Ignorant The Characteristics of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille

Because of Grenouille’s peculiar ability, Madame Gaillard feels insecure. Madame Gailla rd 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 analyzin g Grenouille’s quality through Madame Gaillard’s perspective, the writer sees Greno uille’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 virgin’s body odor. He knows what he needs and he knows exactly what he has to do to murder the virgins firmly. In order to travel to Grasse legally, Grenouille nee ds 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 und isturbed, 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 the anniversary of the king’s coronation in the city of Paris at the Pont-Royal. There, he has a break time after his work with Grimal the tanner. There is also a fireworks exhibition to celebrate the anniversary. Since Grenouille has no interest with the fireworks exhibiton. Since there are lots of people are gathered and 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 des cribes 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 k ey 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. She was so frozen with terror at the sight of him that he had plenty of time to put his hands to her throat. She did not attempt to cry out, did not budge, did not make the least motion to defend herself. He, in turn did not look at her, did not see her delicate, freckled face, her red lips, her large