The Feeling of Helplessness
“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 cannot smell any of Grenouille’s odors. As result, Jeanne Bussie sees Grenouille
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 l ove 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 does not show how children in his age look like. Grenouille’s appearance does not
imply that he is a well-being child. His posture is neither big nor strong yet he does not really possess an unpleasant look or cunning. One thing that obviously
can be seen is that Grenouille does not like to mingle with people. He prefers to make distance from the crowd. It happens because he is aware that he is different
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 Grim al’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 h im 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 a useful housepet” Süskind, 2006: 32.
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
all of his time alone. They mention that alienated person “becomes isolated from other people and his or her environment” Barclay and Monicivaiz, 2013.