JEAN-B
APTISTE GRENOUILLE’S ALIENATION
SYMPTOMS
IN PATRICK SÜSKIND’
S PERFUME: STORY OF
A MURDERER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
AURELIA LAKSMI KRISWANTI
Student Number: 124214006
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
JEAN-B
APTISTE GRENOUILLE’S ALIENATION
SYMPTOMS IN
PATRICK SÜSKIND’
S PERFUME: STORY OF
A MURDERER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
AURELIA LAKSMI KRISWANTI
Student Number: 124214006
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
vii
Let your light shine before others, that they
may see your good deeds and glorify your
Father in heaven.
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ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, vast gratitude goes to the Almighty God for His unseen hands and tenderness that lighten up my days.
I would like to thank my thesis advisor Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M. Hum., my former advisors Dewi Widyastuti, S.S., M.Hum. and Dr. F.X. Siswadi, M.A. that I never thought completing this undergraduate thesis through the guidance and constructive critique of those advisors, Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji, M.Hum. for the enlightenment to improve my undergraduate thesis.
I also deliver my gratitude to my parents—Bapak and Mama—for their endless affection and everyday life values that flourish in my being, my brother Pandu, my sister Rahel, and my whole family in Bantul for their deliberate companion through prayers and supports that made my day. I would also thank Lembaga Bahasa and ILCIC mates for their sincere fondness. My credits also go through Fay, Andira, Widya, Agatha, Kristof, Vera, and Ferdinand for their enormous support. I also thank God for my boarding house mates that become my personal support system: Kak Manda, Kak Lynka, Eggie, Yovita, Intan, and Ratih. Not least, my particular gratitude belongs to Pieter Surya who gets my back anytime I feel despondent. My gratitude goes straightforwardly to you all.
x
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ... 5
A. Review of Related Studies ... 5
B. Review of Related Theories ... 7
1. Theory of Character and Characterization ... 8
2. The Relation between Literature and Psychology ... 11
3. Review on Alienation in Psychology
A. The Characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille ... 23
1. Ignorant ... 23
2. Prodigious ... 25
3. Ambitious ... 28
B. The Portrayal of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s Alienation ... 32
1. The Feeling of Helplessness... 33
2. The Feeling of being Different ... 36
3. The Refusal to Obey Rules ... 41
4. The Difficulty Approaching and Speaking with Others ... 43
xi
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 52
xii
ABSTRACT
KRISWANTI, AURELIA LAKSMI. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s Alienation Symptoms in Patrick Süskind’s Perfume: Story of a Murderer. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2017.
Many novelists create unusual characters in order to attract the reader’s sympathy, and Patrick Süskind is one of them. One of Süskind’s work entitled Perfume: Story of a Murderer tells a story of a character named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who experiences withdrawal because he is suffering a personality disorder. This undergraduate thesis assumes that Grenouille’s personality disorder manifests alienation symptoms.
As the ground of the study, there are two problems formulated. The first problem discusses the characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. The second problem discusses how Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s characteristics reveal alienation symptoms.
This study employs library research in order to find out Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s characteristics and how his characteristics reveal alienation symptoms. The writer collects the data by analyzing the books and web-based articles. This study applies psychological approach to analyze the alienation symptoms experienced by Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
xiii
ABSTRAK
KRISWANTI, AURELIA LAKSMI. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s Alienation Symptoms in Patrick Süskind’s Perfume: Story of a Murderer. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2017.
Banyak pengarang novel menciptakan karakter yang tak biasa sehingga dapat menarik simpati pembacanya, tak terkecuali Patrick Süskind. Salah satu karyanya yang berjudul Perfume: Story of a Murderer bercerita tentang seorang tokoh bernama Jean-Baptiste Grenouille yang mengalami keterasingan diri karena mengalami gangguan kepribadian. Skripsi ini berasumsi bahwa gangguan kepribadian yang dialami Jean-Baptiste Grenouille menunjukkan gejala-gejala alienasi.
Sebagai dasar penelitian, penulis merumuskan dua rumusan masalah. Rumusan masalah pertama membahas karakteristik Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Rumusan masalah kedua membahas bagaimana karakteristik Grenouille menunjukkan gejala-gejala alienasi.
Penelitian ini menggunakan studi pustaka untuk mengetahui karakteristik Jean-Baptiste Grenouille dan bagaimana karakteristiknya tersebut menunjukkan gejala-gejala alienasi. Penulis memperoleh data dengan menganalisis buku dan artikel berbasis web. Penelitian ini menerapkan pendekatan psikologis untuk menganalisis gejala alienasi yang dialami oleh Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
William Henry Hudson (2006:10) defines literature as a vital record of what men have seen in life, what they have experienced of it, what they have thought and felt about those aspects of it. By that idea, the writer sees that one uses literary works as medium to express their feelings that are related to social life. Literature becomes essential because it covers people, feelings, ideas, and thought about social life.
It is obvious that one has purposes in life that lead him/her to his/her destiny. Thus, that person will have many interactions with others in order to achieve his/her purposes. The writer may say that those interactions are done as an effort to survive. Besides, the purposes of a person lives in this world are also to fulfill his/her needs and reach his/her destiny.
In order to sustain one’s needs, one has to struggle and do such interactions along with others. Among them, one has to understand that each person has different life purposes. Therefore, it is not an easy matter to deal with others who have different purposes and somehow those kinds of interactions encounter problems.
self-detachment or withdrawal from the society, that person will be portrayed in the state of being isolated.
Commonly, a person suffers from isolation not because he/she has been born isolated. An isolated person mostly feels something different inside him/herself. Hence, it makes that person believes that he/she does not belong to the society. This point is strengthened in Psychology ‘73/’74 Encyclopedia:
To be alienated or isolated means to be estranged from one’s society. In past era, those who were alienated often came from the ranks of the poor, unemployed, and minority groups. They were alienated because obstacle, usually economic, did not permit them to live a life that had any purpose (Harmon, 1973)
In addition, Patrick Süskind is gratified by his recognition particularly to his literary debut. Several of his works gain success such as Der Kontraba[Beta] and the novel Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Morders which is translated into English Perfume: Story of a Murderer. This novel is also awarded as an contemporary German literature. He owes his fame mainly to his literary debut, the monodrama Der Kontraba[Beta], an overnight success and the darling of the German stage in the 1980s, and to the novel Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Morders, an international best seller that quickly became one of the most read German novels (westshore.edu, 2000).
insane while speculating on the role the sense of smell plays in our lives” (Silver, 2015). In addition, Perfume offers both mystery and horror story which are covered in a murder case.
