The Perfume

1. Characters: describe the principal characters in your novel.

The principle character of the novel perfume is Grenouille. He is a young orphan who
was brought up in a home orphanage owned by Madame Gaillard. Since his young age,
Grenouille has an extraordinary nose and can detect every different kind of smell. This young
man grows to work in a perfumery and was able to create one of the finest scents in the
world.

2. What is the setting of this novel where and when does it take place does the setting
vary?
This story takes place in 18th century France, where it begins in Paris and later
moves on to Grasse where he learned to distil smells, and later on runs away to Montpellier.

3. Summarize the plot what happens in your novel? What are the major conflicts? How
are they resolved, or are they NOT resolved?

The story begins with the birth of Grenouille in a fish market, where his mother
abandoned him under a fish stand but fortunately he survived and was brought to an
orphanage home. Growing up, he realized that he possesed an extraordinary gift for
discerning senses. One day while on his journey in Paris distributing leather hides, he was
able to smell a scent that he has never smelled before and because of this he decided that
he must become a creator of scents. Eventually this quest lead to the murder of a young girl
which he strangled to death in order to satisfy his curiosity. Because of fear, Grenouille left
the body and fled, but he didnt feel any guilt. Grenouille offered his services to Mr. Baldini, a
great perfume master because he wanted to learn how to make the best scents in Paris.
After several years of work, Baldini became very rich due to Grenouilles talent. Eventually
Grenouille fell very ill but he survived once more. After this, he decided to go on a journey to
Grasse to learn how to distil scents. He begins with cold flowers, but later on moves on to
animals and young girls. Every time Grenouille smells something good, he gets the urge to
kill in order to preserve the essence of the smell. Grenouille made up his mind that he will
make the best perfume there is in the world, but In order to do this, he needed this young
girls scent. She was a redhead with an extraordinary beauty, and her scent was the most
wonderful he had ever smelled. Grenouille kills 24 young girls and gets caught for his crimes.
Grenouille was sentenced to death and right before his execution, he used a couple of drops
of his master scent to all the people gathered. The scent was so powerful that it had a magical
effect on everyone. He was seen as an angel and was released. AT the end of the story,
Grenouille goes back to the fish market where everything began and sprays all the perfume
on himself . The peoples reaction was once again so strong that they actually devoured him.
One of the major conflicts of this story is when Grenoiulle smelled the girls scent for
the first time and got so overpowered with wanting it so badly, that he killed her. Immersing
himself in her scent, he finally felt he was happy. But this was not resolved because the urge
to be able to concoct that unique smell was the driving force behind his actions. And so, he
killed 24 women in this quest. After attaining his goal, he felt empty again and thought that he
will not be loved by others.

6. Choose a quote or event in the novel that you especially liked, or especially disliked. List
it, and explain WHY.
Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances,
emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like
breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.
Baldini and Grenouille in Baldini's shop, p. 82

Personally, I think that this quotation is definitely true. Our ability to smell affects the
way we see things and especially our relationships with people. For example, in the book,
Grenouille killed the young ladies for their specific odors and not for their beauty. It was their
scent that attracted him to the girls; their essence over powered him totally that he could only
be satisfied if he will be able to kill and preserve the smell.
7. What was/were the main themes, or lessons that the author wanted you as the reader to
learn from reading this novel?
In this book the author presents two main themes. First, Grenouille is seen as a
misanthrope, given that he hates humans and life as a whole. He believes that there is
nothing interesting for him other than scent. We are aware that the scent Grenouille invented
inspires love from other people, but he found out that this kind of love isnt enough to fulfil
him. All he is concerned about is more scents to conquer. The second main theme that is
presented in this book is how scent affects human behavior on a subconscious level.
Grenouille believes that scent makes up a persons personality. Realizing that he doesnt have
his own scent shocked and horrified him and he comes up with a conclusion that he is
subhuman or a monster. This idea about himself makes him behave likewise to everyone
else.

8. Do you think the novel would have been better with a few changes? What would you
change to make this novel better: plot, setting, character?

I would not change anything in this novel, because every small detail contributes to the
entirety of the novel.

9. Did you notice anything in the novel that did not make sense to you? What were those
places?

When Grenouille hid himself inside a cave for seven years he realized that he had no
odor. He then started believing that he was subhuman and had no scent. Considering the
fact that he was all alone in that cave, as time went on, he eventually gets used to his own
smell. So when he came out and smelled himself, he found out he didnt have any. It is a
known fact that an individual cannot smell their own natural odor and they become immune to
their own smell. Maybe this can be a possible explanation as to why Grenouille wasnt able
to smell anything on himself.

10. Was this novel appropriate for people of your age? Why do you think so? Would you
recommend this novel to other people, if so, to what group, and why?
What was your personal reaction to the novel- did you like or dislike it, and WHY?
I think that this novel was appropriate and is a good read for people my age and I
would definitely recommend it to other people even if they are not from my age group. The
themes discussed in the story encompasses a wide range of ages, and so the story would be
appealing even if they are older than me.
Personally I found this book a little shocking at the beginning, but once you read and
understand the events, the book becomes very gripping and incites you to read more.