Patrick Süskind's Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer?

The novel Perfume:The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind follows the main character Jean Baptiste-Grenouille, an enigmous character with a hyper sense of smell which defines his ventures and his standing as “the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages”(1). The novel portrays Grenouille as strange, unsettling and almost alien in his behavior and ways of thinking. Süskind uses figurative language to portray Grenouilles strange qualities. Grenouille is likened to a tick several times throughout the novel, because not only does it reflect his physical resilience, but this description also reveals how he is seen by others: inconspicuous, but once known, he is a burden and an unkillable parasite. Despite these ideas being used to only describe Grenouille, aspects of the text suggest that the message Süskind portrays is the idea that all of humanity is tainted by tick-like qualities.

The figurative device is first introduced as towards the beginning of the story as a means to demonstrate Grenouilles physical resilience. Ticks are naturally adaptable creatures, that latch on to any kinds of hosts, and it is this adaptability that allows for coherence with the tick analogy and Grenouilles character. Throughout the novel Grenouilles surprising physical durability is referenced; “After one year of an existence more animal than human, he contracted anthrax, a disease feared by tanners and usually fatal.[...] But