instead of the “chaotic and unprofessional way he was creating them”. This
satisfied his “thirst for rules and order” highlighted earlier in the novel, and gave Baldini an
authoritative position which he used to feel valued, and still superior to Grenouille.
Grenouille manipulatively uses this to his advantage, to encourage Baldini to think of him as
a student, and therefore ignore any suspicions he may have had. Grenouille than reveals
how although he “possesses the best nose in the world, both analytically and visionary” he
uses Baldini’s lessons in procedure to obtain the ability to make his “scents realities”.
Chapter 18 Summary
As an eager pupil, Grenouille was taught the language of perfumery and became
accustom to the many methods of products soaps, and essences. However what really
stirred his enthusiasm was Baldini’s distilling apparatus, which used a procedure captivating
“fire, water, steam, and a cunning apparatus to snatch the scented soul from matter”. The
soul is what proclaimed as the only thing keeping him interested in matter, the rest was
mere husk and ballast to be disposed of. Captivated by the new process, Grenouille ignored
everything but the apparatus and process. He imagines himself inside the apparatus as if he
were a new scent, and compares turning the world into “into a fragrant Garden of Eden”.
27
He then begins to think more long term on how he could use the process for “more
immediate goals”.
Chapter 19 Summary
Without the slightest contradiction to the expectations set upon Grenouille, he,
before long, "had become a specialist in the field of distillation."(P. 98) He found that his
abilities grew day by day and found his olfactory abilities more useful than the technical
teachings of Baldini. Through the use of Baldini's equipments, Grenouille began to distillate
everything that came to his mind that he pondered about its distilled odours. Grenouille,
though already with an immeasurable extent of ability, still benefited from "Baldini's rules
and regulations"(P. 98) as he learned of how some "could be distilled by the bunch"(P. 98)
while others "needed to be carefully culled, plucked, chopped, grated, crushed, or even
made into pulp."(P. 98) Baldini, after examining Grenouille's proficiency, allowed him to
freely experiment with the equipments at hand. Grenouille, with his warped, unique mind,
attempted to distillate the odour of glass, leather, and even "plain water, water from the
Sein, the distinctive odor of which seemed to him worth preserving." (P. 99) After
attempting to distillate myriad subtances, of which some contained no essential oils,
Grenouille became painfully sick and "when it finally became clear to him that he had failed,
he halted his experiments and fell mortally illl." (P. 100)
Chapter 20 Summary
"He came down with a high fever"(P. 100) which effectuated myriad symptoms on
his body such as pustules, blisters, crater-like pimples, and much more. This caused Baldini
to be gravely worried as Grenouille alone carried Baldini's future hope. With plans in his
head of "opening a branch in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, virtually a small factory," (P. 100)
and with greater plans such as working with "Holland, England, and Greater Germany," (P.
100, 101) Baldini felt that too much was at stake for Grenouille to fall down sick. Baldini
"decided to leave no stone unturned to save the precious life of his apprentice." (P. 102)
and called the most expensive doctor. It was found that Grenouille had "syphilitic smallpox
complicated by festering measles in stadio ultimo"(P. 102) Having been told that Grenouille
will die "within forty-eight hours"(P. 103) Baldini was in a state of melancholy. As he kept
watch of Grenouille himself, all the thoughts of the world passed in Baldini's mind "and then
all at once the lips of the dying boy opened," (P. 104) asking whether or not there were
ways other than pressing or distilling to extract scents. Mechanically, Baldini answered and
as the last answer to Grenouille's dying self, he gave him the direction of Grasse as a place
where the extraction could be done. Grenouille, finally happy to know, closed his eyes and
made Baldini think he was dead. "Grenouille was, however, anything but dead"(P. 105) and
he was well again within a week.
Literary Devices through Quotations
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Quotation on Page 94
"Grenouille learned to produce all such eaux and powders, toilet and beauty
preparations, plus teas and herbal blends, liqueurs, marinades, and such - in short, he
learned, with no particular interest but without complaint and with success, everything that
Baldini knew to teach him from his great store of traditional lore."
The literary devices that are apparent in this quotation are, though there exist more,
the length and the depth of the words that penetrate the readers' mind and create a large
imagery, though olfactory it may be. It can be noted throughout the novel that there is a
correlation between the length of the sentence and the depth of the olfactory sensation
that Grenouille is experiencing. Whenever Grenouille, or rather the narrator, describes the
sensation that Grenouille is experiencing through his nose, the sentence length seems to be
extensive while short to medium size sentences are used throughout the novel where there
are no exquisite sensations. In this quotation, the odours of powders, teas, herbal blends,
marinades and eaux are being noted and through these, Suskind allows the readers to
follow through the entire sentence as they imagine the odours. This correlation adds to the
literary features of this novel greatly and most specifically in this context, it allows for better
portrayal of Grenouille's greed in odours.
Quotation on Page 99
"He believed that with the help of an alembic he could rob these materials of their
characteristic odours, just as could be done with thyme, lavender, and caraway seeds."
In this quotation, one can appreciate the intricate foreshadowing of the events that
one can examine occur in Grasse, later in the novel. It is evident that this novel builds its
atmosphere and the mood up to the point where Grenouille, through murdering 25 girls,
acquire a master perfume that allows him to hold in his hand all the might and glory that
can be offered with a single drop. However, this situation can be noted in this quotation as
his belief that the characteristic odours can be robbed is analogous to Grenouille, robbing
the 25 girls of their scent. Similarly, the mentioning of thyme, lavender and caraway seeds
allow us to realize that these individual herbs are symbolic of the individual scents that the
murdered girls provide. Therefore, through carefully analyzing each sentences in this novel,
one is bound to find analogies of different instances in the novel and especially in this
quotation, one can gain an insight into the characteristic event near the end of this novel.
Quotation on Page 100
“Grenouille looked like some martyr stoned from the inside out.”
Author Patrick Suskind uses similes to compare Grenouille and other elements in the
novel to relatable entities, such as in the sentence on page 100 “Grenouille looked like some
29
martyr stoned from the inside out.”. While still staying relevant to both tone and formal
diction used throughout the novel, highlighted through the use of “martyr”.
Important Quote of Illness
“When it finally became clear to him that he had failed, he halted his experiments
and fell mortally."
It is evident, throughout the novel, that Grenouille's life is almost simply dependent
upon naught but his olfactory abilities. His life can be paraphrased into a single word, scent,
while his main purpose of living is to extract and smell all the odours in the entire world.
However, when, in page 99, Grenouille faces a halting point in which he cannot progress
toward his goal, he despairs and almost gives up on his hope. Furthermore, in examining the
fact that his mental hopelessness is transferred over to his physical health and grave
symptoms in his body, one can truly understand the life of Grenouille in a far greater insight.
This point where he despairs, which only come in instances where his life and its
relationship with scents are shaken, such as his discovery of his own lack of odour, adds to
the plot and the atmosphere greatly. His illness not only affects himself and his own ability
to achieving his dreams but Baldini's hope, which would be utterly destroyed if Grenouille
were to die. This point is, therefore, a crucial one in which Baldini's stance is shaken,
Grenouille's mental stability broken and the atmosphere greatly shifted.
Literary Features
Character: Baldini
Though seemingly a stern and pompous character who is seen to live only for
dignity, Baldini shows his humanistic character in these chapters, especially when Grenouille
falls ill. Firstly, the fact that he allows Grenouille alone in the laboratory allows the readers
to view the liberal side of Baldini and, to a certain extent, allows one to understand Baldini's
character. Furthermore, when Grenouille falls ill, although it is certainly clear that his
sadness is simply due to the potentiality of his goal being broken, Baldini becomes sickly
worried for Grenouille's health to the extent where he even swears that he would attach
undying fame to Grenouille's name if he were to recover. Furthermore, one can find more
descriptive words for his character such as ingenious, modern, piercing, careful, insightful
and much more. Due to these, one can undoubtedly term this character to be very dynamic.
Setting
Setting is an important literary aspect used in the novel as while, the main setting is Baldini’s
laboratory; it is the place that provides Grenouille with the methods necessary to carry –out
his murders and eventual creation later in the novel. Highlighting Grenouille’s astounding
olfactory skills, the laboratory also highlights the isolation in which Grenouille experiences,
as he is constricted to the lab, while in contrast also highlights how much time and energy
30
Grenouille put into his perfumery, as it was what he did from morning to night, and even in
his dreams.
Symbol: Baldini's stories
The novel is riddled with myriad symbols that allow one to examine different
interconnections between various parts of the novel. However, when one examines the
stories that Baldini tells Grenouille, one can examine an important symbolic connection that
truly explains Grenouille's character. Firstly, to examine this symbol, one must look at its
composition and it includes worldly things such as the War of the Spanish Succession, the
Camisards, Huguenot, cicadas, apprentice years in Genoa, the city of Grasse, golden cutlery,
and much more. However, it is noted that during Baldini's "enthusiastic storytelling ...
Grenouille ... who sat back more in the shadow, did not listen to him at all."(P. 97)
Grenouille, as one can easily examine, is only interested in the new distillation process. Ergo,
these stories are symbolic of worldly things that matter to most people that lived in that
era, the 18th century Europe. However, these external things are of little to no importance
for Grenouille as he is an isolated character who, alone, is interested only in his olfactory
experience and in experiencing different scents. This is also symbolic of how the superiors in
the French society did not care about the peasantry and the Third Estate's worldly concerns
as they went about ignoring the inferiors. Analogously, Grenouille is found to be a person
who despises and feels superior to other people around him. This hidden symbolic message
allows one to truly understand Grenouille's character and ultimately the theme of this
novel: conflicting societal status and the importance of scents.
Unknown Words
Forbearance
To forbear, or to abstain and hold back.
Parvenus
Nouveau riche, or a person who has recently or suddenly acquired wealth,
importance, position, or the like, but has not yet developed the conventionally
appropriate manners, dress, surroundings, etc.
Incipient
Beginning to exist or appear; in an initial stage: an incipient senility
Senility
The weakness or mental infirmity of old age.
Gnome
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An expert in monetary or financial affairs; international banker or financier: the
gnomes of Zurich.
Frankincense
An aromatic gum resin from various Asian and African trees of the genus
Boswellia, esp. B. carteri, used chiefly for burning as incense in religious or
ceremonial practices, in perfumery, and in pharmaceutical and fumigating
preparations.
Wainscoted
To line the walls of (a room, hallway, etc.) with or as if with woodwork: a room
wainscoted in oak.
Cadaverous
Of or like a corpse. OR pale; ghastly.
Clayey
Covered or smeared with clay.
Fecund
Producing or capable of producing offspring, fruit, vegetation, etc., in abundance;
prolific; fruitful: fecund parents; fecund farmland. OR very productive or creative
intellectually: the fecund years of the Italian Renaissance.
Pustules
A small elevation of the skin containing pus.
Cohorts
A companion or associate.
Damask
A reversible fabric of linen, silk, cotton, or wool, woven with patterns.
Throes
A sharp attack of emotion OR throes, a. any violent convulsion or struggle: the throes
of battle. b. the agony of death. c. the pains of childbirth.
Alembic
A vessel with a beaked cap or head, formerly used in distilling.
