Context And Analysis Of The Work The Perfume

Context and analysis of the work The perfume

The work entitled "El Perfume" was written by Patrick Süskind, German writer and student of modern contemporary history;It was published in 1985 with the realistic literary current since it describes the environment, customs, problems and way of living of the population in antiquity. This work is the most acclaimed of this writer, thanks to this Süskind has won several awards that have driven him to allow his novel to be translated into more than 40 languages in the world;All this has been achieved thanks to the excellent use of literary conventions that allow an adequate transmission of the message to the reader because the combination of literary figures, the appropriate language and the transmission of emotions through reading made it aacclaimed work. In this book the life of Jean Baptiste Grenouille, a child abandoned by Somo and despised by all the people around him, he murdered women to obtain his fragrance;The protagonist did not have his own smell that is translated as the absence of own identity. We can note that the main character owns a developed sense of smell that leads to his obsession with the world of aromas;Thanks to this quality and his actions is qualified by Patrick Süskind as an "abominable and great monster". For all that said we will answer the question, to what extent the actions described in the book support the denomination, to Jean Baptiste, as an "abominable and great monster"?

First we must take into account that the novel is based on medieval times even though its author belongs to the modern. The first situation to consider is his birth that took place in a fish square, this place was his mother’s workplace, who planned to let the child die at birth;However, he was found and taken to be careful for several nurse but the only one who manages to highlight is Jeanne Bussie, who accuses him of being a monster for not having a smell, we must analyze that Grenouille was still a baby when he first described it for the first timeUsing a negative adjective: "It is possessed by the demon" (Süskind, 1985) was what the nurse said when returning it to the Church. While he grew, in history, it can be seen that the children of the nurse feel fear and annoyance in the presence of Jean Baptiste, one of the reasons was the way he learned to speak that it was very peculiar since it only pronounced the name of the objects that possessed a characteristic aroma so I did not know love, hate or faith; But this uncomfortable sensation can be found in all the people around it and you can know all these data through the omniscient narrator that this novel has so it allows us to know the thought and life of each of these characters; It can be said that his childhood concurred in a different way compared to the rest of the children and this can be associated with their smell and the lack of a person who helps him to know and apply the meaning of those words that entail the integration of values ​​into Human beings.

Secondly, the attitude that was present in the protagonist will be analyzed while he developed in his workplace; The first work Grenouille obtained was manufacturing leather where the head of his commissioned the most complex activities, the factory owner was afraid because the protagonist did not feel pain and apparently lacked feelings, this quality can be associated with him term monster. Then he works with the perfumeist Baldini, who discovered Jean Baptiste’s ability to form perfumes, the perfumer exploits the skills that Grenouille possesses because he is the creator of new fragrances in a short time and never repeats perfumes something that is extremely complicated;This situation becomes a livelihood in favor of him being a genius;It can be established that the main character is a very intelligent and brilliant person since in the book it allows us. It should be taken to keep in mind that when Grenouille abandons this business, the perfume describes Baldini’s thoughts: "I had always avoided touching it for a kind of disgust" (Süskind, 1985)., It can be deduced that this is another case where Jean Baptiste is an abominable person;This may be due to the fact that he did not have an identity and above all it was too superficial because he had no feelings because he did not know them and this was the product that they did not detach an aroma and if something has no smell he cannot attract the attention of the protagonist. In addition, it should be stressed that during this work Grenouille already sought to extract the essence of different things such as glass, clothing, etc.

Another situation that allows us to know part of the reasons that justify that the protagonist is qualified as abominable and monster is that during his stay in a mountain away from the city he ate bats, birds, worms, etc. We can establish that, by meansHis toilet cared, he only focused on the world of smells.

We can find one of the scenes that really allow us to know Jean Baptiste Grenouille is when he transmits to readers what his internal world is, he could create in his imagination a place where he was the king, especially the main character has the powerto get drunk with the fragrances he kept in his mental library and especially with that of a girl who murdered for his aroma. You could say that the power that thousands of aromas has in your memory is extraordinary and above all to create such a real world for it where she could act as he would like;However, the fact that he is obsessed with the aroma of a girl who murdered, the excitation power that creates only for an aroma is disturbing and undoubtedly unpleasant because he does not know the feeling of happiness so we cannot explain thatIt is what really satisfies it or what causes smells in it.

As mentioned earlier he experienced to obtain the fragrance of different objects and when he knows an effective way to obtain their essence, he decides to extract them from white and redhead women because he thinks that his smell is exquisite and prefers to kill them so that they do notFilt the smell of fear and in this way they would not ruin their new perfume. If we analyze this situation, it gives us the most important argument to call it as a monster for the cruelty with which it acted and without remorse and on the other hand it can be called a great person for the intelligence with whom he acted to extract the aroma of the women. Especially the most perverse act he committed was to expect two years, it should be added that we notice that the author has a chronological order that allows us to better appreciate history which allows us to better appreciate the story what allows usbetter appreciate the story, so that during this time the aroma of a girl who had sniffed "mature" and was easier and pleasant.

But his greatest act of genius is that in which he murders his victims so as not to witness his actions and above all that he manages to create the best perfume that has existed on earth, his aroma is so delicious that people make peopleuncontrolle and forget everything;In this way he managed to fulfill his dream of creating a great perfume.

In conclusion, after analyzing all this situations and examples we can affirm that all of the above, committed by Jean Baptiste Grenouille, provide a fair argument to call it “abominable and great monster” due to its intellect superior to the rest of the person and thanks its coldness, cruelty and perverse attitudes;However, it should be added that Grenouille did not know the remorse or love for what can actually be asserted that he is a monster.

Bibliography

1. Süskind, p. (1985). Perfume. Germany.
2. Words: 1430