Perfume

Perfume

by

Patrick Süskind

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Perfume: Part 3, Chapter 41 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
One man in Grasse, Antoine Richis, doesn't trust the peace. He's a widower who intends to remarry so that he can produce sons and climb the social ladder, but he wants to marry off his daughter Laure first. Richis is very rich, and Laure is his prize possession. She's exceptionally beautiful, and even Richis himself finds himself sexually attracted to her at times. He had increased his home's security over the summer but hadn't feared for Laure, as she wasn't quite old enough at the time. He also found the town's behavior despicable and wanted to set an example.
Richis has a very complicated relationship to Laure, whom the reader is led to assume is Grenouille's girl in the garden. Like everyone else in the novel, Richis sees Laure only as a means of advancement for himself, as he can profit from her marriage to someone of high social standing (but he also perversely sees her as a means of pleasure that he must deny himself).
Themes
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Power and Control Theme Icon
Upward Mobility and Social Movement Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon