In this essay, I am going to analyse Patrick Süskind’s application of olfactory imagery to enhance the plot of the book, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”, whilst citing specific incidences from various chapters of the book. Olfactory imagery is the figurative or descriptive language in a literary work pertaining to odours, scents, or the sense of smell.
Born in 1949, Süskind was raised in Ambach, Germany by his late father Wilhelm Emanuel Süskind. Patrick Süskind studied medieval history at an undergraduate level and later completed a Master of Arts degree at the University of Aix-en Provence, France. In 1985, Süskind published the hugely successful novel, “Perfume: The Story of A Murderer”, set in France in the eighteenth century during the age of enlightenment. The story centres on Jean-Baptiste, an orphan who is born with a gift of smell and ability to dissect the scent in the world around him. Grenouille dreams of becoming the greatest perfumer of all time.
Süskind deploys olfactory imagery to conceive the aspect of survival of Grenouille in the mind of the reader. “…squeezing its putrefying vapour, a blend of rotting melon and the fetid odour of burnt animal horn…” (Süskind 4) In my opinion, this rather vivid description of the atmosphere of Grenouille’s birthplace showcases how he is destined to perish as Süskind correlates the diverse scents often smelt in France to the odours we find the filthiest. Despite the fact that Grenouille’s mother has committed numerous infanticides, he manages to escape her cruel ‘custom’ by the whisk of an eye pertaining to the motif of survival. This leaves a reader to wonder whether Grenouille, with his tick-like nature, will be able to stand the test of time hence enhancing the plot of the novel.
By taking advantage of olfactory imagery, Patrick Süskind is able to exhibit how the inhabitants of Paris dehumanize baby Grenouille due to his lack of scent. “But it’s the bastard himself, he doesn’t smell… Do you think he should stink?” (Süskind 11) At this juncture, it is uncovered that Grenouille has no personal scent and this directly clashes with the widely held idea among the people of France that having a bodily odour pertains to being fully human. Grenouille struggles with the idea of lack of identity since birth therefore sets out on a mission to make the ultimate perfume in order to gain an identity for himself. Trying to conform to society’s standards, he sets out to make a perfume that has a human-like odour and ends up taking the lives of innocent civilians in pursuit of this bodily scent therefore enhancing the plot of the book.
Patrick Süskind uses olfactory sense in “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” to portray the theme of appearance versus reality when Grenouille perceives having a bodily scent as having a sense of presence and belonging in chapter 34. “Once they had gained confidence in him-and with the first breath, they gained confidence in him, for they were inhaling his artificial odour-they believed everything.” (Süskind 166) With this new human-like odour of a perfume, Grenouille is able to alter the perception of the people in his vicinity. For the first time, he is acceptable to the society’s standards. What appears to be a normal human odour – sweaty and cheesy – is actually a disgusting and repulsive scent yet the people of France notice Grenouille for the first time primarily because of this orthodox scent. Grenouille yearns to conform to society’s standards. He becomes more and more comfortable and even starts walking with an erect body posture and his humpback seems to disappear. In my opinion, this enhances the plot of the novel as the reader is left with food for thought concerning the capabilities of this new dynamic persona that Grenouille is.
Additionally, Süskind’s use of oxymoron as a literary device enhances the plot of the novel when he encounters the scent of a deceased redheaded girl in chapter 35. “The scents of the garden descended upon him… that one that mattered above all else, was among them. Grenouille turned hot with rapture and cold with fear.” (Süskind 176) This oxymoron illustrates how tense Grenouille is and his failure to apprehend that the scent floating out of the garden is the scent of the redheaded girl he murders that night. Grenouille is brimming with dark humour as he cries “tears of bliss” and the reality of the matter frightens him leading to the merciless murders of the virgin girls thus enhancing the plot of “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”.
Furthermore, Patrick Süskind uses olfactory imagery to convey the literary device of symbolism and theme of uncertainty when expressing Grenouille’s first encounter with Laure Richis’ scent in chapter 35. “He knew that children did not have an exceptional scent, any more than green buds of flowers before they blossom.” (Süskind 177) A flower, just like a human being, is a living thing that goes through numerous stages of development and green buds, the premature part of flowers, are known for their pungent and repulsive odour thus in this quote, they symbolize the scent of children which on the contrary, Laure Richis does not possess. Grenouille’s ability to permeate Laure Richis’ unique scent from the rest of the children in Paris depicts him to be an omnipotent god of scent. This unlimited power of Grenouille capacitates him to locate people through their bodily scent and this embellishes the plot of the novel as the reader is left to wonder to what extent Grenouille uses this ability to follow his targets, the red-haired girls.
Olfactory imagery is again used to enhance the plot through Süskinds’ illustration of the theme of manipulation in Chapter 38 when Süskind states “First he made an odour for inconspicuousness, mousy, workaday outfit of odours with the sour, cheesy smell of humankind still present…” (Süskind 189) The significance of this quote is that it portrays Grenouille’s abilities to create odours making him appear as an omnipotent but also it portrays him as a calculative as he makes the perfume in the way that is enough to “establish the olfactory existence of a human being”, but also be “discreet that it bothered no one” (Süskind 189). The application of olfactory imagery to portray the theme of manipulation with the aid of olfactory imagery enhances the plot as the readers are curious to know how far Grenouille will go in order to get what he wants.
In the novel, “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”, Patrick Süskind delicately uses olfactory imagery to illustrate Grenouille’s character trait of persistence. “What before had failed so miserably using the crude process of distillation succeeded now… Grenouille took a brass doorknob… and wrapped it in beef tallow for a few days” (Süskind 191). Grenouille develops and refines ways of extracting scents and goes to adduce his innovativeness denoting the period of enlightenment. Not only is Grenouille exhibited to be a perfectionist but also a patient being as he tries to extract scent from the brass doorknob. In my opinion, this is quite ironic considering the fact that it is impossible to extract a significant amount of scent from synthetic materials such as brass and glass. He is mentally unstable and his addiction to the maceration method of extracting scents becomes overwhelming. This maceration method evokes him to lust after the scent of the red haired girls bringing about a reign of fear and terror in Paris. He goes on a killing spree enhancing the plot of the book.
Ultimately, Grenouille’s behaviour emulates that of sub-conscious beings. He is a ‘puppet of scent’ as his life is neither governed by social structures or ethical behaviour but by the power of scent. In spite of all the mischief he causes and incurs because his actions, he never loses sight of becoming the greatest perfumer to come into existence. I believe that Patrick Süskind’s use of olfactory imagery in “Perfume: Story of a Murderer”, not only enhances the plot of the book but also creates powerful and vibrant images in the mind of the reader enabling them to explicate the annotated meaning of the text.
Originally published 15.10.2019