Das Perfume Grenouille Analysis

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The amoral protagonist of Das Perfume, Grenouille was created to beget sympathy and empathy from the readers. The effects of this were used to support the theme of morality and these effects were achieved through understanding of the immoral character, Grenouille. The theme of morality is supported by the Suskind’s use of bildungsroman, characteristics of the minor characters, plot events and narration (third person point of view) to raise doubts in the reader’s judgments towards the protagonist’s action and the norms of society he lives in, and finally, to persuade readers to question the morality of the characters through various means of persuasion.

In exposition, the diction Suskind uses was densely connoted – not only to provide descriptions of the birthplace of the protagonist but rather, it serves as a tool to incite disgusted feelings and pity from the readers towards the protagonist’s birth events. Moreover, Suskind emphasises that Grenouille does undergoes childhood trauma (despite being born emotionless) and that the cause of trauma originates from the characteristic of the society he was born into. Undoubtedly, it was something that the protagonist has absolute no control over it. Although there were no traumatized-symptoms were shown by Grenouille as the story continues to progress, the effects would linger in the mind of the readers rather than the protagonist himself. Through characterization and plot events, Suskind begets more sympathy from his readers by also introducing the protagonist’s mother - whom abandons a child in a fish market as she, previously has done similarly with the other four. Furthermore, Grenouille’s unwanted birth event was described as well – as his mother wanted to put the “revolting birth...

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...tagonist. This interval allows the readers and view Grenouille as the world does, which then raises the question of who is morally right in the situation.
Based on the context of ethics, it is mutually agreed that murder immoral. However, Suskind managed to demonstrate and display the cruelty of Grenouille's world and he also shows how the world can easily influence and manifest its heinous attributes unto someone, causing them to become a murderer. This brings to question, whether or not the society is to be blamed. In brief, when Suskind does condemns the society, such as in the opening scene in Perfume, it condemns only the hideous parts of the society-- the agony, the malice, and the inhumanity. Therefore, “can we accept the truth as it really is or must we, with perfume appropriate to the occasion, sweeten them to suit our own sensibilities?” (Arukiyomi, 2009)

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