Societal critiques in the novel "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" (Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders)


How does the author Patrick Süskind critique societal views with metaphors about status, beauty and desire in the book Perfume?

Click here to see Work Cited!


"Perfume" by Patrick Süskind follows Grenouille, a french boy born with no scent but an extraordinary sense of smell. After being rejected by his own family and caretakers, Grenouille then becomes obsessed with discovering the perfect scent. This perfect scent becomes Grenouille's identity, as he thinks curating a perfect perfume will finally fulfill him. On Grenouille's journey, he becomes a Perfumer and murders 24 young women with the intent to preseve their young virgin scents. After finally being caught for the murders, Grenouille wore the perfume made of his victims to get away with the killings. His plan worked, and people who were then disgusted by Grenouille now were in awe of his desirable scent.
Even after receiving the power and treatment he had always wanted, Grenouille realises he is still not happy or fulfilled. Grenouille, now disapointed that the people in the vilage did what he expected of them, plans a return back to the fish market where he was born and abandoned. Grenouille then commits suicide by pouring the whole bottle of perfume onto himself, knowing that his scent would be so powerful and desirable that the crowd would have no choice but to take Grenouille for themselves and consume him.

       

The power of Grenouille's smell:

At the climax of the book, Grenouille murders a young virgin girl and creates a perfume with her scent. Unlike any part of the book before this, Grenouille's sense of smell was only ever seen as a flaw. Scent is constantly used as a metaphor for power, class, and beauty.
Scent in the book signifies a person’s character, so with Grenouille lacking such a crucial trait, it ultimately meant that he had no identity. Because of this, Grenouille had limited outlets of expression. The only thing that truly captivated Grenouille was his second nature, smell. Just like people looked down upon people of low class or social status, Grenouille was seen as unimpressive and unattractive simply because of his inherent disadvantage. On the other hand, the most desirable people were mostly clean, innocent people with elegant scents. Status in the book is your smell. Patrick Süskind critiques the way that people in society typically judge someone based on their looks. The way that Süskind does this is by almost creating a class system with the scents of France; the most beautiful garnering the most attention, and the vulgar being compared to rotting fish on the side of the road. Grenouille struggled with being deserted when he was left alone at birth, but also with how terribly he was treated by the people that knew of his incredible sense of smell. Grenouille's character and ideals are not the same as the other’s mentioned in the novel, and they shun him for it. The way that Grenouille views the world is through his sense of smell, his affection and art is through smell.
In Yanna Popova’s analysis of the book, written for SageJournals, she notes that "We see and know through our eyes, and a representation of the world through an alternative modality should resort to equally alternative ways of expression. “ (Popova, Yanna B.) This is an explanation to how Grenouille has an alternate perspective on life, because he “sees” through his nose instead of his eyes. What would typically be seen as a “gift” was then a reason for those who knew him personally to call Grenouille demonic (Celine Ling). Making perfume gave Grenouille purpose, but also meant that he had to kill. Grenouille's undeniable scorn for humanity only further justified the murders by fulfilling both his need for purpose and control.

Grenouille's Dehumanization:

In the society of Das Perfum a person's scent defines the way other people perceive them and interact with them. A person’s actions, their inner thoughts and dreams are overridden by class, beauty, heritage and scent. First, Grenouille is mistreated because he is lacking these qualities, then he is worshipped only for putting on a scent. His actions, his killings, don't matter– What determines the way characters treat Grenouille are superficial characteristics that represent his class.
Grenouille is hypocritical because he is a victim of this class dynamic, but he also treats himself and other people (the girls he exploits by killing them to make perfume) without consideration. Although he likely does not experience guilt, he is unhappy. He remains dehumanized by himself and others. In a book review by Celine Ling, she states that "Grenouille is pictured as an unattractive and plain young man. He is the kind of man where people would never notice his presence until he talks because Grenouille did not possessed body smell.” Grenouille's purpose only began when he got away for the killings.

Temptation and Morality:

As discussed before, society in Das Perfum overlooks ethics for class status. Grenouille's own moral development is shaped by his experiences in that society.
Because he is treated badly, at one point being called demonic by his caretaker for possessing no scent but a strong sense of smell, he is suffering and loses compassion. He isolates himself from society and expresses his pain by testing to make perfume with animals. He is tempted and then sporadically gives into the desire to kill a young woman when he smells her beautiful scent, something he lacks and is compensating for. The scent is something he wants to experience and preserve, therefore he re-joins society as a perfumer, murdering girls for their scent.
Amy Evans on Enotes explains that "Perfume symbolizes Grenouille's quest for the perfect scent and the psychological impact of scent, while also serving as a metaphor for masking humanity's evil nature. Characters and settings, such as Grenouille and the fish market, represent death, psychopathy, and the sins of humanity, deepening the understanding of the novels exploration of morality and identity.” At the end of his development, Grenouille is fully motivated by his desire for power and is not inhibited by moral scruples

Covers symbolism & verisons Jupiter and Antiope:

        

The by far most popular cover for the book perfume is of the famous painting "Jupiter and Antiope" by Antoine Watteau. (the fourth picture featured above)
The painting famously depicts Zeus disguising himself as a Sator, preying over the sleeping Antiope. This is just moments before he rapes and impregnates her with two twins, who later kill Nycteus's brother in revenge for Antiope’s mistreatment. (Museum of Fine Arts Ghent)
The painting represents the theme of seduction, vulnerability, but most importantly revenge. In many ways the cover almost exactly foreshadows Grenouille's subsequent rise and fall, as well as the power he initially felt when creating the "perfect scent". Just as Jupiter (Zeus) preys over Antiope, Grenouille's first victim was a so-called "young virgin girl". This could easily be a metaphor to show how Grenouille was seeking to find innocence and "purity" which he thought would be necessary for such a perfect scent. The cover perfectly foreshadows the beginning of Grenouille's demise, and the book's first taste of Grenouille's dual nature of humanity.

Because of the popularity of the Greek story, there are many different variations of the painting. The paintings artists (naming left to right) are Antonio Allegri da Correggio, Rembrandt van Rijn, Edouard Manet, and Antoine Watteau.

A brief History of Status and Perfume

The novel describes how Grenouille is able to find hidden objects by studying the smell and notes of every scent. Grenouille studied the scents instead of observing how they work or look. “It argues that there are cognitive and experiential motivations for the metaphoric mappings in the sense of smell in the novel.” (Yanna B. Popova) Though he is not sought or affirmed by society Grenouille understands his true power, he understands what he can do with it. Unlike in the novel, history shows that Greece and Rome declared perfume as a luxury item used by aristocrats, symbolizing refinement and status.

“People tend to love others who smell good and some even fall in love with how fresh and nice the scent is and eventually, start to love the person who carries them. However, it’s rare to have a good natural scent of body odours. Therefore, people start wearing perfumes to gain confidence and scent good impressions hoping that love may comes naturally.”