32
Chapter 21
Begins with Grenouille’s wishes to leave Paris and go to Grasse, in the south in order to
“learn the techniques the old man had told him about.” (p.105-6) It is then explained to the
reader that this would be impossible for Grenouille due to the fact that he was not
recognized by a birth certificate or any other document, and the only way he could hope to
travel on his own was to obtain journey man’s papers from Baldini, who would only provide
them on the basis of “Grenouille’s uncommon talents, his faultless behaviour from then on,
ad his, Baldini’s, own infinite kindness,” (p.106)
Three years after Grenouille learns of the skills he can pick up in Grasse, Baldini was
able to build a factory in Faubourg, Saint-Antoine, and has also reviced a royal patent for his
exclusive perfumes. It is established that Baldini, who is now at the age of 70 is among the
richest residences of Paris. Baldini feels as though he has achieved success, so he agrees to
let Grenouille go on the conditions that he would not reproduce or sell the perfumes he
created at Baldini’s shop, and he must never return to Paris for as long as Baldini was alive,
and further more, he was to keep the last two conditions a secret. Grenouille internally
scoffs at these ideas: “Not enter Paris again? What did he need Paris for! He knew it down
to its last stinking cranny, he took it with him wherever he went, he had owned Paris for
years now.” In addition to this, it is also revealed the Grenouille has no desire to profit from
his skill as a perfumer, nor did he want to compete with any other bourgeois perfumers. At
this, Baldini gives Grenouille supplies for his journey and sends him off.
Chapter 22
begins with Baldini watching Grenouille set out. Once Baldini loses sight of Grenouille, he is
overcome with a feeling of relief, and admits that he had never liked Grenouille at all
because of the discomfort he felt while Grenouille was around. Baldini then has some
internal discourse in which he ponders whether or not he will be punished by God for
getting involved with Grenouille in the first place. He is worried that he will be punished
because of the fact that he took credit and achieved success for the perfumes made by
Grenouille in his shop, but he then feels justified thinking that it is God who sent Grenouille
to him in the first place, and he is soothed by the fact that he feels other people have
cheated their whole lives long, rather than he, who had only done so for a matter of years.
Baldini is also pleased by the fact that he has 600 of Grenouille’s perfume formulas,
enough for him to return to wealth again within a year if he suddenly lost everything he had,
and decided that he would go to Notre-Dame for prayer later that day. However, his trip
was interrupted by the fact that England had declared War upon France, which may have
had implications on the shipments of perfume he was sending out. This causes Baldini to
come up with an idea to profit from this, by creating a fragrance called Prestige du Quebec,
that would make up for the business he would lack in England. However, this would never
come to be, as that night a “minor catastrophe” occurred, which sent Baldini’s two houses
on Pont-au-Change hurtling into the river below, killing him and his wife, who were the only
33
people inside of the house at that time. This is upsetting to Chenier because it results in him
not being able to inherit the perfume business from Baldini.
Chapter 23
Grenouille has decided to leave Paris after receiving his journeymen’s papers. He is traveling
towards Orleans, and it says in the novel he is able to relax as he could breathe freely, as he
did not have to worry about catching scents. Also as he traveled away from Paris he is able
to walk erect, like a normal person. Grenouille starts to be able to smell the humans in
Orleans and decides to avoid it, soon after he was not only avoiding cities but also villages.
After this he is unable to be in the company of a human as he cannot stand a human scent.
He has to travel by night, so he can avoid meeting a human. His nose becomes accustomed
to pure air, the more sensitive he became to human scent. Here we learn that his nose is
guiding him to a “magnetic pole of the greatest possible solitude.” (118)
Chapter 24
Begins with Grenouille reaching his magnetic pole; it is located in the Massif Central.
“Grenouille reached the mountain one August night in the year 1756. As dawn broke, he
was standing on the peak.” (119) Even now Grenouille did not know that his journey was at
end, he thought that his nose would guide him further until he turned in full circles atop of
the mountain smelling did he realise he was at his goal. However he was unable to trust
himself on top of the mountain and spent the rest of the day trying to find any signs of
humans in his vicinity. As the sun set he was able to let his mistrust disappear, and then he
realised he was truly alone. After this “he erupted with thundering jubilation.” (121) He
carried on celebrating like a madman late into the night.
Literary Features:


Setting: Chapters 21 and 22 take place in Paris, mostly in Baldini’s shop, and outside
of the shop, on Point-au-Change. The fact that the shop is on the bridge is important,
because it is in chapter 22 that the shop and the house next door also belonging to
Baldini plunges into the water after Grenouille’s departure, which continues the
string of misfortune that follows Grenouille and presents itself only after Grenouille
has left.
Characters: Grenouille and Baldini are the prominent characters present in chapters
21 and 22. We are able to learn quite a bit about these two characters in the
aforementioned chapters. We learn that Baldini sees himself as one with “infinite
kindness” that he believe worked to his disadvantaged because he was incapable of
denying others. This is ironic, because the rest of the time, Baldini is portrayed by
our narrator as a greedy man who is interested only in making money. He even says
that he provided Grenouille with “a little rucksack, a second shirt, two pairs of
stockings, a large sausage, a horse blanket, and twenty five francs.” Which was “far
more than he was obligated to do, considering that Grenouille had not paid a sol in
fees for the profound education he had received.” This is ironic, coming from Baldini,
since Grenouille is the one responsible for the vast wealth held by Baldini at the time
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


of his departure. It is also revealed to us that Grenouille has no desire to accumulate
wealth, and that having wealth is not his idea of success through the lines “But he
didn’t to at all. He did not in the least intend to go into competition with Baldini or
any other bourgeois perfumer. He was not out to make his fortune with his art; he
didn’t even want to live from it if he could find another way to make his living.”
(p.107)
Setting is very important in chapters 23 to 24 as Grenouille travels through the
countryside to the mountain, therefore it is important for the reader to be able to
envision the travels of Grenouille.
The only character mentioned in the two chapters is Grenouille. He knows that he is
looking for something but he does not know what he is looking, until he arrives to
the mountain.
When a description of the mountains is given on page 119 it gives the atmosphere
surrounding the mountain is frightening and deserted place without human
inhabitants.
Literary Devices:
 Metaphor:
1)“What did he need Paris for! He knew it down to its last stinking cranny, he
took it with him wherever he went, he had owned Paris for years now.” (p. 107)
Grenouille metaphorically owns Paris in the way that he has familiarized himself
with its scent.
2)“God himself, who sent this wizard into my house, to make up for the days of
humiliation by Pelissier and his cohorts.”(p.109) Baldini here compares
Grenouille to a wizard, because of his amazing ability to create perfumes.



Simile:
“He felt much as would a man of spotless character who does some
forbidden deed for the first time, who uses underhanded tricks when playing
a game.”(p.109) Here, Baldini compares himself to a man of formerly
“spotless character” who has done something immoral for the first time in
reference to his using Grenouille to gain his vast fortune.
Allusion (p.119) – an analogy is used to show the terror and horrors of the
Massif Central. Saying that even a bandit running from the law would not
hide in the mountain range.
Symbolism – the mountain range is a symbol for Grenouille’s solidity, and the
item he was looking for throughout his life.
Significant Quotation:
“He wanted to empty himself of his innermost being, of nothing less than his
innermost being, which he considered more wonderful than anything else the world
had to offer.”
35
This quote is important because it tells the reader what it is that Grenouille desires
at the moment of his leaving. When he says he wants to empty himself of his
innermost being, perhaps it is because Grenouille does not yet know himself, since
he knows his world by scent and has not yet come to the conclusion that he himself
lacks a scent. He wants to discover his innermost being, which to him, once again is
interpreted by scent only.
3) New Vocabulary:
Abhorrent – disgusted, loathsome, or horrid.
Gaudy – garnish, flashy
Proviso - making a condition, qualification or restriction
Chapter 25-28
Not submitted
Chapter 29-32
Not submitted
Chapter 33
Grenouille had thrilled Taillade with the perfumes he had created. Taillade in fact started
embracing Grenouille after he gave the new scents to him. He said he felt much younger,
and called Grenouille as his “fluidal brother”. Once Taillade presented his lecture about
fluidum vitale, every sceptic and critic was impressed as he presented the and civilized
Grenouille. It was in fact Grenouille’s scent that had impressed the audience, whom had
their hands wide open and wept. People gazed at him not only with amazement but with
sympathy and a milder eye. At the end, everyone cheered Taillade-Espinasse and his theory
of fluidum vitale, but Jean-Baptist believed that it was all for him and because of him.
Significant Literary Features:
Characterization: Grenouille in this chapter gives Taillade a perfume that he has created,
which lessens the pain in Taillade’s knees and the buzzing in his ears. Grenouille
manipulates not only Taillade with his scent to praise, embrace and pay him but the whole
crowd that observes Taillade’s lecture. This is perhaps the first time that Jean-Baptiste had
manipulated a crowd in his favour and he felt a great satisfaction and joy within himself. It is
true that Grenouille possesses emotions as he feels joy with the crowd’s amazement and
sympathy for him, nevertheless this joy just adds to his selfishness, as he believes that the
crowd is not cheering Taillade but him.
Significant quote: “And as his odour reached them, even the faces of the timorous,
frightened, and hypersensitive souls who had borne the sight of his former self with horror
36
and beheld his present state with due misgiving now showed traces of amity, indeed of
sympathy.”
The significance of this quote relies on the protagonist, Grenouille who manipulates the
people around him in order to have what he wants.
Chapter 34
Not submitted
Chapter 35
Grenouille’s second journey started but this time, he did not avoid cities, and busy roads. In
seven days, Jean-Baptiste arrived at Grasse where he wanted to learn about different
techniques of perfumery and wandered around the city, discovering the richness of the
scents. Among these scents, he found the most precious one, the scent of the young Laura
Richie who was only a child playing behind the walls of a garden. This is where Grenouille
decided to gain that scent for himself, the scent which he predicted to make Laura the most
beautiful woman or the most wanted woman in France. He was in fact so intoxicated by that
scent that he decided not to bother coming back there until he had broaden his knowledge
and techniques to have that scent.
Significant Literary Features:
Simile on page 166 introduces the town of Grass as the Rome of scents.
Characterization: Laura Richie is introduced in this chapter. To Grenouille Laura’s scent is
just like the scent of the red headed girl who he had murdered. Laura is described to have
white skin, green eyes, and freckles on her face, neck and breasts. However she is too young
for Grenouille to capture he scent and he in fact did not posses enough knowledge and skills
to extract the odour of humans therefore he decides to spend his time in Grasse examining
different techniques of perfumery and to return after.
Theme: “No, he wanted truly to possess the scent of this girl behind the wall; to peel it from
her like skin and to make her scent his own.” (pg 172)
It is man’s temptation to possess something that he/she does not own. Grenouille is indeed
intoxicated by the scent of Laura Richie and as a scent hunter, having Laura’s scent is a
major goal for him.
Significant quote: “People are stupid and use their noses only for blowing, but believe
absolutely anything they see with their eyes, they will say it is because this is a girl with
beauty, grace and charm.” (Pg. 171)
This quote emphasizes Grenouille’s point of view about people and their understanding of
the scents. He predicts an amazing future for Laura Richie and knows that it is due to the
37
scent that she emits. From Grenouille’s point of view we can understand that the sense of
sight is not worth as much as the sense of smelling, for scents represent who we are.
