The Plot
Perfume subtitled The Story of a Murder) is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a man with a phenomenal sense of smell who lives in mid-eighteenth century France.
From the start, there is something sinister about Grenouille. The author calls him a tick and a monster. Misfortune strikes those around him, and there is something chilling about his presence, as though a draft comes into the room when he is around. Only Grenouille realizes that this is a result of his complete lack of scent. He is too willful and ambitious to let fear and censure keep him from his goals. In his mind, he knows that he is Grenouille the Great and that one day he will rule the world through his unique ability.
During his childhood and well into his teens, Grenouille spends his time mentally cataloging the thousands of different scents he comes across daily in Paris. He combines them to form new smells, much as a composer might do with musical sounds. Grenouille is able to “compose” all sorts of new aromas, leading to his success in the field of perfumes. His success is not public, however; not only does he prefer to remain anonymous, but in addition the perfumer for whom he works, Maître Baldini, takes all the credit for the hundreds of perfumes Grenouille creates.
All the significant people in Grenouille’s life are greedy and take advantage of him: Madame Gaillard, who ironically has no sense of smell; Grimal the tanner, who...
(The entire section is 558 words.)