In Perfume: Story of a Murderer, the main character of the novel is described in the state of isolated. The main character, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, is characterized by self-detachment or withdrawal because he suffers a kind of personality disorder. Since his behavior is obviously different from the behavior of the people in common and against the norms in the society where he lives, Grenouille is considered as someone who has unusual behavior compared to common people.
B. Problem Formulation
The discussion on this topic will be discussed through these following problems:
1. What are the characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille?
2. How do Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s characteristics reveal alienation symptoms?
C. Objectives of the Study
characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in order to portray Grenouille’s state of alienation.
D. Definition of Terms
Concerning on the analysis of this topic, it is obligated to clarify terms that are closely related to the topic. The first term is character. Abrams, through his book entitled A Glossary of Literary Terms: Tenth Edition, delivers that a character becomes the device to infer the value that is implied by the author. A character in a dramatic or narrative work is communicated through the dialog and action as a character is interpreted being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities (2012: 46).
The second term is alienation. Rachel Barclay and Aaron Moncivaiz (2013) in their web-based review mention that alienation is a state of a person when he/she feels disconnected from the society.
Alienation occurs when a person withdraws or becomes isolated from other people and his or her environment. People who are alienated will often reject loved ones or society, and feel distant and estranged from their own emotions (healthline.com, 2013).
5
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
Perfume: Story of a Murderer is awarded as the most read German novel and breaks an international best seller (Adams, 2000). This novel presents a main character named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who experiences alienation. There are several researchers who conduct a study related to alienation suffered by the character in the story. One of the studies is conducted by Lilik Jonet Pranowo (2004) from Sanata Dharma University.
Pranowo conducts an undergraduate thesis entitled Joseph‟s Alienation in Saul Bellow’s Dangling Man: A Psychological Study. In his study, Pranowo
analyzes Joseph, a character in that story, and finds that Joseph has a state of being alienated. Joseph‟s alienation can be recognized since his characteristics represent the symptoms of an alienated person “Joseph‟s divorce from the community has alienated himself from his society” (Pranowo, 2004: 27). Thereafter, Pranowo looks for the causes of Joseph‟s alienation and sees further to the impacts of Joseph‟s alienation to Joseph‟s mental condition.
In order to discover the analysis of Joseph‟s alienation and the impacts of
approach and theory: psychological approach and theory of alienation in social psychology.
On the other hand, there are also two studies which analyze the characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Particularly, the following studies discuss about psychological problems suffered by Grenouille. The first comes from Dame Kristana Napitupulu (2012). Napitupulu undertakes an undergraduate thesis entitled Anti-social Personality Disorder of the Main Character in Patrick Süskind’s Perfume, the Story of a Murderer from Sanata Dharma University. She
discovers that Grenouille, the main character of the story, experiences a psychological disorder known as anti-social personality disorder. Her discovery is due to her research in identifying the characteristics of Grenouille and finds Grenouille‟s symptoms for he suffers the anti-social personality disorder.
Thereafter, Napitupulu conducts a psychological study in order to relate Grenouille‟s characteristics with the criteria of anti-social personality disorder.
The second study is conducted by Sie Anne K.C. (2010) from Sanata Dharma University entitled Grenouille’s Anxiety and His Effort to Deal with It as Seen in Patrick Süskind’s Perfume. In her study, she finds, “Jean-Baptiste
Grenouille undergoes reality anxiety for one thing comes up due to his traumatic experience in childhood” (2010: 60). This shows that Grenouille has a kind of psychological problem that comes up as result of his unpleasant past experience. One of Grenouille‟s unpleasant past experience is when his mother bears him but
Knowing on this fact, Grenouille feels different from the other people mainly when he also discovers that he has no body odor. As result, Grenouille likes to isolate himself from the society.
Here, the writer has the same object of the study with Napitupulu and Anne which is a novel by Patrick Süskind entitled Perfume: Story of a Murderer. In this research, the writer aims to reveal Grenouille‟s alienation symptoms as
seen through his characteristics in Perfume: Story of a Murderer. Since one‟s alienation symptoms are examined through one‟s life in social context, the writer focuses on Grenouille‟s interactions with other characters. So, Grenouille‟s
alienation symptoms can be discovered.
Different with the writer‟s focus, Napitupulu and Anne put focus on Grenouille‟s past experience in examining his anti-social personality disorder and
anxiety disorder. Yet, the findings of Grenouille‟s characteristics from Napitupulu and Anne also useful as the supporting sources for the writer to reveal Grenouille‟s alienation symptoms in Perfume: Story of a Murderer.
This study contributes further on the novel‟s interpretation in the
perspective of alienation symptoms in psychology. For the future studies, this study contributes prominent information and deeper analysis on main character‟s state of being alienated in the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
B. Review of Related Theories
character and characterization, theory of the relationship between literature and psychology, and theory of alienation in social psychology.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
In a novel, a character becomes a very essential intrinsic element since it is the center of the story. A character in a story becomes the device to deliver the value that is implied by the author. According to Abrams (2012: 46),
“the characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue-and by what say-they do-say-the action”.
A character may expose the nature of the person itself to be his/her distinct feature. Therefore, a character is an individual in a narrative work that has characteristics which contribute to the development of the story. So, a character becomes an important intrinsic element in a story. By then, the characteristics of a character can be seen from what they say and do.
In addition, whenever the writer conducts a literature criticism particularly while analyzing the character, the writer has to acknowledge the characterizing method or known as characterization. The way to analyze a character can be both by showing and telling. In A Glossary of Literary Terms: Tenth Edition, Abrams and Harpham explain:
feelings, and responsiveness to events; for a highly developed mode such inner showing, see stream of consciousness. In telling, the author intervenes authoritatively in order to describe, and often to evaluate, the motives and dispositional qualities of the characters (Abrams and Harpham, 2012: 47).
Through talking in dialogue, the character is pictured. It is because dialogue gives the reader a clue about what qualities that a character has. In fact, dialogue is not only able to give the reader information about the qualities of the character but also to infer the character‟s motives behind the dialogue. As a result,
the reader may see further what lies behind the character‟s dialogue to define the characteristics of that character.
In order to define the character‟s characteristics, there are several ways
that can be applied. Murphy, in the book Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Student, delivers nine ways to examine a person‟s characteristics in a work of literature.
The first way is personal description. Through personal description, the author tells directly a character‟s details such his/her appearance and clothes. For
an instance, if the character wears ragged and dingy clothes in any occasions in the story and the character‟s eyes are hollow, the reader has the image that character is a slob. Those descriptions are described by the author. Hence, to identify the character‟s characteristics, the reader can focus on the author‟s
description.
character is always nice to other characters in any situations. Therefore, the reader may get a reflected image of a character in the story through another character‟s perspective.
The third way is speech. The author states a character‟s characteristics in a story through that character‟s speech, opinion, and conversation with other
characters. Anything that the character utters provides a great detail inside the mind of the reader. The character may speak in a quiet manner or in an anxious manner. The character may speak rudely or intelligently. As result, the reader gets those clues to define the character‟s characteristics.
The fourth way is past life. A person‟s characteristics may be influenced by his/her experiences in the past life as well as a character in the story. This way is expressed through the character‟s thought, his/her conversation with other
characters, and also through the author‟s direct comment. The author can give the reader a clue to events that shape a character‟s characteristics.
The fifth way is conversation of others. The author gives clues to the reader about the characteristics of a character in a story through the conversations of other characters. The author is also able to give clue to the reader about a character‟s characteristics through the things that the other characters talk about
that particular character in a story.
characters. How do other characters feel about this particular character? Do they feel happy, sad, or confident?
The seventh is direct comment. In this way, the author directly comments a character‟s characteristics in the story. Everything that the author describes in the story is meaningful for the reader to interpret a character‟s quality. Does the author describe a certain character as an ambitious, deceitful, or kind-hearted man? Hence, the reader is able to understand that character‟s characteristics in the story through the author‟s comment.
The eighth way is thoughts. A character‟s thought about certain matters in society is described through this way. What is thought by the character such whether he/she falls in love or is in the bad mood gives information to the reader about the quality of that character. Author is the only one party who has this privilege. The author can tell the reader what different character is thinking.
The last way is mannerisms. According to Murphy, a character‟s mannerisms reflect his/her personal characteristics. Other than mannerisms, a character‟s habits also reveal his/her quality. Anything that a character does tells the reader a lot about him/her. Therefore, the author may use this way to tell the reader something about the character in the story.
2. The Relation between Literature and Psychology
Wellek and Warren (1990: 81) say in Theory of Literature:
literature, or, finally, the effects of literature upon its readers (audience psychology).
In this study, the writer exposes the study of a psychological type presents within a work of literature. On the surface, psychology and literature are seen as two different things. Psychology may be seen as a field of study which concerns on human‟s mind and how it affects human‟s behavior. To make an analysis of psychology, people do it systematically. Therefore, all the things related to psychology field are made in scientific way. While, literature is seen as a field of study which deals with a work of art in written form like prose, play, and poem. Literature is very contrast with scientific writing since literature is respected as the work of art.
Yet, when the writer looks deeper, both psychology and literature share the same property. Through psychology, people get help to understand one‟s behavior. Through literature, people have the understanding on human values in the art of writing. In short, psychology and literature concern on human‟s
condition in life.
psychology and literature have a very close relation in attempt to analyze a character‟s behavior in a literature.
3. Review on Alienation in Psychology and Social Psychology
Social psychology is a study of human‟s behavior or attitude in a society. In general, social psychology explains the behavior of people in the society since they are controlled, influenced, and limited by it. Caveman, in Social Psychology: Understanding Human Interaction mentions:
Social psychology is an attempt to understand, explain, and predict how the thought, feelings, and actions of other (whose presence may be actual, imagined, or implied) (Caveman, 1973: 8).
Through social psychology, people are expected to be able to explain and predict what is thought by others in real life as well as to explain and predict the feelings of the character in a literary work on the social context (Caveman, 1973: 8). This expectation is aimed to give and also get the mutual respect among human beings in their interactions. Therefore, human beings may understand each other‟s feelings to maintain their relationships in society.
Social psychology focuses on individuals in a group. Therefore, the term „group‟ is used to say „society‟ since individuals do not exist in isolation of social
and cultural influences.
Perhaps man‟s chief problem is not biological survival, but the more philosophical and existential one of learning to live with himself. Man does not exist, however, as an isolate in time and space, because he is a product of his relations with others and must be understood in those terms is he is to be understood at all. Hence, living with oneself is also social problem (Lindgren, 1981: 3).
In relation to problems in social psychology, social psychology has many important concepts. One of them is alienation. Barclay and Moncivaiz in their web-based article define alienation.
Alienation is a state when a person withdraws or becomes isolated from other people and his or her environment. People who are alienated will often reject loved ones or society, and feel distant and estranged from their own emotions (healthline.com, 2013).
According to them, alienation happens when someone is disconnected from self or even from society. When someone is disconnected from him/herself, it is called self-alienation. In contrast, when someone is disconnected from the society it is called social alienation.
The feeling of helplessness happens when someone has no one to rely on and to get help when he/she in trouble. The feeling that the world is empty or meaningless happens when someone loses his/her purpose in life, so he/she feels useless to live in this life. The feeling of being different is when someone is not similar with others in terms of way of thinking, life purpose, attitude, and habit. The difficulty to approach and speak with others exists when someone has no eagerness to make such interactions with other person. So, he/she tends to do anything by him/herself alone. The refusal to obey rules is when someone has his/her own ideal of life purpose and unfortunately his/her life purpose is usually against the norms in society. The signs of depression can be found whenever someone fells depressed with his/her condition at that time. The excessive sleep or insomnia happens when someone is busy with his/her own thought on a certain matter and he/she thinks about it so deeply like he/she cannot leave that matter for a second. So, he/she always thinks about that matter.
Furthermore, someone suffers from alienation not only because of his/her own will to be in the state of being alienated nor born alienated. As Davis says in Man in Crisis, “a person becomes alienated for he/she lacks of love, perceives powerless, and worthless, etc.” (1970: 296). As a result, he/she often looks
his/her self as the third person and he/she will detach his/her self from the society.
condition. He/she will be easier to get mad and depression particularly when he/she fails to attempt his/her goal. Then, it may lead into a criminal activity. It is because the alienated person tends to not obey the rules and norms in the society.