Chapter 36
Not submitted
Chapter 37-38
Not submitted
Chapter 39
In January, the widow Arnulfi married her first journeyman Dominique Druot who was thus
promoted to maitre gantier et parfumeur. Madame Arnulfi brought a new mattress for her
bed, which she now shared officially with Druot moreover she retained the fine old name of
Arnulfi and retained her fortune for her self as well as the management of finances and the
keys to the cellar. As Druot was busy fulfilling his sexual duties daily, Grenouille took care of
most of the work in return for the same small salary. It had been a year since Grenouille’s
arrival to Grasse that he once again caught a whiff of a desirable scent of the girl behind the
walls in the wind. He was ready fo the scent this time, knew more of less exactly what
awaited him...She was there and had survived the winter. Her scent had grown stronger just
as he had expected. Now that he was sure that the girl behind the wall at the Port Neuve
was alive, he decided to wait another year because her scent was not ripened yet.
He did not love another human being, certainly not the girl who lived in the house beyond
the wall. He loved her scent. He was delighted of the promise and loyalty he had given
himself about capturing the girl’s scent as he believed that in 12 months he would have a
scent of his own. He felt self-loved and wanted this feeling to accompany him to sleep.
However he suddenly was terrified about what if his beloved scent would vanish in the air
and he would end up creeping into the old cave and die. Later on he decided to wait
knowing that this drop of her scent would be his last. He laid back on his bed, cozy under
the blanket and thought of himself very heroic. He began questioning whether he is the
greatest perfumer in the world. He decided to design a diadem (crown) of scent which
intertwined with the other scents and yet ruling over them. He would make a perfume using
all the precepts of the art and the scent of the girl behind the wall would be the very soul of
it.
Chapter 40
In May, the naked body of a fifteen year old girl was found in a rose field, halfway between
Grasse and the hamlet of Opio east of town. She had been killed with a heavy blow to the
back of the head. She was too a girl of exquisite beauty. Her hair was cut off and was taken
with the murderer along with her clothes. People suspected the gypsies however no gypsies
were around at the time and they had last come through the area in December. Later on
38
Italian migrant workers were suspected but there weren’t Italians around either.
Consequently wig makers, Jews, monks of the Benedictine cloister, Cistercians, Freemasons
came under suspicion. Of course nothing definite could be proved because no one
witnessed the murderer. Afterwards two more murders plus the Sardinian washer-woman’s
death occurred.
People were outraged and reviled the authorities. Fires were set at both the Cabris mansion
and the Hopital de la Charite. A servant returning home one night was shot down by his own
master. All the victims were to be virgins, soft and pale-skinned and somewhat more full
bodied. As a result of this horror, powerful men of the town council decided to write an
abject petition begging the bishop to curse and excommunicate this monster. The results
were convincing because the murders had ceased. The town organized a torchlight
procession in honor of the bishop and celebrated a mass of thanksgiving. In consequence,
the tighter security measures were relaxed and the nighttime curfew for women was lifted
and not even the families involved with the murders spoke of it. But any man who still had a
daughter just approaching that special age did not allow her to be without supervision.
Chapter 41
Antoine Richis is the wealthiest person in Grasse. He is second consul. His goal is to marry
off his daughter to nobility. After he accomplishes this, he will try to find a love of his own.
He would like two sons, one to take over his business, and the other to pursue a law career.
His most prized possession is Laure, his daughter. She is his only child, just turning sixteen.
She has auburn hair and green eyes. She had a face that made people of all ages and both
sexes stare, unable to look away. Even her father had some feelings of attraction towards
her. Antoine believed that his daughter would not be murdered because of her young age.
Nevertheless, he increased the security around their house in order to protect her.
Significant literary features
Atmosphere:
“While others publicly celebrated the end of the rampage as if the murderer were already
hanged and had soon fully forgotten about those dreadful days, fear crept into Antoine
Richis’s heart like a foul poison.”
This quote builds the atmosphere of the town and of Richis.
Also this chapter builds the character of Anton, and as well Laure. Laure’s great beauty is
described along with the mesmerizing affect she has on people. Anton’s ambitions and
values are described. He himself has sexual feelings towards his daughter.
Significant literary devices
Metaphor:
39
“The most precious thing that Richis possessed, however, was his daughter.” (P. 200)
Laure is referred to as a thing.
Simile:
“unable to pull their eyes away, practically licking that face with their eyes, the way tongues
work at ice cream” (P. 200)
Foreshadowing:
“While others publicly celebrated the end of the rampage as if the murderer were already
hanged and had soon fully forgotten about those dreadful days, fear crept into Antoine
Richis’s heart like a foul poison.” (P.201)
Significant Quote
“And of late –he noticed this with uneasiness –of an evening, when he brought her to her
bed or sometimes of a morning when he went in to waken her and she still lay sleeping as if
put to rest by God’s own hand and the forms of her hips and breasts were molded in the veil
of her nightgown and her breath rose calm and hot from the frame of bosom, contoured
shoulder, elbow, and smooth forearm in which she had laid her face –then he would feel
and awful cramping in his stomach and his throat would seem too tight and he would
swallow and, God help him, would curse himself for being this woman’s father and not
some stranger, not some other man, before whom she lay as she lay now before him, and
who then without scruple and full of desire could lie down next to her, on her, in her. And
he broke out in a sweat, and his arms and legs trembled while he choked down this dreadful
lust and bent down to wake her with a chaste fatherly kiss.” (Suskind, p. 200)
This quote is significant because it characterizes Laure, and her father, Antoine Richis. It
shows the extent of Laure’s beauty. A beauty so powerful that even her father has lustful
feelings towards her. It characterizes Antoine, because it shows how powerful his affection
for his daughter is, and explains why he is so protective over her. It also shows how he is
not the loving father figure that may have previously been assumed. His passionate desire
for Laure correlates with Grenouille’s desire for her smell.
Definitions
Posterity –all descendents of one person
Latifundia –a great estate
Scruple –an ethical consideration
Chapter 42
40
Richis sees his daughter Laure, and recognizes once again her extreme beauty. When she is
out of his sight he is grasped by fear that she has been murdered. At night, he has
nightmares of her being murdered, violated, and shorn. He then starts to use his analytical
skills and enlightened thinking to get in the head of the murderer. He sees that all of the
previously murdered girls had been beautiful in their own ways. He saw that the murderer
seemed to be collecting something, rather than acting in a brutal manner. He was focusing
more on visual aspects, rather than those of smell. Nevertheless, he realized that Laure,
being the most beautiful girl around, would be the final piece of the puzzle for the
murderer. Instead of this fact scaring him, he became calm. He felt superior to the
murderer because he had gotten inside of the man’s head.
Significant Literary Features
Atmosphere: When Richis’s fear is described, it builds the atmosphere of the general
feelings inside of the Richis house.
Character: In this chapter, Richis’s character is developed. It shows his analytical power in
understanding Grenouille’s intentions and purpose. It also shows how he is in someway
connected to Grenouille in how he can put himself in Grenouille’s shoes.
Significant Literary Devices
Foreshadowing: “Laure had quite obviously been the goal of all the murderer’s endeavors
from the beginning. And all the other murders were adjuncts to the last, crowning murder.”
(P.204)
Hyperbole: “Bathed in sweat” (P.202)
Simile: “an admiration, admittedly, that reflected back upon him as would a polished mirror,
“ (P.204)
Significant Quote
“If he, Richis, had been the murderer and were himself possessed by the murderer’s
passions and ideas, he would not have been able to proceed in any other fashion than had
been employed thus far, and like him, he would do his utmost to crown his mad work with
the murder of the unique and splendid Laure.” (P.204)
This quote is important because it shows the connection between Richis and Grenouille.
Richis imagines himself as the murderer and sees eye to eye with the actions of Grenouille.
This is important, because throughout the book, Richis is the only person who can predict
the actions of Grenouille.
Definitions
Anathema- a person or thing detested or loathed
41
Blasphemous - profane
Olfactory - of or pertaining to the sense of smell
Waive – give up
Adjunct - something added to another thing but not essential to it
Mutatis mutandis – Latin: the necessary changes having been made
Wrest - to take away by force
Edifice - any large, complex system or organization
Despondency - depression of spirits from loss of courage or hope
Doddering – shaky or trembling
Chapter 43-44
Not submitted
Chapter 45
1. Plot Summary
At the start of chapter 45 Grenouille is preparing his tools for when he
captures Laure’s scent. He prepared the linen by applying a fatty paste to it. This was
important because the oil had to be applied in thinner or thicker layers depending on
what part of the body would end up lying on the particular part of the cloth. He was
creating a model to transfer onto the linen a scent diagram of the body. This entire
process was done with his nose as it was done in complete darkness. Grenouille then
carried a ladder to Laure’s bedroom window. It was easier for him to capture her
scent in La Napoule than it would have been in Grasse, where the house was tightly
guarded and a maid stayed in her bedroom with her.
Grenouille finds Laure facing downwards on her bed, an ideal position for the
“blow by the club”. He hit her with the club, this being his least favourite part
because it broke the soundless procedure. Grenouille then removed the bed sheets,
and using scissors removed her nightgown. He placed the oiled Linen over top of her
and rolled her up in it. Her hair was all that was visible. He cut off her hair and tied it
into a bundle. He placed cloth over her head. No part of her was visible; there were
no holes in the package. He then had to wait. He sat in an armchair thinking about
the nights he used to stay awake at Baldini’s. He thought about his past, but not
about the future. He loved waiting. He had not made a single mistake. He said
absorbing the peace and the wonderful scent he had just captured.
42
Chapter 46
1. Plot Summary
Well before the break of dawn Grenouille removed the cloth from Laure’s
corps. He placed her back into her bed, her body having no effect on him; her
scent was all he had wanted. He climbed down the ladder and left. A half
hour later a maid started a fire in the kitchen. She noticed the ladder but was
too tired to think anything of it. When Richis awoke he went to wake his
daughter, thought she was still sleeping so he opened her door and found her
dead. It was just like the nightmare he had had a few nights before.
2. Literary Features
Tone is eminent in this section as the author describes how Grenouille prepares to
and captures the scent of Laure. It is also important when there is the description of how
Laure is killed. The author uses a great deal of description to create and use Imagery. An
example from the section that demonstrates the authors tone and style is from page
214.
“Grenouille was creating a model, as it were, transferring onto the linen a scent
diagram of the body to be treated, and this part of the job was actually the one that
satisfied him the most, for it was a matter of an artistic technique that incorporated
equally one’s knowledge, imagination, and manual dexterity, while at the same time it
anticipated on an ideal plane the enjoyment awaiting one from the final results.” (214)
This quotation demonstrates how the author, using description, creates an image for the
reader. This quotation also demonstrates the author’s style.
3. Literary devices
One of the literary devices used throughout the section is sentence length. As
demonstrated in the quotation used in question 2, the author uses very long
sentences filled with description. The author’s word choice creates an eerie
atmosphere for the chapter. A quotation that demonstrates this “He would not have
to bother with eliminating the maid.” (217)
4. New Vocabulary
Pomade (214): a perfumed ointment
Threshing shed (215): The place where one would complete the threshing (To
separate seed from a harvested plant.)
Effluvium (218): an invisible emanation, an offensive exhalation or smell
CH 47 + 48
1 quotation in total for all chapters: Page 227:
43
“He simply did not look like a murderer. No one could have said just how he had
imagined the murderer, the devil himself, ought to look, but they all agreed: not like this!”
