Student Question
Does Grenouille enjoy his triumph in the climax of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer or is it a hollow victory? What does the novel suggest about human love, and order and disorder?
Quick answer:
Jean Baptiste Grenouille is a talented apprentice to the perfumer Baldini. Upon meeting and smelling a young unwed mother, he is overwhelmed by the sensation of her aroma and is driven to capture it through any means necessary. In order to achieve his goal, he must deal with the consequences of his actions. He murders many people in his search for the ideal scent, and when he finally succeeds in creating an artificial perfume that matches the scent of this woman, he soon realizes that it lacks something essential: love. Jean Baptiste then goes on to commit one last murder: that of his love interest's husband. Soon after, Jean Baptiste is captured by the townspeople and sentenced to death for multiple murders.
The chaotic ending to Perfume can be analyzed as a metaphor of humanity and its intertwined and mysterious connections through scent, which represent the elixir (or essence) of life itself.
The opening of the scent is Jean Baptiste's only connection with humanity. All his life he sucked in the lives of many in search of this elixir, which would make his existence make sense. The nature of this elixir, being that it is the essence of life, is so powerful that it awakens every instinct and carnal nerve in the human body.
I am not sure that Jean Baptiste enjoyed this moment. I believe that he knew how the true nature of men is, and that he would have to sacrifice his own life as a result of his extreme search for the perfume. If anything, Jean Baptiste enjoyed releasing his passionate finding on to the world and, ultimately, combining himself with the world for the first time in his life.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.