C. Theoretical Framework
Through this part, the writer explains the contribution of each theory in order to answer the problem formulations. There are two theories and a web-based review which are used to analyze Perfume: Story of a Murderer. The theories are theory of character and characterization, and also theory on relation between literature and psychology. Meanwhile, the review is a review on alienation in psychology and social psychology.
First, the writer applies the theory of character and characterization to analyze the characteristic of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille since Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is the main character in Perfume: Story of a Murderer. The writer observes Jean-Baptiste Grenouille‟s characteristics through his personal description, action and dialogue, through another character‟s perspective upon him, and through the author‟s description.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is a novel entitled Perfume: Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. This novel is originally entitled in German Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Morders. Patrick Süskind is one of the most celebrated younger writers in the contemporary German literature.
The novel Perfume was published in several countries such as Germany, USA, and United Kingdom in 1985. The publisher in Germany was Diogenes, while in USA and UK are Alfred A. Knopf and Hamish Hamilton. Perfume: Story of a Murderer is a novel with 255 pages long that is divided into 4 parts and 51 chapters.
There are three special records that Perfume has achieved. “The records achieved by Perfume are the publication of the works, film adaptation, and inspiration of several songs” (goodreads.com, 2015).
Second, a film adaptation from the novel Perfume: The story of a Murderer is made and premiered in Germany (2006). The movie’s title is the same with the novel’s title and it gains many audiences in its premiere.
Third, the story of Perfume has inspired several musicians to create several songs (pioneerperfume.com, 2015). Kurt Cobain, a singer and guitarist of Nirvana (his group band), made a song that is inspired from the novel Perfume: The story of a Murderer. The song is entitled “Scentless Apprentice” in the music album In Utero (1993). Other than Cobain, there is also a song by a Portuguese gothic-doom metal band Moonspell that is derived from the story of Perfume. The title of the song is “Herr Spiegelmann”. Another song is written by French downtempo duo Air entitled “Red Head Girl”. It is inspired by the red-headed girl characters
in the story: a plum seller and Laure Richis. Lastly, there are two songs that are inspired by the novel Perfume. The songs are entitled “Du riechst so gut” in German (means “You Smell So Good”) by Rammstein and “Nearly Witches (Ever
Since We Met)” by Panic! At the Disco.
In short, in the journey to explore his ability and fulfill his ambition, he meets several significant figures, has many odor experiences, and always learns how to keep preserving the odor eternally. Therefore, this leads to his ambition to preserve a perfect odor that will make people aware of his existence and recognize him. So, he will be freed from his state of being alienated. Unfortunately, the perfect odor that Grenouille wants to preserve is the human odor that comes from the extract of beautiful virgin women.
B. Approach of the Study
Since in this research the writer discusses about the alienation experienced by the main character of a novel entitled Perfume, the most appropriate approach to be applied is psychological approach.
As Knellwolf and Norris (2008) deliver that psychological approach is the most appropriate approach to examine human’s psychology in the state of being alienated. Hence, in this research the writer focuses on the main character’s psychology.
In addition, psychological approach is appropriate to study about one’s behavior. In the work of literature, this approach can be applied to study about the character’s psychological conflict such alienation. As stated by Guerin,
The writer applies psychological approach to study psychological conflicts of the main character in the story. The psychological conflicts that are found in the main character’s characteristics are the main character’s state of being alienated.
Thus, psychological approach is the most appropriate approach to analyze the main character’s characteristics of being alienated.
C. Method of the Study
In this discussion, the writer applies a library research. Library research means that the writer uses books, theories, and any information related to the topic to collect supportive data on the subject matter.
A novel entitled Perfume: Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind and internet references related to Patrick Süskind and his work were used as the primary source of data. The writer did several steps in order to answer the problem formulation and had a further understanding about the main character’s alienation as seen in Perfume: Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind. In this discussion, the writer’s purpose was to examine the characteristics of the main character and to reveal alienation symptoms through the characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as the main character of the story.
characterization, it helped the writer to have a deep understanding about Grenouille’s quality.
Second, the further focus was narrowed on how Grenouille’s characteristics revealed alienation symptoms. After the writer examined the characteristics of Grenouille, the review on alienation in psychology and social psychology was applied to relate Grenouille’s characteristics and the details of Grenouille’s portrayal in the state of being alienated. The last, after finishing those
two steps, the writer drew conclusion of the study.
In this discussion, the writer used references and data to support the analysis. The primary source was a novel entitled Perfume: Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind (1985).While, the secondary references came from the theories on literary works. Theories on literary works were such theory on character, characteristic, and characterization by Abrams and Harpham (2012) from his book entitled A Glossary of Literary Terms, a book entitled Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Student by Murphy (1972), and also Theory of Literature by Rene Wellek and Austin Warren (1990).
Meanwhile, in order to reveal and identify Grenouille’s alienation
23
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter exposes the problem formulation’s discussion. Here, two subchapters are presented. The first subchapter explains the characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Perfume: Story of a Murderer. The second subchapter reveals the alienation symptoms through the characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
A. The Characteristics of Jean-BaptisteGrenouille
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is the main character in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. Here, Grenouille is described as someone who feels that he is different
from the other characters. Grenouille’s characteristics are pictured through several
ways of characterizations such personal description, conversation of others, speech, a character as seen by another character, character’s reaction towards events, and direct comment by the author.
1. Ignorant
Since Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was born, he has no body that is
responsible to look after him. In Grenouille’s early life, he is raised in the
In Madame Gaillard’s orphanage, Madame Gaillard hardly ever pays attention to any of children in her orphanage.
On the other hand … or perhaps precisely because of her total lack of emotion … Madame Gaillard had a merciless sense of order and justice.
She showed no preference for any one of the children entrusted to her nor discriminated against any one of them. She served up three meals a day and not the tiniest snack more. She diapered the little ones three times a day, but only until their second birthday. Whoever shit in his pants after that received an uncensorious slap and one less meal (Süskind, 2006: 19). Madame Gaillard only focuses on her core duty: feeding the children sufficiently and changing their diapers until they reach two years old. That is all. Therefore, Madame Gaillard does not care about her children’s other needs such the needs of cleanliness.
Being nurtured in the environment where people are ignorant with one another, leads Grenouille into a character who is ignorant to his being. Particularly, he is ignorant to his physical appearance. Murphy explains that the
author can describe a person’s quality through his/her appearance and clothes
(Murphy, 1972: 161). Thereafter, this characterization method is called personal description. Süskind clearly describes Grenouille as an unpleasant figure that is not significance in the society where Grenouille lives.