Summarize : plot, each 1-2 paragraphs
Chapter 47:
This chapter begins with new of Laure Richis’s murder spreading like wildfire as fast
as if the king had died. The people of Grasse begin to panic, as if Laure how had been so well
protected died, then who is safe. Assuming the murder must be the devil, they all seek
solace in whatever comfort is available to them, church, the occult, modern scientific
methods. And yet in all this panic they were all waiting for the next murder, a feverish desire
to know that it wasn’t them the victim. However the civil services did not follow suit, rather,
keeping their calm as this time they had a clue.They had a witness, one who could describe
and point out the murder. They finally had a hold on him and they sent out mounted troops
to search as town criers shouted three times a day, promoting the large reward and the
arrest warrant posted at every inn, in every town. Tanners were arrested, tortured and
released until Grenouille fell into their hands, and singled out, as the murderer. The hair of
the girls is found, the wooden club used to kill the girls, found, the linen knapsack also
found, The evidence, overwhelming, he is Arrested, he is to be brought back to Grasse and
announced to the public as the “infamous murderer of young girls, sought now for almost
one year” (226).
Chapter 48:
This announcement was greeted with disbelief, denounced as ruse by the general
population. However this belief was smashed when the following day the when the twentyfive garments and twenty-five crops of hair were display as macabre scarecrows proving the
murder had been caught. The crowd whom the state hope would be appeased by this
display, was only infuriated by this, demanding to see the murderer. So they where shown.
Grenouille appears in the court window, silencing the sea of cries beneath him. Not out of
fear nor shock, but of disbelief. The crowd, calmed by his presence “could not comprehend
how this short, paltry, stooped-shouldered” mediocrity could have done this monstrous act.
Then he was gone, the crowd recovering from their stupor, demanding him. The judge
attempts to calm the crowd, stating the trial will be swift and implacable in its justice. The
crowd only disperses after several hours and the town several days.
The trial of Grenouille was quick, overwhelming evidence and his admitting of all his
crimes wit undisturbed ease. When questioned of his motives, he said only that he needed
them. Torture would extract no more information from him so on April 15, 1766
He was to be hung, beaten with and iron rod and buried in an unmarked grave. When asked
if he had one last wish, he said he had everything. (229) The preparations were for a grand
event, the scaffold the nicest the town had seen and citizens the nicest the town had ever
44
seen them, donning their holiday and formal attire, anticipating the event, liberation day
they called it. Richis however was not swept up in this fervour, he was disgusted by this fear
and joy that plagued the population, he did testify and brought home Laure’s hair and
clothing, but his appearance was brief and composed. He laid Laure’s keepsakes on her bed
and he beside them, guarding them even though it was too late. He had no wish to see the
murder until he dies and then he would stand over him day and night pouring his disgust
into him, but what then, to live a normal life, marry again or die? He questions, does it even
matter?
Talk: lit. features atmosphere, characters setting etc…
47:
Suskind builds an atmosphere of fear and chaos, making a large kafuffle of people
pray to whatever god or saint in order to save themselves from an evil that all worldly
powers such as wealth and power could not. He builds this atmosphere to be all consuming
and universal, no one left out in order to show the intoxicating effect Grenouille invoked
upon the town of Grasse. His status as a notorious celebrity, the fact that the society was
obsessed with him, yearning for the next development.
48: Suskind uses the same style as the last chapter, (see the explanation of chapter 47) but
also adds one other touch, a stream of consciousness style narrative on page 227. This style
is used to explicitly explain the feelings of confusion that the towns people had for this
monster, who turned out to be a mediocre man.
Lit devices : diction, foreshadowing, dialog, sentence style metaphor etc
47/48: Suskind use diction couple with sentence structure effectively in this chapter in order
to mirror the reaction of those he is describing. The words used are simple and effective but
still clear enough to give a precise understanding of the events. The sentence structure
switches from a long winded style to a short and concise style to emphasize points. For
example on pg 223, “ Thus, with feverish passivity and something very like impatience, the
people of Grasse awaited the murderer’s next blow. No one doubted it would fall. He also
use oxymorons or paradoxes to emphasize the confusion of the population caused by the
event, such as “feverish passivity”.
Define any new vocab
45
Maréchaussée – The old gendarmerie of France, the old police force.
Chapter 49
Ten thousand people have gathered from all around the city and country at the center of
Grasse by five o’clock in the afternoon when the execution was scheduled. Everyone was in
a good mood; they chatted, ate and danced. Then, a carriage arrived to the grandstand with
Grenouille in it. It was an odd way to transport a man on a death row but it was a good way
to assure his safety before the execution. Grenouille was surprisingly wearing nice clothing
and then all of a sudden, the public thought that he “could not possible be a murderer”(235)
The public suddenly started loving Grenouille because he put on some of his greatest
perfume that he collected and mixed earlier in his jail cell. The people became so taken
away, had such lustful feelings towards Grenouille and considered him to be the
reincarnation of God himself, their savoir and lover of their most intimate fantasies. The
people had so much desire that an orgy erupted in the town square where everyone
participated, not caring with whom they did it, like hypnotised. Grenouille was not satisfied
with what he saw. Even though he achieved his goal, he still did not find comfort or enjoy
being loved. The only thing he felt was hate.
1. Setting is well described in the chapter as this square with a lot of people. The place
itself did not have much description but the atmosphere and the mood of the people
does. It is very evident how it changed after Grenouille arrived. From being exciting
and anticipating for a show to bewildered, surprised and then to very animal-like,
uncivilised flow of lust and desire. The reader does not know what is going to happen
and whether Grenouille was successful in making his perfume so there is also this
feeling of anticipation and then bewilderment and then quite perhaps some sexual
emotions there as well. So the reader also parallels the feelings of the crowd.
Grenouille is developed as a character since he realises that he is not enjoying
himself at all and all he can feel is hate towards people that love him.
Page 240-1
“Yes, he was Grenouille the Great! Now it had become manifest. It was he,
just as in his narcissistic fantasies of old, but now in reality. And in that moment he
experienced the greatest triumph of his life….
He was terrified because he did not enjoy one second of it…. in that moment
his whole disgust for humankind rose up again within him and completely soured his
triumph, so that he felt not only no joy, but not even the least bit of satisfaction.
What he had always longed for—that other people should love him—because at the
moment of its achievement unbearable, because he did not love them himself, he
46
hated them. And suddenly he knew that he had never found gratification in love, but
always only in hatred—in hating and in being hated.
…. For once, just for once, he wanted to be apprehended in his true being for
other human beings to respond with an answer to his only true emotion, hatred.”
This quote talks about Grenouille’s thoughts and the start of his demise. This is the
climax of the book when he discovers himself.
2. The tone in the chapter is quite intense. In this chapter brings out the climax of the
book where Grenouille finally releases his greatest creation. There is a good build-up
in the beginning of the chapter as people are eager to see the execution. The tone
and the tempo of narration speeds up towards the time when Grenouille arrives to
the grandstand. The sentences get shorter in 2nd paragraph of page 235. The
intensity rises: “…could not possible be a murderer. Not that they doubted his
identity!”(235) There is a good use of exclamation marks for the intensity of the tone
and its build-up. Short sentences to end paragraphs often with exclamation marks. A
lot of punctuation like commas in sentences to transmit the quickness and scale of
the climax – intensity again.
The descriptions in the chapter are very intense. The adjectives come streaming in
every sentence. The reader experiences this great sensual moment just like the
people in the square. On 239 there is a description of Grenouille’s smile with plenty
of adjectives. This brings much intensity to the chapter. It is interesting that there
are no smell descriptions though. The chapter has more to do with Grenouille’s
effect on the people.
The stream of consciousness is used towards the end of the chapter when Grenouille
is having his realisation that he is not enjoying himself even though he achieved his
goal of being “Grenouille the Great”(240).
At one time the author compares people’s hearts being liquefied by the perfume.
This is a metaphor. “These people were now pure liquefied, their spirits and minds
were melted; nothing was left but an amorphous fluid…”(236).
What relation does the author have to the story? Can we believe him what he says?
It is evident that he is talking in the third person throughout the novel but how can
we be sure he could correctly write about Grenouille’s personality and his
reasoning?
Chapter 50
Grenouille awakes and finds himself in Laure Richis’s bed, under the care of her father,
Antoine Richis. Shortly after he awakens, Richis enters and tells Grenouille how similar he
was to Laure, and asks him to be his son. Grenouille nods in agreement so that Richis will
47
leave him to rest, but instead gets up and sneaks off the property. Meanwhile, the people of
Grasse awaken from the event of the day before, and immediately try to put it behind them
by pretending that it never happened and that Grenouille never existed. Because of this
though they still needed to arrest someone for the murder of the 25 maidens and it fell to
Druot, whose house the clothes and hair of the victims were found at. Although he debated
this at first, after being tortured he confessed and was executed the next day. Afterwards,
life returned to normal in Grasse, as if none of the past while had even happened.
Chapter 51
Grenouille travels toward Paris in the same manner in which he left, by night and eating
whatever he found on the way. As he passed the place where his spot in the cave had been
he thought about how neither life alone nor the life among humans were livable. He still
had with him the flacon in his pocket with his perfume in it, enough to enslave the world,
but that was not what he wanted. As he continued his travel, he smelled his perfumed once
more, and thought about how no one else in the world knew how good the perfume really
was. How they thought it was him they desired, while it was only the scent that was
enslaving them. When he arrives in Paris, it is a hot day, with all kinds of strong scents
around. He goes to a cemetery and waits there until after midnight, when the gravediggers
have left and the outlaws gathered to one place where they were accepted. Grenouille
approaches the fire they have started unnoticed, and pours the remaining perfume over
himself. The outlaws immediately take notice of him and start to close in on him, closer and
closer, until finally they collapsed in on him, literally ripping him apart and eating him until
he was no more. These outlaws, despite the fact that they thought that eating a human was
disgusting, were happy with what they had done, feeling like finally in their lives they had
done something out of love.
Literary Features
The setting in chapter 50 is in Grasse, showing the aftermath of the event the night before.
Throughout there is a feeling of guilt and embarrassment displayed by all the people with
the exception of Grenouille and Richis, who is showing a very loving side to Grenouille.
When Grenouille leaves he sets up the final stage of the plot, which is in Paris. In chapter 51,
the setting is constantly changing, as Grenouille is traveling to Paris, and we hear many of
Grenouille’s thoughts on the events that have past. The point of view is mostly third person,
but switches to first person of Grenouille on several occasions during some of his thoughts.
This final development of his character shows how he no longer wishes to live, as well as
concludes the plot when he is eaten.
Literary Devices


Irony – When Richis asks Grenouille to be his son, because he reminds him of Laure,
while Grenouille both killed Laure, and smells like her because of his perfume.
Allusion – The criminals after eating Grenouille “for the first time they had done
something out of love”(255) alludes to the effects of scent, particularly the perfume
on humans, and how it can make them feel like anything.
48
Quote
“No one knows how good this perfume really is, he thought. No one knows how well made
it is. Other people are merely conquered by its effect, don’t even know that it’s a perfume
that’s working on them, enslaving them. The only who has ever recognized it for its true
beauty is me, because I created it myself. And at the same time, I’m the only one that it
cannot enslave. I am the only person for whom it is meaningless.” (Süskind 252) – This
quote is significant because it shows the reason why Grenouille no longer wanted to keep
on living. What he ultimately wanted was for people to know that he made the perfect
perfume, but they did not even recognize that it was a perfume that was so great, so if he
was the only one who could recognize it’s beauty and he had already made the perfect
perfume, he had nothing left to live for.
