Patrick Süskind Perfume Analysis
In 1985, Patrick Süskind published “Perfume: The story of a murderer”. The book quickly became a popular best-seller, particularly because of its intriguing main character, Grenouille. Within the book, a lot of comparisons are made between Grenouille and Jesus. However, the circumstances in which Grenouille grew up have had a huge impact on the rest of his life, and consequently his personality is nowhere near that of Jesus. By borrowing from the bible and drawing parallels to Jesus’ life and God, Süskind makes the reader think about how certain circumstances can influence one’s life and characterises Grenouille.
The context in which Perfume was published is very important to understand the impact of the book on the reader. Firstly, the bible is the most read book in history. Especially in mainly Christian countries, such as Germany, where the book was originally published, the general life of Christ is common knowledge. Because of this, when there enough clues are included in the book, which there are plenty of, most people will at least slightly recognise the one story in the other. This
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Whereas Jesus is said to be the prophet of love, Grenouille lives without any love at all. This becomes clear early on in the book, namely in the fourth chapter. “That cry, emitted upon careful consideration, one might almost say upon mature consideration, was the newborn’s decision against love and nevertheless for life. Under the circumstances, the latter was possible only without the former.” This is an exact juxtaposition to when Jesus died on the cross, when he chose for love and against life. But, as the quote above quote explains, it all depended under the circumstances. This difference in circumstances is directly related to the nature-nurture debate. By saying that the cry was a decision made upon careful and mature consideration, Süskind reveals that Grenouille’s character is determined by his
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