Looked at objectively, however, there was nothing at all about him to instill terror. As he grew older, he was not especially big, nor strong— ugly, true, but not so extremely ugly that people would necessarily have taken fright at him. He was not aggressive, nor underhanded, nor furtive, he did not provoke people. He preferred to keep out their way (Süskind, 2006: 23).
Physically, Grenouille’s appearance is not attractive. So, it makes sense if
Grenouille’s being is just like a tick that does not deserve any attention ―even
other woman would have kicked this monstrous child out‖ (Süskind, 2006: 22). After Madame Gaillard, Grenouille lives with Grimal. Grimal is a tanner.
There, Grenouille works for him. As well as living in Madame Gaillard’s
orphanage, Grenouille receives no affection from Grimal. Grenouille only knows that he has to work hard for Grimal and Grimal does not care of Grenouille’s being as his worker. One time, Grenouille suffers anthrax. Anthrax is a disastrous disease feared by most tanners at that time (2006: 32). Grimal is afraid for Grenouille suffers that disease. Grimal is afraid to loose Grenouille, his valuable worker. Fortunately, Grenouille is able to escape from that fatal disease. As result,
what’s left on Grenouille is swollen skin and it makes Grenouille’s look horrible.
But contrary to all expectation, Grenouille survived the illness. All he bore from it were scars from the large back carbuncles behind his ears and on his hands and cheeks, leaving him disfigured and even uglier than he had been before. It also left him immune to anthrax—an invaluable advantage—so that he could strip the foulest hides with cut and bleeding hands and still run no danger of infection (Süskind, 2006: 32).
From the quotation, the writer pictures Grenouille’s ignorant characteristic
through his reaction towards events and physical appearance.
2. Prodigious
Living all alone in the society shapes Grenouille’s quality to be an
Besides being an autodidact, Grenouille also explores and enriches his vocabulary by observing things around him. Grenouille has his own method in improving his knowledge and ability. Here, he realizes that he has a peculiar ability to distinguish odor and memorize all of them.
He only smelled the aroma of the wood rising up around him to be captured under the bonnet of the eaves. He drank in the aroma, he drowned in it, impregnating himself; he lay on the cord of wood like a wooden puppet, like Pinocchio, as if dead, until after a long while, perhaps a half
hour or more, he gaged up the word ―wood.‖ He vomited the word up, as
if he were filled with wood to his ears, as if buried in wood to his neck, as if his stomach, his gorge, his nose were spilling over with wood. And that brought him to himself, rescued him only moments before the overpowering presence of the wood, its aroma, was about to suffocate him. He shook himself, slid down off the logs, and tottered away as if on only by sniffing the odor of those things. Then, Grenouille names those things and keeps them in his memory. Grenouille, in his age at that time, is considered as a prodigy kid for he knows the most suitable way of learning for himself without anyone who teaches or accompanies him. He is a typical self-learning person.
Because of Grenouille’s peculiar ability, Madame Gaillard feels insecure. Madame Gaillard sees Grenouille’s ability is getting developed day by day. Grenouille can find Madame Gaillard’s money which is kept in a hidden place in the orphanage. Grenouille is also able to predict what will happen in the future.
He can predict ―a visitor who will stop by the orphanage long before the person
arrived or a thunderstorm when there was not the least cloud in the sky‖ (Süskind, 2006: 27). Madame Gaillard thinks that Grenouille has second sight and considers him as a feebleminded. Madame Gaillard believes that a person with second sight will only bring misfortune inside the house.
Not only describing a character’s quality through personal description, ―the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of another‖ (Murphy,
1972: 162). By analyzing Grenouille’s quality through Madame Gaillard’s perspective, the writer sees Grenouille’s quality that is prodigious. Grenouille is considered as a prodigy because he can learn everything in his life by himself without any guidance. Grenouille relies on his olfactory system to improve knowledge about anything around him. Even Madame Gaillard considers him feebleminded.
In addition, Grenouille the prodigy arranges his murder scenario neatly. He plans to murder twenty five virgins in Grasse including a beautiful girl named Laure Richis in order to create perfume that is made from the essence of the
needs journeyman’s papers and the knowledge in preserving odor in the best way: maceration. Maceration is a method to preserve odor.
He wants ―those journeyman’s papers that would make it possible for him
to live an inconspicuous life, to travel undisturbed, and to find a job‖ (Süskind, 2006: 107). So, he asked Baldini—Grenouille’s master after Grimal—to make
journeyman’s papers available for him. Then, Grenouille can travel securely and find the best way to preserve odor. Grenouille’s trip to find the best way to
preserve odor stops in a small perfumer’s workshop owned by Madame Arnulfi. In Madame Arnulfi’s workshop, Grenouille learns the finest method to preserve
odor which is called maceration. It is not difficult for Grenouille to learn the whole new method since he is prodigious, self and quick-learner. Again, he learns those things by himself. Therefore, the writer concludes Grenouille as a prodigy character because of his peculiar ability and his being of self and quick learner.
3. Ambitious
Since Grenouille is aware that he has the absence of body odor, he has ambition to be recognized in the society where he lives. He thinks that people in his surroundings ignore him because he does not possess body odor. Therefore, he wants to create an odor that makes people recognizes his existence.
It happens when Grenouille has his evening stroll on September 1, 1753
Grenouille does not like to be in crowd, he leaves the crowd and strolls around Paris. While he strolls around, he smells a brittle scent from the wind. He is paralyzed by the scent, so he has to catch that odor and find out to whom that scent belongs to.
He backed up against the wall, closed his eyes, and flared his nostrils. The scent was so exceptionally delicate and fine that he could not hold on to it; it continually eluded his perception, was masked by the powder smoke of the petards, blocked by the exudations of the crowd, fragmented and crushed by the thousands of other city odors. But then, suddenly, it was there again, a mere shred, the whiff of a magnificent premonition for only
a second…and it vanished at once. Grenouille suffered agonies. For the
first time, it was not just that his greedy nature was offended, but his very heart ached (Süskind, 2006: 38).
Süskind describes Grenouille’s ambitious characteristic through
Grenouille’s reaction towards an event. Moreover, this also strengthens by Murphy that the author may describe the character in the story through the
character’s reaction towards events (Murphy, 1972: 168). The event is when Grenouille encounters a delicate scent and it turns out that he loves it so much and has a further ambition to possess it. Once he catches this brittle scent, Grenouille knows that this scent is the key of any finest odor so ―he had to have it, not simply
in order to possess it, but for his heart to be at peace‖ (Süskind, 2006: 38).