“New” Vocabulary
Festering (253) - to form pus
Voluptuous (254) - derived from gratification of the senses
Frock (255) - a loose outer garment worn by peasants and workers
49
Characterisation
Overview
The central figure Jean-Baptiste Grenouille initially evokes respect and interest, which then
turn to fascination and horror. He is not a three-dimensional literary creation but a
grotesque antihero, who moves through society in an obsessive pursuit of aromas. Lacking
an odor himself, he devises various scents which enable him to dominate other people and
finally learns to steal the aromatic soul from a living creature, the scent of pure beauty from
women who inspire love. After Grenouille is captured for the murder of dozens of young
women, Suskind eliminates the bond of empathy, and he intends for readers to no longer
want Grenouille to escape and survive. He steps from the bonds of his captors by
overwhelming them with aroma provoking an orgy of love. At this instant he is Prometheus
creating the divine spark, a self-made God, who is, however, filled with disgust and revulsion
for mankind. Bearing no identity of his own, he seeks death at his birthplace among people
crazed by the aroma who devour him.
The other characters exist as stick figures for Grenouille's purposes; they offer him a role or
provide a context in which he learns a skill or otherwise demonstrates his abilities; there is
no motivational interaction among them or with Grenouille. These figures include the
orphanage mistress Madame Gaillard, Grimal the tanner, the perfumer Guiseppe Baldini,
and the amateur Enlightenment philosopher marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
The main character of the novel. Grenouille is orphaned as an infant and raised in strict
conditions by a woman named Madame Gaillard, who takes in orphans. He is a small man,
ugly, and with a crippled foot. He possesses a superhuman sense of smell, which he can use
as other people use sight to perceive objects and other people. He does not give off any
scent himself, however, which makes him nearly invisible to others. He grows up without
any sense of right and wrong, it seems, and he does not hesitate to kill a young girl when it
suits him in order to experience her scent. Later he will kill twenty-five other girls in the
same fashion, and for much the same reason.
Grenouille is cold and ruthless in his cunning, and is able to maneuver and manipulate
others into helping him, largely by letting others think they are exploiting him. He uses
subtle flattery to ingratiate himself to people, taking from them what knowledge he needs
to complete his own schemes. In this way he enters into the service of
Baldini, who helps him become a journeyman perfumer.
Grenouille does not realize that he lacks a scent until he has spent seven years as a young
man living in a dark cave, away from all human contact. When he does realize it, he panics
at first, then sets out to create a scent for himself that will fool others into smelling him as
another person. He achieves this goal, but ultimately is not satisfied because he will never
be able to have a scent of his own. Grenouille ultimately commits suicide.
Antoine Richis
Antoine Richis is the only person in the novel who comes close to understanding
Grenouille and his motivations, although the two characters meet only briefly near the end
50
of the story. He is a very wealthy widower living in Grasse, with aspirations to ally his
fortunes with the French nobility. To do this, he plans first to use his wealth to arrange a
marriage of his daughter, Laure, with the son of a Baron, and then to perhaps marry a
noblewoman himself.
Richis's daughter, Laure, is his most treasured love. Without ever having seen him, he
comprehends that the person who is murdering young women in Grasse is ultimately after
his daughter. He is correct in this, for Laure is Grenouille's final target. Richis is also correct
in guessing that the killer is somehow collecting his victims for some larger purpose.
He is a successful businessman and his competitive drive leads him to devise a plan to
outwit the unseen killer. He plans to make his daughter an undesirable target by marrying
her as soon as possible to the Baron's son. This, he guesses correctly, will ruin the killer's
plans.
Richis cannot know the extent of Grenouille's abilities, however, and his plan fails. He is
shocked, but subdued in his response. He wants only for justice to be done and for
Grenouille to be executed. Following the miraculous transformation at the execution,
however, Richis forgives Grenouille and even asks him to be his adopted son. He does not
know why, but Grenouille reminds him of his own daughter.
Giuseppe Baldini
A master perfumer of Paris. Baldini was once very successful, but he is aging along with his
traditional clientele, and his business is waning when he meets Grenouille. He changes his
plan to retire to Italy in order to take in this genius of scent, who makes him very rich.
Baldini is a vain man, and is very conscious of his place in society compared to Grenouille's.
He gives Grenouille almost complete freedom, but Grenouille is careful to earn it by degrees
from Baldini, lest his sensibilities be offended. Baldini is a religious man, but his plans to
show his piety are interrupted by other events.
Baldini eventually dies when his home and entire perfumery fall into the Seine River shortly
after Grenouille leaves Paris.
Marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse
A comical figure of a French nobleman, given to developing offbeat scientific theories.
Taillade-Espinase believes that the earth gives off a fatal gas and that the farther one is from
the ground, the healthier one will be. When he learns that Grenouille has been living in a
cave for seven years, he seizes the chance to test his theory. He "rehabilitates" Grenouille
with fresh air and diet, or so he imagines. He does not know that Grenouille has created an
illusion through scent. Grenouille uses Taillade-Espinasse to gain access to a perfumer's
workshop, where he concocts his first mixture of human-smelling perfume.
Madame Gaillard
Madame Gaillard is the woman who raises Grenouille after he is brought to her by
Father Terrier. She has no sense of smell herself, and so is not bothered by the fact that
Grenouille gives off no odor. She is a harsh but fair mother to Grenouille. When the church
51
stops paying her for keeping him, however, she immediately sells him to Grimal the tanner
as a worker.
Druot
The journeyman perfumer who works for Madame Arnulfi in her former husband's perfume
workshop in Grasse. He is a large man, and is the lover of Madame Arnulfi. He marries her
after her period of mourning is over and becomes a master perfumer. After Grenouille is
acquitted of the string of murders in Grasse, Druot is tortured into confessing and is hanged.
Madame Arnulfi
A widow whose husband had been a master perfumer, and the owner of the perfume
workshop where Grenouille finds employment in Grasse. She is a careful businessperson
and is quite well-to-do.
Chenier
Chenier is an assistant to Baldini, watching over the perfume shop when he is working. He
has worked for many years for Baldini and hopes one day to inherit the business. He has a
nervous breakdown when Baldini dies and his shop and all his papers are lost in the river.
Grimal
Grimal is the rude tanner who employs the young Grenouille. He gives the boy the worst
chores, not expecting him to survive for long. Grenouille is tough, however, and Grimal
begins to hold him in higher regard. He eventually sells Grenouille to Baldini.
Jeanne Bussie
Jeanne Bussie is the wet nurse who refuses to care for the infant Grenouille because he has
no scent. She returns him to Father Terrier.
Father Terrier
Father Terrier is a monk charged with taking care of the infant Grenouille when his mother
is executed. He imagines himself the father of the baby boy for a short time, until he gets
the impression that Grenouille is smelling him intently. He becomes terrified of the infant
and carries it away at once to Madame Gaillard.
Papon
Papon is the executioner at Grasse, in charge of killing Grenouille as sentence for murder.
He finds he cannot perform his duty when Grenouille emerges wearing his ultimate
perfume.
Laure Richis
Laure Richis is the daughter of Antoine Richis and is the most beautiful young girl in
Grasse. It is her scent that Grenouille prizes above all others. She is killed by Grenouille.
Grenouille's Mother
Grenouille's mother is never named. She is a fish merchant in Paris. She has had several
children before Grenouille, all of whom she left to die. Grenouille is saved from a similar fate
when his mother faints and he begins to scream. She is eventually executed for her crimes.
52
The Redheaded Girl
The unnamed girl who is Grenouille's first murder victim in Paris. He follows her scent from
across the city and finds her peeling plums in a courtyard. He kills her for her scent.
Pelissier
Baldini's rival perfumer in Paris and the creator of the perfume "Amor and Psyche", which
Baldini tries to imitate but cannot.
The Cannibals
The group of vagrants in the Cimetiere des Innocents that attack and devour Grenouille out
of pure love when he douses himself with his amazing perfume.
53
Themes and Motifs
Overview
Two themes, or motifs, develop the qualities of Grenouille that evoke admiration and
fascination. A metaphorical comparison suggests his resemblance to an insect, namely the
tick, which perches alone in the tree until the appropriate moment to fall upon its victim
beneath. Qualities shared by Grenouille and the tick are unobtrusiveness, persistence,
toughness, and resistance. Encapsulated within himself, Grenouille, like the insect, gives
nothing to the world and endures hard days awaiting a change for the better. The motif is
particularly prominent and appropriate during the period of the young man's brutal
apprenticeship to the tanner; the stupor of the work renders him numb and yet enables him
to preserve himself inviolate; in the first hours gained free for himself he reawakens to the
odors of Paris. Ultimately gaining insight into the metaphor as it applies to him, Grenouille
realizes why he has clung so tenaciously and savagely to life: fate has picked him to be the
greatest perfumer of all time. Contributing less to the admiration of the reader for
Grenouille is an additional aspect of the tick metaphor in the parasitic nature of the man's
relationship to other characters, whom he uses as hosts to be sucked dry.
The sensual appeal of this character and his unbridled egocentricity evoke a fascination with
evil associated with the devil. Described as an abomination from the day of birth, the infant
is identified with the devil by his wet nurse, not because he stinks of sulphur but because he
has no odor; moreover, he walks with a limp. Since Grenouille needs nothing for his soul —
not security, attention, tenderness, or love — the suggestion is that he may have none. He is
predisposed towards darkness and night, at which time he becomes active. His
extraordinary olfactory powers gain him the reputation of possessing second sight, a power
which in the popular mind is associated with misfortune and death. The unexplained
murders of twenty-five women are recognized as the work of the devil.
Social Concerns
The novel's sales figures strongly suggest thatPerfume spoke, and continues to speak, to the
sensibility of the general reader — to expectations, needs, and moods, both conscious and
subconscious. The central figure Jean-Baptiste Grenouille inspires respect for his abilities
and workmanship, his perseverance, and his success in surmounting his social origins.
Further, the creativity of Grenouille evokes a mass appeal which is less rational in its origins;
his art generates a sensuous intoxication that envelops the figures about him and finds its
vicarious effect in the imagination of the reader. He shares the qualities of a child,
narcissistic, egocentric, and irresponsibly self-indulgent. Savoring the headiness of unlimited
self-gratification, he is absolutely autonomous and beholden to no one for his power;
unfettered by moral constraints, he works his will upon society.
The Nature of Love
Suskind examines the nature of love throughout the novel, both what love is and what love
means. By connecting the emotion of love directly with the fleeting world of scent, Suskind
is perhaps suggesting that, like scent, love is something difficult to grasp or to express in
language.
54
Grenouille grows up without love. SÃ.skind writes that given the circumstances of his
younger life, Grenouille has a choice of demanding to be fed or to be loved, but not both.
This is largely because of his lack of scent. The first person to try to care for him, the wet
nurse Jeanne Bussie, rejects him because he does not smell like a child should. He has no
scent at all, and she believes him to be evil because of it. Father Terrier, who takes
Grenouille back from the wet nurse, at first shows tenderness toward the child, even
imagining that he is the father of the infant Grenouille. Once he also finds the child to have
no scent his tender feelings evaporate and he does everything possible to be rid of the child.
As Grenouille discovers himself as a young man, love is closely tied to scent. His rapture at
the scent of the redheaded girl is a kind of love, and it is the evocation of love that
Grenouille sees as the highest achievement of his art as a perfumer and of his life.
Yet Grenouille does not really seem to be wishing for love for its own sake, but only for the
experience of evoking it in others. He is the only person alive who realizes the powerful
connection between scent and love, and so is also the only person who knows that he
himself could never be truly loved, for he has no scent. Suskind is perhaps suggesting that
the practice of analyzing love as Grenouille has carefully analyzed the scent that causes it
also destroys it, as he destroys the young women whose scent he steals.
