Patrick Suskind's "Perfume"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at an extract from the end of Patrick Suskind's novel "Perfume" in which the main character Grenouille empties the bottle of master perfume over himself and is devoured by the area's riff-raff. The author explores Suskind's ideas behind Grenouille's cannibalistic death and examines the literary features, which support this concept. For example, Suskind uses two contrasting images of Grenouille as an angel and of the mob as hyenas. The quoted extract is included in the paper.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Extract
Commentary

From the Paper:

"The short onomatopoeic sound of 'sprinkled' anticipates the surge of the force that thrusts the crowd backwards, like the unnatural stillness before an outburst. The hard 'b' sound followed by long vowels in "been bathed in beauty like blazing fire" demonstrate the crowd's initial surprise, as if they are hesitating with 'buts' before being overwhelmed with wonder and thus making drawn-out exclamation sounds like 'ahhh' and 'oooo'. The long vowels and assonance of 'a' in "awe and pure amazement" reflect similar sounds."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Suskind, Patrick. Perfume. Trans. John E. Woods. (London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1987)

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• Analytical Essay # 64979 : "A Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind"

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