Hence, for the sake of his peacefulness, he has to find out to whom that scent belongs to. It turns out that the scent belongs to a beautiful red-headed plum seller. Because of Grenouille’s ambition to own the scent of the girl, he murders her. Thereafter, he can enjoy sniffing the odor of the girl as much as he wants.
sparkling green eyes, keeping his eyes closed tight as he strangled her, for he had only one concern—not to lose the least trace of her scent.
When she was dead he laid her on the ground among the plum pits, tore off her dress, and the stream of scent became a flood that inundated him with its fragrance. He thrust his face to her skin and swept his flared nostrils across her, from belly to breast, to neck, over her face and hair, and back to her belly, down to her genitals, to her thighs and white legs. He smelled her over from head to toe, he gathered up the last fragments of her scent under her chin, in her navel, and in the wrinkles inside her elbow (Süskind, 2006: 38).
Although Grenouille can enjoy his pleasure by catching the plum seller’s
scent, this enjoyment is not eternal. After the plum seller died, her scent faded and then Grenouille left her away. This event becomes Grenouille’s starting point to fulfill his ambition to explore so many odors and at the end, create the fines scent.
In order to achieve his ambition, Grenouille travels to one place and another. His journey is aimed to enrich his odor experience and to learn the best way to preserve odor. Hence, his ambition is developed. He travels to Paris, Orleans, Plomb du Cantal, Montpellier, and Grasse. He becomes an apprentice in
Grimal’s tannery, Baldini’s workshop, and a journeyman in a perfumer’s workshop of Madame Arnulfi (Süskind, 2006: 159, 173). He commits to do anything in order to achieve his ambitions, even if he has to attempt a murder.
Besides describing Grenouille’s characteristic to his reactions toward
And then all at once the lips of the dying boy opened, and in voice whose clarity and firmness betrayed next to nothing of his immediate demise, he
spoke. ―Tell me, maître, are there other ways to extract the scent from
things besides pressing or distilling?‖
Baldini, believing the voice had come either from his own imagination or
from the next world, answered mechanically, ―Yes, they are.‖
―What are they?‖ came the question from the bed. And Baldini opened his
tired eyes wide. Grenouille lay there motionless among his pillows. Had the corpse spoken?
―What are they?‖ came the renewed question, and this time Baldini noticed Grenouille’s lips move. It’s over now, he thought. This is the end,
this is the madness of fever or the throes of death. And he stood up, went over to bed, and bent down to the sick man. His eyes were open and he gazed up at Baldini with the same strange, lurking look that he had fixed on him at their first meeting.
―What are they?‖ he asked (Süskind, 2006: 104-105).
In the middle of Grenouille’s illness, Grenouille ambitiously asks Baldini where he can learn the best method to preserve scent. Grenouille never satisfied until he gets the information from Baldini the best method to preserve scent and where they are.
Baldini felt a pang in his heart—he could not deny a dying man his last wish—and he answered, ―There are three other ways, my son: enfleurage à chaud, enfleurage à froid, and enfleurage à l’huile. They are superior to distillation in several ways, and they are used for extraction of the finest of
all scents: jasmine, rose, and orange blossom.‖ ―Where?‖ asked Grenouille.
writer concludes that Grenouille is described as an ambitious character according to his reactions toward events and according to the speech.
B. The Portrayal of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s Alienation
During Grenouille’s life time, he always makes interactions with other characters as long as he lives in order to be matured and developed. These interactions are aimed to make him mingle in the society where he lives. In the process of interactions, somehow Grenouille is able to mingle in the society. Yet, he may also feel that he does not able to mingle in the society because of several reasons (healthline.com, 2013).
As mentioned by Barclay and Monicvaiz, there are several reasons on why a person feels that he/she does not able to mingle in the society. The reasons are the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being different, the refusal to obey rules, the difficulty in approaching and speaking with others, and the feeling of depression. Consequently, the person encounters several experiences of having alienation symptoms during his life in order to mingle in the society as well as Grenouille.
Grenouille receives much alienation because his qualities fulfill the alienation symptoms. The alienation symptoms in Grenouille go reasonably with the reason on why he cannot mingle in the society.
Specifically, the alienation symptoms exist in Grenouille are also pictured through several ways such personal description, conversation of others, speech, how he is seen by other characters, direct comment by the author, and past life (Murphy, 1972). Besides those ways of characterizations, the writer also finds
Grenouille’s alienation through several characterization methods such
Grenouille’s speech, actions, thoughts, feelings, and responsiveness to events (Abrams, 1999).
1. The Feeling of Helplessness
Madame Gaillard is the foster mother of Grenouille and other orphan kids in her orphanage. Grenouille lives in Madame Gaillard’s orphanage from a year
old until ten years old. Grenouille’s custody is handed over to Madame Gaillard’s
orphanage after he is raised in ecclesiastical institution.
from their parents or family, Greonouille never gets these stuffs from his surrounding for he has been an orphan since newly born baby.
He could eat watery soup for days on end, he managed on the thinnest milk, digested the rottenest vegetables and spoiled meat. In the course of his childhood he survived the measles, dysentery, chicken pox, cholera, a twenty-foot fall into a well, and a scalding with boiling water poured over his chest. True, he bore scars and chafings and scabs from it all, and a slightly crippled foot left him with a limp, but he lived. He was a tough as a resistant bacterium and as content as a tick sitting quietly on a tree and living off a tiny drop of blood plundered years before. He required a minimum ration of food and clothing for his body. For his soul he required nothing. Security, attention, tenderness, love – or whatever all those things are called that children are said to require – were totally dispensable for the young Grenouille (Süskind, 2006: 20-21).
As time goes by, Grenouille is grown to be a young man. Since Grenouille is eleven years old, Grenouille lives with Grimal. Grimal is a tanner who becomes
Grenouille’s master after his custody is handed over from Madame Gaillard.
Grenouille lives with Grimal since he is 11 years old. With Grimal, Grenouille is forced to work as a tanner worker with uncivilized working hours. Grimal forces Grenouille to work up to 16 hours in summer and 8 hours during winter season. As a tanner, Grenouille is also assigned to tan hides. It has a long and exhausting process to tan hides but Grenouille never complains.