The Power of Scent
The primary theme throughout the novel is the subject of scent and the sense of smell and
how they relate to our social interactions. Suskind suggests that we rely on scent far more
than we are aware, even using it to tell other humans apart from other living things. The
well-established connection between scent and memory is referred to. The raw power of
scent is also examined.
Grenouille possesses a superhuman ability to smell and discern the individual odors that
make up more complex scents. He is able to commit these scents to memory and create
entirely new ones in his mind. He notices that humans are greatly affected by scent,
although they are not aware of it. Grenouille is very self-aware of how scent affects his own
feelings, although his range of emotion is limited, perhaps because his highly analytical
sense of smell does not let him "feel" scents as others do.
There is one scent that Grenouille does "feel" more than others, however--the scent of
young, innocent women. When he smells the redheaded girl from across the river and
follows her scent to her, enraptured, he is so greatly affected that he kills the girl to possess
her scent. This is of course how Grenouille himself meets his end. He douses himself with
the concentrated scent of twenty-five virgins and a small crowd kills him to possess him,
although they are unaware that they do so out of love for his scent. Suskind hints that those
sensitive enough, like Grenouille, or those faced with a powerful enough odor, like the
cannibal vagrants, will even kill.
But to those unaware of the power of scent, this passion is indiscernible from the scents
themselves. Grenouille has the ability to tell the difference, an ability that becomes a curse
as he comes to realize that scent is a kind of mask, and that beneath this mask, he does not
even exist to the world.
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The Ambiguity of Morality
There is no question that Grenouille is evil. He arrives at this conclusion himself, and it is his
own motivation for the acts he commits to create his ultimate perfume. Yet Suskind does
not condemn the character in his narrative, he simply states his evilness as a matter of fact
and leaves the interpretation to the reader.
Grenouille is evil but not in a conventional sense. It is not that he is immoral, but that he
seems to have no morals at all. He is driven only by the practical requirements of
completing his plan to create the most beautiful scent in the world. Stated in this way, his
goal seems almost heroic, but of course his method of achieving it requires the murder of
twenty-five innocent young women.
Indeed, there is an ambiguity to the whole arc of the narrative, which follows the path of a
more conventional rags to riches story, where a hero born into poverty and deplorable
conditions improves his condition through hard work and a little luck until he emerges at
the end of the novel a successful, wealthy man. This is the path that Grenouille follows, even
to the point where he is to be adopted by a very wealthy perfume merchant and become
rich himself.
But riches do not tempt Grenouille, and this is one way in which he is more like a character
from a heroic epic. He serves a higher purpose. He is striving toward beauty, an ideal that is
often associated with morality, and there is no doubt that he achieves the realization of this
beauty. He does this by means that the rest of the world finds unacceptable, except when
they themselves experience this beauty first-hand. On the one hand, this causes them to
drop their morals temporarily and have unabashed sexual relations with one another. On
the other hand, however, they also offer a kind of forgiveness to Grenouille, which is
recognized as a virtue by most in society. This ever-changing definition of morality raises
questions about traditional definitions of morality
Motifs
Two themes, or motifs, develop the qualities of Grenouille that evoke admiration and
fascination. A metaphorical comparison suggests his resemblance to an insect, namely the
tick, which perches alone in the tree until the appropriate moment to fall upon its victim
beneath. Qualities shared by Grenouille and the tick are unobtrusiveness, persistence,
toughness, and resistance. Encapsulated within himself, Grenouille, like the insect, gives
nothing to the world and endures hard days awaiting a change for the better.
The motif is particularly prominent and appropriate during the period of the young man's
brutal apprenticeship to the tanner; the stupor of the work renders him numb and yet
enables him to preserve himself inviolate; in the first hours gained free for himself he
reawakens to the odors of Paris. Ultimately gaining insight into the metaphor as it applies to
him, Grenouille realizes why he has clung so tenaciously and savagely to life: fate has picked
him to be the greatest perfumer of all time. Contributing less to the admiration of the
reader for Grenouille is an additional aspect of the tick metaphor in the parasitic nature of
the man's relationship to other characters, whom he uses as hosts to be sucked dry.
56
The sensual appeal of this character and his unbridled egocentricity evoke a fascination with
evil associated with the devil. Described as an abomination from the day of birth, the infant
is identified with the devil by his wet nurse, not because he stinks of sulphur but because he
has no odor; moreover, he walks with a limp. Since Grenouille needs nothing for his soul -not security, attention, tenderness, or love -- the suggestion is that he may have none. He is
predisposed towards darkness and night, at which time he becomes active. His
extraordinary olfactory powers gain him the reputation of possessing second sight, a power
which in the popular mind is associated with misfortune and death. The unexplained
murders of twenty-five women are recognized as the work of the devil.
57
Settings / Objects
Paris
The largest city in France, where Grenouille grows up. At the time the story takes place,
Paris is a crowded, bad-smelling city, and Grenouille lives in one of the foulest-smelling parts
of it.
Grasse
A town near the Mediterranean coast that is the center of the French perfume trade. It
is located in a valley isolated from the sea, surrounded by flower fields.
The Cimetiere des Innocents
The "Cemetery of the Innocents". A large, open cemetery in Paris near where Grenouille is
born. Bodies are often placed in shallow or open pits, and the stench of decay is strong.
The Cave
A long, lightless cave where Grenouille isolates himself from all human scent for seven
years. No living thing has ever lived in it prior to Grenouille.
Pont-du-Change
A bridge over the River Seine that has fashionable shops along each side. It is the location of
Baldini's perfumery where Grenouille first finds work in the perfume trade.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
A large Catholic cathedral in Paris. Baldini tells himself he will light a candle at the cathedral
to give thanks to God several times, but he never does.
River Seine
A major river that runs through the city of Paris.
Rue des Marais
The narrow street where Grenouille tracks down the redheaded girl, his first murder victim,
by her scent.
La Napoule
A castle on the Mediterranean Sea. It is in the village near the castle that Grenouille tracks
down and murders Laure Richis
Massif Central
A mountain range in France where Grenouille finds isolation in his dark cave.
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Amor and Psyche
A fashionable perfume created by the perfumer Pelissier. Baldini tries to discover the
formula, but cannot. He is amazed to learn that Grenouille can recreate it.
Nuit Napolitaine
The name Baldini gives to the first perfume that Grenouille creates for him, and which starts
his rise to fortune and fame.
Grenouille's Perfume
The perfume that Grenouille creates from the personal scents of Laure Richis and twentyfour other young women, and which causes anyone who smells it to become uncontrollably
in love with the wearer.
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Style
Literary Techniques
Perfume shares several traditions of the novel genre. The work at the outset presents itself
as historical in nature, purporting to deal with a French figure of the eighteenth century no
less brilliant than the Marquis de Sade, Louis Antoine Saint-Just, Joseph Fouche, and
Bonaparte — and no less arrogant, misanthropic, immoral, and wicked.
And while the focus is upon Grenouille as the central figure, Perfume is divided into four
parts which treat his development in the fashion of the educational novel (bildungsroman).
Part I concludes with the end of his apprenticeship to Baldini and departure from Paris: II
deals with his years of isolation and his introduction to the Enlightenment society of
Montpellier by the marquis: III represents residence in Grasse while developing techniques
for the manufacture of perfumes; and the final Part IV details flight from the site of his
scheduled execution to die as on the day of his birth among the odors of Paris. The skills of
Grenouille suggest an additional tradition in the genre of the novel where an artist serves as
the central figure (ktinstlerroman).
That richness and variety manifested by drawing upon several traditions in the genre of the
novel are reflected in the use of the techniques and styles of various literary-historical
periods. An omniscient narrative voice that is somewhat aloof predominates in text
containing almost no dialog. The eighteenth-century narrative practice which destroys the
illusion of objective distance is employed when the author includes the reader in the first
person plural, "Since we are to leave Madame Galliard behind us at this point in our story . .
."
In his relationship to Baldini, an allusion to sixteenth-century historical circumstances is
made in Grenouille's perceived need for journeyman's papers that will allow him to travel
and take work; for this reason he readily agrees to Baldini's conditions, recalling
romanticism in his desire "to empty himself of his innermost being, of nothing less than his
innermost being, which he considered more wonderful than anything else the world had to
offer."
That same literary-historical vein is preserved in the scene of the solitary Grenouille
wandering over the landscape beneath the moon and avoiding all human beings in order to
be at one with nature; in a solitary, uninhabited region he retreats to a cave atop a
mountain in the Auverge to seek proximity to himself.
The style and technique of nineteenth-century realism are reflected in the detailed
catalogues as, for example, that of all the foul smells generated by eighteenth-century Paris
and its dwellers at the time of Grenouille's birth. At Baldini's we are provided with an
elaborate list of all the materials used in the preparation of perfumes and a marvelous
description thereof.
Point of View
The author's point of view is as an omniscient outside voice, observing the actions of all the
characters and witnessing their inner thoughts. Using this point of view allows Suskind to
60
quickly demonstrate the characters' motivations, and to describe events that are not
directly witnessed by the main characters, such as the birth of Grenouille and the death of
Grimal.
The novel is written from the point of view of a later period in time, suggesting that the
events being described are perhaps better understood now than they were when they took
place. The author occasionally moves forward in the story to events that take place after the
end of the novel, such as the gradual death of Madame Gaillard and the mass denial of the
murders by the people of Grasse many years after they took place.
At times, the narrative voice moves away from describing the events of the story and
addresses the reader directly. These passages are used to elucidate some of the details
of the story, or sometimes to make reference to modern events that are somehow
connected to the ones related in the book.
While this point of view allows the author to efficiently describe the motivations of the
characters, it is also detached from those characters and makes it more difficult for the
reader to identify with any single character by sharing their point of view.
Setting
The setting of Perfume is France in the eighteenth century, before the French
Revolution, while France was still ruled by a monarch. The first part of the novel takes place
in Paris, which at this time is a crowded city, one of the largest in Europe.
Within Paris, Grenouille begins his life in a neighborhood near a large, foul-smelling
cemetery. He then gains employment in an area of fashionable shops on a bridge over the
River Seine. Grenouille returns to Paris at the end of the novel, where he commits suicide
near the place he was born.
Once Grenouille leaves Paris, the setting changes to the rural French countryside as he
wanders, trying to avoid humans as much as possible. He eventually ends up in the
Massif Central mountain range in the province of Auvergne, where he lives in a lightless
cave for seven years.
After leaving the cave, Grenouille makes his way to the town of Grasse, located in an inland
valley near the Mediterranean Coast of France. This town is a center for the production of
perfume, both in the novel and in actuality. Its climate is well suited to growing the flowers
from which many scents are extracted. Grasse is the setting for most of the murders that
Grenouille commits, and where he is sentenced to be executed.
The final murder Grenouille commits takes place in a small village near a seaside castle on
the Mediterranean Sea called La Napoule. This is where he climbs into the room of the inn
where Laure Richis is sleping and steals her scent.
Language and Meaning
Perfume was originally written in German and then translated into English. As with all
translated works, some of the language and meaning is changed during the translation to fit
61
the language.
