Analysis Of Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer '

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Süskind, is a novel written in 1985, which explores the olfactory senses and the emotional meaning behind these scents. The story is based on the life of Jean – Baptiste Grenouille, an orphan who has supernaturally enhanced olfactory senses. Grenouille’s entrance into the world was appalling, to say the least. His mother – a fish monger – gave birth to Grenouille at a stall ‘on the most putrid spot in the whole kingdom’. Grenouille’s mother, who was shown to have weakened sense of smell had given birth to 4 other children before Grenouille himself, thus leading her to believe that he too, was a stillborn like the others. I believe it is quite ironic that he was the one to survive instead of the others, as throughout his life, he is a bringer of death and destruction.

His birth occurred on July 17, 1738 in a fish market. Already, the reader can see cultural clashes between the 21st century and the 18th as instead of a hygienic facility, which were also available at that time but only for the rich, he is born in a market where his mother is gutting fish. I believe that it was quite caustic for Grenouille to squall which led to his mother being executed on the charge of multiple infanticide. It is also ironical that Grenouille’s birth led to his mothers’ destruction, instead of the other stillborn children. It is clearly noticeable that any association with Grenouille, leads to the character being traumatized, dying and his or her