He scraped the meat from bestially stinking hides, watered them down, dehaired them, limed, bated, and fulled them, rubbed them down with pickling dung, chopped wood, stripped bark from birch and yew, climbed down into the tanning pits filled with caustic fumes, layered the hides and pelts just as the journeymen ordered him, spread them with smashed gallnuts, covered this funeral pyre with yew branches and earth. Years later, he would have to dig them up again and retrieve these mummified hide carcasses—now tanned leather—from their grave (Süskind, 2006: 31-32).
helplessness is exposed on how Grimal uncivilized Grenouille. Grenouille is assigned to work for hours both in summer and winter with limited break time. He also has to work in a dirty workshop, does not get adequate meals and does not get a proper place to sleep at night. Until at one moment, Grenouille suffers
anthrax: ―a disease feared by tanners and usually fatal‖ (Süskind, 2006: 32). Fortunately, Grenouille is able to escape from that disease but then his skin is full of scars from the large black carbuncles behind his ears and on his hands and
cheeks. In short, Grenouille’s physical appearance is far from attractive.
Therefore, Grenouille is estranged from the society for he rarely makes interactions with other due to his physical unattractiveness.
2. The Feeling of being Different
Jeanne Bussie is a wet nurse who breastfeeds Grenouille after he is left by
his mother. Grenouille’s mother leaves Grenouille and does not take care of him anymore. It happens because Grenouille’s mother is not able to afford her son and family’s needs. Thus, Grenouille’s mother is sentenced death penalty according to
the law for she abandons Grenouille. As result, Grenouille’s custody is handed over to Father Terrier from ecclesiastical institution ―so that there they could baptize him and decide his further fate‖ (Süskind, 2006: 7). Thereafter, he is given to a wet nurse named Jeanne Bussie in order to breastfeed Grenouille as prescribed by law. To breastfeed Grenouille, Jeanne Bussie receives 3 francs per week from the ecclesiastical institution.
Unexpectedly, Jeanne Bussie brings Grenouille back to Father Terrier because she assumes that Grenouille possesses the spirit of evil and Bussie is afraid of it. As an infant, Grenouille is recognized as a greedy baby and she cannot breastfeed a greedy baby. In her ideology, Grenouille does not require any qualities that an infant should possess so she assumes that Grenouille possesses the spirit of evil. The qualities that a baby should have are they smell like a smooth, warm stone, fresh butter, and their head smell like caramel. Therefore, she decides to stop breastfeed Grenouille and bring him back to Father Terrier.
―I don’t want any money, period,‖ said the wet nurse. ―I want this bastard out of my house.‖
―But why my good woman?‖ said Terrier, poking his finger in the basket again. ―He really is an adorable child. He’s rosy pink, he doesn’t cry, and he’s been baptized.‖
―He’s possessed by the devil.‖
―Imposible! It is absolutely impossible for an infant to be possessed by the
devil. An infant is not yet human being; it is a prehuman and does not yet possess a fully developed soul. Which is why it is of no interest to the devil. Can he talk already, perhaps? Does he twitch and jerk? Does he
move things about in the room? Does some evil stench come from him?‖
(Süskind, 2006: 10).
Through the conversation between Jean Bussie and Father Terrier, the writer is able to picture the characteristics of Grenouille while he is in the age before 2, particularly upon his characteristics that show an alienation symptom. One of the symptoms that Barclay and Monicvaiz describe is the feeling of being different. When Grenouille infant, he is pictured to possess an unusual quality that an infant in common does not possess. The qualities are greedy and odorless.
Baby Grenouille is greedy. Unlike other babies that Jeanne Bussie breastfeed, only Grenouille who pumps her down to the bones whenever she breastfeeds Grenouille. She never encounters any other babies before who possess characteristics like what Grenouille has.
The monk poked about in the basket with his finger till he had exposed the face of the sleeping infant.
―He looks good. Rosy pink and well nourished.‖
―Because he’s stuffed himself on me. Because he’s pumped me dry down to the bones. But I’ve put a stop to that. Now you can feed him yourselves
with goat’s milk, with pap, with beet juice. He’ll gobble up anything, that bastard will‖ (Süskind, 2006: 8).
Aside from greedy, another unusual quality that Grenouille possessed is his state of being odorless. In the eye of Jeanne Bussie, commonly a baby possesses a mild body odor, as mild as fresh butter and caramel. That what makes a baby is lovely. Unfortunately, Grenouille does not possess it all. Jeanne Bussie
is different from other babies and she no longer wants to take care and breastfeed Grenouille.
―There, right there, is where they smell best of all. It smells like caramel, it smells so sweet, so wonderful, Father, you have no idea! Once you’ve
smelled them there, you love them whether they’re your own or somebody
else’s. And that’s how little children have to smell –and no other way. And
if they don’t smell like that, if they don’t have any smell at all up there, then… You can explain it however you like, Father, but I‖ –and she crossed her arms resolutely beneath her bossom and cast a look of disgust toward the basket at her feet as if it contained toads – ―I, Jeanne Bussie,
will not take that thing back!‖ (Süskind, 2006: 12-13).
Shortly, Jeanne Bussie sees Grenouille as an unusual baby because Grenouille is different. He does not have any quality that an infant should possess and also because he is odorless. Therefore, the writer sees that Grenouille has the feeling of different as the alienation symptom.
In addition, Süskind describes young Grenouille as a child who is proper to be treated differently. Grenouille is described as a tick that is small, forgotten,
and only brings trouble to its surrounding that ―every other woman would have kicked this monstrous child out‖ (Süskind, 2006: 22). As well as a tick, Grenouille gets an absent of security, attention, tenderness, and love.
As Grenouille getting older, in the age around 3, his physical appearance
from others. The following quotation pictures how Grenouille has the feeling of different since his being does not look like what people in common look like.
As he grew older, he was not especially big, nor strong—ugly, true, but not so extremely ugly that people would necessarily have taken fright at him. He was not aggressive, nor underhanded, nor furtive, he did not provoke people. He preferred to keep out of their way. And he appeared to possess nothing even approaching a fearful intelligence (Süskind, 2006: 23).
Furthermore, as time goes by, Grenouille becomes a young man. After his custody is handed over by Madame Gaillard to Grimal, Grenouille lives with that man. Grimal is a tanner. While living with Grimal, Grenouille is pictured for having the feeling of different; one of the alienation symptoms delivered by Barclay and Monicvaiz.