Translated differences aside, Suskind's choice of subject matter presents a challenge as the
written word is a very visually-oriented medium not easily tailored to describe the sense of
smell. Suskind refers to this difficulty in a few passages in the novel, such as when
Grenouille is learning to speak and finds language inadequate for describing the thousands
of scents he can discern. Suskind relies on poetic descriptions to convey smells in writing,
such as when he describes an infant's scalp as smelling like caramel, or the scent of the
redheaded girl as a pastry soaked in milk.
Suskind's prose is otherwise straightforward, often strikingly so. He sums up seven years of
Grenouille's isolation in the cave with one sentence. His description of the murders that
Grenouille commits in a plain, direct style, which both accentuates the coldness of the
character and makes his actions that much more chilling. The novel begin with an
announcement that the story will be told of an abominable man, and the book frequently
reads like a biographical news story in precisely descriptive terms. This style creates
ambiguity around the moral questions in the novel, leaving the reader to make the
determination.
Structure
The book is divided into fifty-one relatively short numbered chapters over four parts.
Part One describes the birth and youth of Grenouille up through the point where he leaves
the service of Baldini to strike out on his own. Within Part One, the first eight chapters cover
Grenouille's upbringing and apprenticeship with Grimal the tanner. The larger portion of
Part One concerns Grenouille's apprenticeship with Baldini, the perfumer. It is during this
period that he first begins to apply his amazing power of scent toward creative endeavors.
Part Two of the novel describes Grenouille's entrance into the cave and his eventual return
to society. As he leaves Paris at the beginning of Part Two, he meanders in the path that is
the least likely to bring him into contact with humans and ends up on a desolate
mountaintop, where he remains for seven years living inside his own mind in a dark cave.
Chapters twenty-three through twenty-nine describe his isolation. Chapters thirty through
thirty-four concern the events after he leaves the cave to find a way to create a scent for
himself and describe his rehabilitation and reintroduction into society with the help of
Taillade-Espinasse.
Part Three contains some of the most dramatic scenes in the novel, as Grenouille moves to
Grasse to perfect the art of extracting scents and develop his ultimate perfume. Chapters
thirty-five through forty describe how he obtains a job in a workshop and learns to extract
the scent from living things. At the end of this section, Grenouille begins killing young
women systematically to make his ultimate perfume. He terrorizes the town, and then stops
the killings to lull them into feeling secure that the killer has gone. Chapters forty-one
through fifty describe the efforts of Antoine Richis to protect his daughter from the unseen
killer, without success. The climax of the novel appears at the end of Part Three, when
Grenouille is caught and sentenced to be executed for the murders, but at the execution he
reveals his ultimate perfume, which causes the entire town to fall in love with him and
believe that he could not be the killer. Part Three ends as Grenouille steals away from the
62
mansion of Richis, who has not only come to believe Grenouille is innocent, but has begged
him to become his adopted son.
The final part of the book, Part Four, consists of only one chapter in which Grenouille makes
his way to Paris to commit his bizarre suicide, where he causes a band of vagrants to eat him
by subjecting them to his ultimate perfume.
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Important Quotations
"In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and
abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages.
His story will be told here. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. . ." Part One, Chap. 1, p. 3
"'You priests will have to decide whether all this has anything to do with the devil or not,
Father Terrier. That's not for such as me to say. I only know one thing: this baby makes my
flesh creep because it doesn't smell the way children ought to smell.'" Part
One, Chap. 2, p. 11
"Looked at objectively, however, there was nothing at all about him to instill terror.
As he grew older, he was not especially big, nor strong - ugly, true, but no extremely ugly
that people would necessarily have taken fright at him. He was not aggressive, nor
underhanded, nor furtive, he did not provoke people. He preferred to keep out of their
way." Part One, Chap. 5, p. 23
"She was so frozen with terror at the sight of him that he had plenty of time to put his hands
to her throat. She did not attempt to cry out, did not budge, did not make the least motion
to defend herself. He, in turn, did not look at her, did not see her delicate, freckled face, her
red lips, her large sparkling green eyes, keeping his eyes closed tight as he strangled her, for
he had only one concern - not to lose the least trace of her scent." Part One, Chap. 8, p. 42
"Behind the counter of light boxwood, however, stood Baldini himself, old and stiff as
a pillar, in a silver-powdered wig and a blue coat adorned with gold frogs. A cloud of the
frangipani with which he sprayed himself every morning enveloped him almost visibly,
removing him to a hazy distance." Part One, Chap. 9, pp. 45-46
"Grenouille stood there cowering and gazing at Baldini with a look of apparent timidity, but
which in reality came from a cunning intensity. 'I want to work for you, Maitre Baldini. Work
for you, here in your business.' It was not spoken as a request, but as a demand. . ." Part
One, Chap. 14, p. 70
"Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions or
will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into
our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it." Part One, Chap. 14, p.
82
"If ever anything in his life had kindled his enthusiasm - granted, not a visible enthusiasm
but a hidden one, an excitement burning with a cold flame - then it was this procedure for
using fire, water, steam and a cunning apparatus to snatch the scented soul from matter."
Part One, Chap. 18, pp. 95-96
"He would flee farther, increasingly sensitive to the increasingly infrequent smell of
humankind. Thus his nose led him to ever more remote regions of the country, ever farther
from human beings, driving him on ever more insistently toward the magnetic pole of the
greatest possible solitude." Part Two, Chap. 23, p. 118
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"He lived only within his mountain, only within the self-made empire of his soul. And he
would have remained there until his death (since he lacked for nothing), if catastrophe had
not struck, driving him from the mountain, vomiting him back out into the world." Part Two,
Chap. 28, pp. 122-23
"As he came out onto the street, he was suddenly afraid, for he knew that for the first time
in his life he was giving off a human odor. He found that he stank, stank quite disgustingly."
Part Two, Chap. 32, p. 151
"The scents of the garden descended upon him, their contours as precise and clear as the
colored bands of a rainbow. And that one, that precious one, that one that mattered above
all else, was among them." Part Three, Chap. 35, p. 169
"In May of that same year, the naked body of a fifteen-year-old girl was found in a rose field,
halfway between Grasse and the hamlet of Opio east of town. She had been killed by a
heavy blow to the back of the head." Part Three, Chap. 40, p. 194
"The most precious thing that Richis possessed, however, was his daughter. She was his only
child, just turned sixteen, with auburn hair and green eyes. She had a face so charming that
visitors of all ages and both sexes would stand stock-still at the sight of her, unable to pull
their eyes away, practically licking that face with their eyes, the way tongues work at ice
cream, with that typically stupid, single-minded expression on their faces that goes with
concentrated licking." Part Three, Chap. 41, p. 200
"He pushed up the casement, slipped into the room, and laid down his cloth. Then he
turned to the bed. The dominant scent came from her hair, for she was lying on her
stomach with her head pressed into the pillow and framed by the crook of her arm presenting the back of her head in an almost ideal position for the blow by the club."
Part Three, Chap. 45, p. 216
"The proceedings against Grenouille did indeed move at an extraordinarily rapid pace, not
only because the evidence was overwhelming, but also because the accused himself freely
confessed to all the murders charged against him." Part Three, Chap. 48, p. 228
"What happened was that from one moment to the next, the ten thousand people on the
parade grounds and on the slopes surrounding it felt themselves infused with the
unshakable belief that the man in the blue frock coat who had just climbed out of the
carriage could not possible be the murderer." Part Three, Chap. 49, p. 235
"For a moment they fell back in awe and pure amazement. But in the same instant they
sensed their falling back was more like preparing for a running start, that their awe was
turning to desire, their amazement to rapture. They felt themselves drawn to this angel of a
man. A frenzied, alluring force came from him, a riptide no human could have resisted, all
the less because no human would have wanted to resist it, for what that tide was pulling
under and dragging away was the human will itself: straight to him." Part Four, Chap. 51, p.
254
65
Independent Study
Ideas for Discussion
The richness and diversity of Siiskind's writing enables it to speak to the reader upon several
levels coincidentally. Complexity lends itself to a variety of interpretations which may be
enhanced by analogy. Literary or historical personalities and events are suggested by
Siiskind's fictional figures and episodes. Moreover, the author's marked orientation toward
literary traditions and his occasional borrowing from other authors contribute additional
layers of meaning in instances which may be characterized as irony or parody.
1. The work has been widely hailed as a social history. What aspects of eighteenth century
Paris and France are captured most vividly?
2. Can one justifiably interpret the work as political allegory dealing with Adolf Hitler and
the Third Reich, a subject which Siiskind suggests that all writers of his generation treat
willy-nilly, if subconsciously?
3. What is the relationship between that absence of odor which characterizes Grenouille
and his well-developed olfactory powers?
4. Does the author know how to finish off his central character? Is the conclusion
aesthetically and psychologically satisfying?
5. Perfume is widely compared with The Name of the Rose (1983; Nome delta rosa, 1980) by
Umberto Eco. Although the Italian novel is not strictly speaking, a literary antecedent
of Perfume, some similarities exist. Do such bases for comparison suggest themselves to
you?
Further Questions
What challenges does the author face when writing about the sense of smell?
What role does the personal human smell play in the novel? How does the author relate it
to morality? To innocence?
Is Grenouille immoral? What about those who exploit him, such as Baldini, TailladeEspinasse, and Druot?
How does Suskind treat religion in the novel?
What connection does Suskind suggest between the sense of smell and emotions such as
love and passion?
What purpose does the episode in the cave serve in the narrative of the novel? Is it
necessary?
66
Suskind repeatedly refers to Grenouille as tick-like. In what ways is this the case?
How does this attribute of his character affect the story?
Is Grenouille a hero?
Should Grenouille be excused or forgiven for his actions?
67
Essays
Overview
Perfume is a study of the darker side of human nature. It centers on a superhuman,
Grenouille, whose extraordinary nose shows him certain truths about the world to which
others are oblivious. His view of life is inevitably “colored” by his sense of smell, and he is
determined to use this sense to achieve his ambitions as no other human can.
It is important to note that Patrick Süskind is a German author brought up in the post-World
War II era. His writing is dark, and his characters are like those in the Grimm fairy tales, with
heroes as guilty as the villains. Heroes are heroes only because circumstances favor them.
Grenouille apparently is evil by nature. Those around him are not necessarily any less evil.
Circumstances simply favor them, giving them the social position, money, or background to
exploit people like Grenouille. The Grenouilles of the world must rely on their wits and will
in order to succeed. If he were alive today, Grenouille likely would become a rags to riches
hero, a respected virtuoso, and a scientific curiosity. It is doubtful that he would be much
happier, given his nature.
Grenouille may bring evil, but it is not undeserved. His victims are not innocent bystanders.
Even the girls he kills are all part of the society that at best ignores and at worst hates him
for being different. Grenouille’s mother killed her other babies and tries to kill him. Grimal
the tanner, the Marquis de La Taillade-Espinasse, Maître Baldini, and Maître Druot are all
selfish cheaters, taking advantage of Grenouille for their own profit. Fortunately for
Grenouille, these people are so self-centered that they do not notice that he is using them
for his own selfish plans. Like a tick, he takes what he needs from others, living off them and
accepting some amount of discomfort in return.
Perfume actually is a satire of a cautionary tale. Its moral is that no one is innocent. Even
though people may identify one person and call him evil, he really is no more evil than
anyone else—he simply does not hide it as well. Süskind’s implication is that although the
incidents of Perfume might have taken place two hundred years ago, the results would be
the same today.
Perfume – Sanitising Tales
Excerpted and adapted from: www.scu.edu.au/schools/hmcs/core/ waysknowing/pdf/topic07.pdf. No author
listed.
