alembic he could rob these materials of their characteristics odor, just as could be done with thyme, lavender, and caraway seeds. He did not know
that distillation is nothing more than a process for separating complex substances into volatile components and that it is only useful in the art of
perfumery because the volatile essential oils of certain plants can be extracted from the rest, which have little or no scent. For substances
lacking these essential oils, the distilling process is, of course, wholly pointless. For us moderns, educated in the natural science, that is
immediately apparent. For Grenouille, however, this knowledge was won painfully after a long chain of disappointment experiments Süskind, 2006:
99.
Knowing that fact, Grenouille is stressed out and depressed. He falls into a mortally illness. He gets high fever for days and “Grenouille’s body was strewn
with reddish blisters. Many of them popped open, releasing their watery contents, only to fill up again” Süskind, 2006: 100 that makes him looks like some martyr
stoned from the inside out. For worst, Grenouille’s illness may lead into death. From the description above, Grenouille’s reaction towards his failure that
makes him mortally ill points out his quality of alienated person. He cannot deal with his failure for failure is a normal process for everyone. Barclay and
Monicvaiz mention one of the alienation symptoms is the feeling of depression healthline.com, 2013. Grenouille is described as a character who can easily get
depressed while he cannot deal with his failure. While facing a failure, Grenouille feels that he is a fool and no one can
help him upon his failure. Because he believes that no one can help him, he doesn’t ask for help to anyone. Because he is sick of his failure in distilling non-
essential oils’ substances, he falls into mortal illness. Therefore, he experiences the feeling of depression that indicates his state of being alienated.
48
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
This part concludes the study after the writer analyzes the novel in the previous chapter. Firstly, the conclusion reviews the characteristics of the main
character named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
. In the story, Grenouille is described as an ignorant, prodigious, and ambitious character.
Grenouille is pictured as an ignorant character because since he was born, he has been abandoned by his mother. He is also nurtured in the environment of ignorant
people such in the orphanage and in the tannery. Grenouille receives no attention, affection, protection, and tenderness as long as he lives. Therefore, it shapes
Grenouille as an ignorant person. Grenouille is also shown as a prodigious character. He is shown as a
prodigious character because he has the quality of being a self-learner and having a peculiar ability since he was kid. He learns anything only by himself. Since he
was kid, he has his own way of learning new words by sniffing his surroundings to find out the odors. Therefore, he has a peculiar ability to distinguish odors,
memorize them, and differentiate those odors specifically. When Grenouille lives in Madame Gaillard’s orphanage, Madame Gaillard feels insecure for knowing
Grenouille’s peculiar ability. She believes that peculiar kids only bring misfortune inside the house. So, she hands over Grenouille to Grimal the tanner. As
Grenouille gets older, he acknowledges that he has peculiar ability and the quality of a prodigy. As a prodigious character, he demands to get the
knowledge and skill to extract and preserve the essence of all scented objects in the best method. Surprisingly, Grenouille is able to learn it all. So he is concluded
as a prodigious character because of his peculiar ability and his being a self- learner since very young age.
In addition, Grenouille is described as an ambitious character. Since he knows that he is ignored by the people because he does not possess body odor, he
has the ambition to create an odor so the society will recognize his existence. His ambition starts when he catches a delicate scent comes from a plum seller’s body.
In order to possess the odor, he murders the girl and enjoys collecting the girl’s body odor. Since then, his ambition is getting bigger in terms of possessing
delicate scent from the virgins. So, he has to travel around France and learn the best method to preserve odor. At the end, he is succeed to learn that method and
kills twenty five beautiful virgins in order to extract their body odors. Because of his ambition, he justifies any means to reach his purpose.
Secondly, the conclusion discusses the revelation of alienation symptoms through Jean-
Baptiste Grenouille’s characteristics. Grenouille’s alienation can be seen through his life with other characters such Jeanne Bussie the wet nurse,
Madam Gaillard his foster mother in the orphanage, Grenouille’s housemates in orphanage, Grimal the tanner, and Baldini the perfumer. Moreover, Grenouille
experiences alienation because of several reasons. Those reasons are the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being different, the refusal to obey rules, the difficulty
to approach and speaking with others, the feeling of depression healthline.com, 2013.