Grenouille’s feeling of different is revealed through Grenouille’s response
towards Grimal’s treatment upon him. Even though Grimal treats Grenouille like he is an animal (Süskind, 2006: 32), Grenouille never protests about his status quo. Grenouille always does his tasks perfectly: never complaining or demanding, but persistent. This makes him different with other workers because Grenouille’s performance is beyond great and profitable for Grimal.
Tough, uncomplaining, inconspicuous, he tended the light of life’s hopes
as a very small, but carefully nourished flame. He was a paragon of docility, frugality, and diligence in his work, obeyed implicitly, and appeared satisfied with every meal offered. In the evening he meekly let himself be locked up in a closet off to one side of the tannery floor, where tools were kept and the raw, salted hides were hung (Süskind, 2006: 31). Grenouille simply just lives his own life and does his tasks without complaining. Until Grenouille suffers anthrax, Grimal realizes that he has been
uncivilized Grenouille then Grimal ―no longer kept him as just any animal, but as
Grimal begins to civilize Grenouille while Grenouille is twelve years old. Grimal allows Grenouille to have a half of Sunday off. While Grenouille is thirteen years old, Grimal lets him to go out on weekend evenings after work and do whatever he likes. Grenouille is spoiled with blissful feelings for he has the opportunity to explore new odors in Paris. The writer analyzes this occasion to see
Grenouille’s awareness of having passion in hunting odors regardless his state of being odorless.
Grenouille loves to spend his time alone, even when he has half of Sunday off. When he explores Paris, he likes to walk alone and stops in the corner of the street and sniffs to acknowledge various kinds of odors and registers them in his mind.
He would often just stand there, leaning against a wall or crouching in a dark corner, his eyes closed, his mouth half open and nostrils flaring wide, quiet as a feeding pike in a great, dark, slowly moving current. And when at last a puff of air would toss a delicate thread of scent his way, he would lunge at it and not let go. Then he would smell at only this one odor, holding it tight, pulling it into himself and preserving it for all time. (Süskind, 2006: 34)
The fact that Grenouille always enjoys being alone portrays one of the alienation symptoms. He observes and learns new odors by himself, travels at night, and avoids crowd. For Barclay and Monicivaiz define alienation as a state when someone is estranged from society, as well as Grenouille who likes to spend
That means Grenouille is aware of his interest in observing odors that exist around him. He loves to travel alone because no one understands his ability and also because physically, Grenouille is not attractive at all.
3. The Refusal to Obey Rules
Living in Madame Gaillard’s orphanage, Grenouille is also described as a
character who has a tendency to disobey rules. Since Grenouille likes to travel from one place to another, it makes him to go home late at night. Not only goes home late at night, Grenouille even remains missing for days. Consequently,
Madame Gaillard’s punishments await him every time he goes home.
What he loved most was to rove alone through the northern parts of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, through vegetable gardens and vineyards, across meadows. Sometimes he did not come home in the evening, remined missing for days. The rod of punishments awaiting him he bore without a whimper of pain. Confining him to the house, denying him meals, sentencing him to hard labor—nothing could change his behavior (Süskind, 2006: 27).
According to Barclay and Monicvaiz, the refusal to obey rules is one of the symptoms of alienated person. Grenouille’s characteristic who likes to disobey
rules in Madame Gaillard’s orphanage indicates that he is an alienated person. In
addition, it also reveals that Grenouille is a stubborn person for even Madame
Gaillard’s punishment does not change his behavior.
thirteen years old girl. Grenouille, then, tries as hard as possible to steal the scent of the plum seller.
He backed up against the wall, cloed his eyes, and flared his nostrils. The scent was so exceptionally eluded his perception, was masked by the powder smoke of petards, blocked by the exudations of the crowd, fragmented and crushed by the thousands of other city odors. But then, suddenly, it was there again, a mere shred, the whiff of a magnificent premonition for only a second…and it vanished at once. Grenouille suffered agonies. For the first time it was not just that greedy nature was offended, but his very heart ached. He had the prescience of something extraordinary—this scent was the key for ordering all odors, one could understand nothing about odors if one did not understand this one scent, and his whole life would be bungled, if he, Grenouille did not succeed in possessing it. He had to have it, not simply in order to possess it, but for his heart to be at peace (Süskind, 2006: 38).
Thereafter, he decides to kill the plum seller in order to possess her odor and get peace in his heart. Grenouille strangles the plum seller without any resistance from her. After Grenouille murders the plum seller, he lays her on the ground, tears off her dress, and he gloriously enjoys the stream of her scent like a flood of fragrance. He pushes himself suddenly to her skin and sweeps his flared nostrils across her, from belly to breast, neck, face, hair, and back to her belly and her genitals, her thighs, and legs (Süskind, 2006: 43).
Grenouille literally sucks the plum seller’s odor by sniffing her whole
body, but with no intention to rape her. His action is purely done to sniff and collect her body odor in his mind simply to satisfy his desire. It can be seen from
Süskind’s description on how Grenouille ―did not want to spill a drop of her scent‖ (Süskind, 2006: 43). Right after he is satisfied by the plum seller’s scent,
That shows how Grenouille fulfills a quality of alienated person: the
refusal to obey rules. Implicitly, Grenouille refuses to obey the society’s common
norms and rules at that time. The reason is because Grenouille may have inadequate knowledge about what is right and what is wrong according to the
society’s norms. He is also not accustomed to distinguish what is considered as good and bad in the society where he lives. This happens because since Grenouille was kid he rarely has any interaction with others and he is never taught to have a good manner, behavior, and common ethics in society.
So that, he does not know what things that are considered as right and wrong, good and bad. Grenouille does everything on his own will and for the sake to fulfill his desire and ambition. He never considers whether everything that he does may harm others or not. As result, his way of thinking is like this: if he has an ambition, he shall to be able to achieve it for himself only. Hence, because what Grenouille has done is against the norm and law that are applied in that society, the writer finds that Grenouille fulfills the quality of an alienated person who has a tendency to disobey rules.
4. The Difficulty Approaching and Speaking with Others
In Madame Gaillard’s orphanage, Grenouille faces alienation while he
interacts with the other orphan kids. The orphan kids in there are Grenouille’s
housemates. Grenouille is alienated from his housemates and it can be seen on how Grenouille has difficulty to mingle with his housemates.