The sense of smell was highly valued prior to the seventeenth century. Religious
scholars spoke of the stench of sin, and the public associated certain odours with the risk of
disease. Perfume: the Story of a Murderer (1986), by Patrick Suskind, is set in France during
the 18th century. It is the story of a child who is born with no smell - that is, the body of the
child has no odour. The child, however, has a strong sense of smell. This child is born under
a fish stall to a woman who sells fish. She abandons him at birth. This abandoned baby who
is born with no smell to his person becomes a famous perfumier – and a murderer.
In this excerpt, Father Terrier - as a man of the modern church – symbolises reason
and civilisation. The child who doesn't smell - yet has a strong sense of smell - symbolises
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nature, animality, and evil. Father Terrier fears the power of what he cannot name - the
absence of smell. He seems to fear that reason cannot contain nature or the modern church
evil.
Then the child awoke. Its nose awoke first. The tiny nose moved, pushed upwards and
sniffed. It sucked air in and snorted it back out in short puffs, like an imperfect sneeze. Then
the nose wrinkled up, and the child opened its eyes. The eyes were of an uncertain colour,
between oyster grey and creamy opal white, covered with a kind of slimy film and
apparently not very well adapted for sight. (Father) Terrier had the impression that they did
not even perceive him. But not so the nose. While the child's dull eyes squinted into the void,
the nose seemed to fix on a particular target, and Terrier had the very odd feeling that he
himself, his person, Father Terrier, was that target. The tiny wings of flesh around the two
tiny holes in the child's face swelled like a bud opening to bloom. Or rather, like the
cups of that small meat-eating plant that was kept in the royal botanical gardens. And, like
the plant, they seemed to create an eerie suction. It seemed to Terrier as if the child saw him
with its nostrils, as if it were staring intently at him, scrutinizing him, more piercingly than
eyes could ever do, as if it were using its nose to devour something whole, something that
came from him, from Terrier, and that he could not hold that something back or hide it... the
child with no smell was smelling at him shamelessly, that was it! It was establishing his
scent! And all at once he felt as if he stank, of sweat and vinegar, of choucroute and
unwashed clothes. He felt naked and ugly, as if some one were gaping at him while revealing
nothing of himself. The child seemed to be smelling right through his skin into his innards.
His most tender emotions, his most filthy thoughts lay exposed to that greedy little nose,
which wasn't even a proper nose, but only a pug of a nose, a tiny perforated organ, forever
crinkling and puffing and quivering. Terrier shuddered. He felt sick to his stomach. He pulled
back his own nose as if he smelled something foul that he wanted nothing to do with. Gone
was the homely thought that this might be his own flesh and blood. Vanished the
sentimental idyll of father and son and fragrant mother - as if someone had ripped away the
cosy veil of thought that his fantasy had cast about the child and himself. A strange, cold
creature lay there on his knees, a hostile animal, and were he not a man by nature prudent,
God-fearing and given to reason, in the rush of nausea he would have hurled it like a spider
from him
(Suskind 1986)
This child knows with his nose! Father Terrier's desire is for the attainment of the
respectability expected of him as a man of the 18th century church: a church in the throes
of rationalising its existence in the liberal state. This tiny child threatens the attainment of
Terrier's desires. The appearance of this innocent babe - this child who has no smell yet has
a strong sense of smell - ruptures the fragile surface of the new civic order: its institutions,
its philosophies and its beliefs. This babe is the epitome of the abject - it stands on the very
boundaries of civilisation and nature: of cleanliness and dirt; of goodness and evil, of
innocence and bodily knowledge. The child threatens Terrier's complacency. It threatens his
desire for godliness (with all its 18th century connotations) and gives rise to an experience
of the senses, which he finds repugnant. Terrier is in terror of the child's ability to smell, its
`animal nature', which he as a mirror of the civic body and the body of the church must
repudiate. For the child knows Terrier in an animal way; he senses - smells - his feelings, his
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weaknesses. Yet in an ironic twist of nature, the child who does not smell, who has no body
odour, represents the attainment of that which godliness has come to represent: the
repudiation of the body.
(Note that the civic face of godliness was, in the 18th century, the ability of the town fathers
to rid the public domain of the dangers of the body: to sanitise public space, to cleanse the
world of obnoxious human odours – to banish smell!).
One reading of the above tale by Patrick Suskind is to argue that together the figures
of the Church Father and the strangely sanitised child represent the fearful possibility that
reason cannot, after all, control nature - nor all that nature has come to represent. One
could argue that the moral of this tale lies in its warning that civilisation is always in danger
of a return to that which it must deny in order to exist.
Do you agree with this reading of the moral intent of Patrick Suskind's story?
The child in Suskind's tale grows up to be a murderer - he kills in order to possess
forever the natural perfume of a beautiful woman.
What meanings might be drawn from this?
Do you detect a relationship between this story of renaissance France and other literature
you’ve read?
Sanitising Culture
The valorisation of sight as a way of knowing, beginning with Plato and the Greeks,
came to fruition in the concepts and beliefs of the European Enlightenment. Sight as a way
of knowing, along with its visual technologies, ordered knowledge. As a metaphor for
knowledge and for godliness, sight also became a metaphor for cleanliness. At the same
time the other senses became associated with dirt, animality and ignorance. Suskind's novel
of the 18th century draws out some of the concerns of the day in a literary mode. It is also
indicative of late 20th century concerns.
The next reading by Alain Corbin considers the French social imagination in the 18th
century, its focus on bad air, and its preoccupations with abolishing odour. The sanitary
policies and contraptions used by the public health systems of this period are described in
this text in wonderful detail. The overriding concern of the author, however, is the way in
which the desire to abolish smell gave rise to a particular ordering of bodies and society.
Some sites for this ordering included prisons and hospitals, civic buildings, the workplace
and the home, and the movements of bodies within these spaces:
Ventilation was not enough; individual behaviour patterns had to be changed... the hospital
became a place of discipline... Regulations became stricter... the aim was uniformity, the
destruction of age-old habits, the prohibition of spontaneous behaviour, henceforth
considered anarchic and dangerous. (109)
The connections between smell, bad health and dirt led in the 18th century to an
obsession with the circulation of `good air', and the abstraction of `bad air'. This unwanted
air, the cause of hygiene problems, lay below the good clean air. Ventilation was the answer
to this problem:
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Ventilation `swept away' the lower strata of the air restricting the wild circulation of
miasmas. Ventilation henceforth formed the crux of public health tactics. The flow most
important to control was the flow of air. Even more than draining away filth, ensuring the
circulation of the aerial fluid was a response to the terror of stagnation associated with the
coldness and the silence of the grave. ( 94)
The association of smell with the corpse and with death brings to mind notions of the
abject—that which must be expunged; something which is `brought up and spat out'; a
ritual in which something is r/ejected from the centre. One could consider the public health
strategies as ways of performing civic rituals (complete with alchemic potions) as ways of
rejecting smell from the centre: a ritual of death and new life.
Deodorization would ensure the appearance of a new body... the goal was no longer to mask
but to destroy foul odor; `the chemist... regards masked odor as nothing more than the
confused product of a mixture of elements that continually tend to separate; whereas the
destruction of odor is the result of a combination whereby the foul-smelling body is either
decomposed or linked to a base that changes its properties.'(104-5)
Politics and the Senses
Classen et al (1994) `examine how... olfactory codes create and inform power relations
between social classes, ethnic groups, and women and men in the contemporary West'
(161). Classen's argument is that smell can play a role in many different forms of social
classification. At times it is an actual smell which triggers an experience of difference on the
part of the perceiver. Often, however, the odour of the other is not so much a real scent as
a feeling of dislike transposed into the olfactory domain. In either case, smell provides a
potent symbolic means for creating and enforcing class (gender) and ethnic boundaries
(169.)
(If you read Classen, note her discussion of and the classifications of women into good and
bad women.) Note also her discussion of the `hygiene' movement in Nazi Germany:
The Hygiene Institutes set up in Germany during the Nazi era had as their responsibility along with the control of epidemics and the study of bacteria - the distribution of the deadly
gas used to `eliminate' Jews and others at Auschwitz' (173).
Classen recalls the work of German writer and philosopher Myona Salomon Friedlander:
In 1911... Salomon Friedlander published a short story entitled, `On the Bliss of Crossing
Bridges'. In this story a German scientist, Dr K rendelen, invents a chemical formula to purify
the planetary atmosphere of bad air: `For bad air is the misfortune of mankind... The
improvement of the air is the surest way to improve humanity, better than all philosophical
moralizing!' The scientist realizes that only a few persons will be able to survive in the
rarefied atmosphere; none the less he resolves to go ahead with his plan for world
purification. Almost at once people begin to die. Their bodies, however, `burn without a trace
of corrupting odor in the delightful air of early spring'. At last the purification is complete.
`Nothing was left of corruption. Victoriously it was all banished and masked by the scents of
fresh purity that now virtually exploded!' Death is dispelled along with stench and, with no
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foul odours to remind them of how things used to be, the past is promptly forgotten by all,
`so that Dr Krendelen did not even become famous!' (176)
A piece of fiction such as Perfume takes on sinister connotations when considered in its
historical context.
Film and the Senses
Classen notes that `In twentieth century Western culture, the ideal society is presented as
deodorized. Indeed the fantasy worlds created for us by Hollywood on film are totally
inodorate, existing only in the sensory domains of sight and hearing' (175).
Is this the same for literature? What about memory and smell?
Havelock Ellis considered smell to be the `sense of the imagination' (cited in Redgrove, 1987:
73).
Do you agree with this claim by Classen? How much `space' do you think cinematic fantasy
worlds allow for the imagination - and to what extent might the imagination work on the
`other' senses?
There is no doubt that visual technology has a great potential for sanitisation. What looks
dirty can be made to look clean in an image. Smell, less easily `managed' outside the
cinema, can, along with dirt, be banished from the image. Yet, film also has the potential to
re-connect the ways of knowing which use seeing as a process of the mind and ways of
knowing which use `other' bodily senses.
In a review of a film, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, the reviewer, Peter
Greenaway, suggests that while it is a difficult film it is one worth attention, analysis, and
active critical engagement. As a study in transgression it contests borders, limits, and eludes
interpretive finitude. Beyond the beautiful and the sublime, a simulacrum of abjection.
(Note that `abjection' is used here in its psychoanalytic sense to mean something which is
rejected or denied, but which remains central to the meaning of that from which it has been
expunged (see for instance, the work of Julia Kristeva and Jacques Derrida). `Simulacrum' is
that which represents the real and in so doing becomes more real than the real (for
instance, Disneyland and the work of Jean Baudrillard andUmberto Eco).
Works Cited
Corbin, Alaine (1994) The Foul and the Fragrant: Odour and the French Social
Imagination London: Picador.
Classen, Constance, Howes, David and Synott, Anthony (1994) Aroma: the Cultural
History of Smell. London and New York: Routledge.
Petrie Ducan (1993) ed Cinema and the Realms of Enchantment. London: British
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Film Institute
Redgrove, Peter (1987) `Extra-Sensuous Perception' in The Black Goddess and the Sixth
Sense. London: Bloomsbury Press.
Sinnerbrink, Robert `The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover: a Discourse on
Disgust' in Continuum: The Australian Journal of Media andCulture. Vol 5. No 2.1990.
Suskind, Patrick (1986) Perfume: the story of a murderer. Translated from the German by
John E. Woods London: Penguin
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APPENDIX
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