Perfume

Perfume

by

Patrick Süskind

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Perfume makes teaching easy.

Grenouille's Inner World Symbol Analysis

Grenouille's Inner World Symbol Icon

Grenouille's inner world (also referred to as his fortress, inner palace, or purple room) is where Grenouille keeps all of his scents catalogued and is a place where he has complete control as “Grenouille the Great.” Thus, Grenouille's inner world can be seen to represent both how Grenouille conceptualizes himself and illustrates how he'd like the world to be. Grenouille the Great is capable of molding this inner world to look and smell exactly how Grenouille wants, a power that Grenouille seeks to gain over the outside world. Further, while Grenouille the Great's world has servants to wait on him, they're invisible and don't smell, and in the same vein, the girl from the rue de Marais features in Grenouille's world as bottles of scent to be drunk. This fleshes out and illustrates Grenouille's misanthropic view of people; he sees them as items to be used and enjoyed rather than as actual beings.

Grenouille's Inner World Quotes in Perfume

The Perfume quotes below all refer to the symbol of Grenouille's Inner World. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
).
Part 2, Chapter 27 Quotes

... he clapped his hands and called his servants, who were invisible, intangible, inaudible, and above all inodorous, and thus totally imaginary servants...

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille
Related Symbols: Grenouille's Inner World
Page Number: 128
Explanation and Analysis:

That odor had been the pledge of freedom. It had been the pledge of a different life. The odor of that morning was for Grenouille the odor of hope. He guarded it carefully. And he drank it daily.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille
Related Symbols: Grenouille's Inner World
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2, Chapter 29 Quotes

What he now felt was the fear of not knowing much of anything about himself... He could not flee it, but had to move toward it.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille
Related Symbols: Grenouille's Inner World
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Perfume LitChart as a printable PDF.
Perfume PDF

Grenouille's Inner World Symbol Timeline in Perfume

The timeline below shows where the symbol Grenouille's Inner World appears in Perfume. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1, Chapter 8
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Upward Mobility and Social Movement Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
...and over the next week he refines his system. He begins to construct an inner fortress of smell. Grenouille feels no remorse at having murdered the girl; all that matters to... (full context)
Part 1, Chapter 16
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Upward Mobility and Social Movement Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
...Baldini's laboratory. As Grenouille falls asleep, he dreams of a victorious entrance into his inner fortress where there's a banquet and an orgy with clouds of incense and myrrh held in... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 26
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
Grenouille's "debaucheries" take place in his inner fortress. He begins by thinking about scents from his childhood, and if his disgust at them... (full context)
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
Afterwards, Grenouille stretches out inside his cave. In his mental fortress, he dozes and enjoys pleasant scents. In the late afternoon of Grenouille's inner world, he... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 27
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Upward Mobility and Social Movement Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
The inner Grenouille, " Grenouille the Great ," is tired after his day of destruction, creation, and celebration. His heart is a... (full context)
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
When Grenouille wakes, he wakes up in his cave rather than in his fortress or his inner empire. He feels as miserable as if he'd truly been drinking, and... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 28
Power and Control Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
...empire. One winter, Grenouille nearly freezes to death without realizing it. He lies in his purple room for five days, and when he finally wakes, is so cold he can't move. He... (full context)
Part 2, Chapter 29
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
...part of Grenouille's dream fantasies. One night he lies on his sofa in his purple fortress, asleep after drinking a huge amount, including two bottles of the scent of the girl... (full context)
Part 3, Chapter 49
Growing Up and Becoming Human Theme Icon
Power and Control Theme Icon
Creative Genius vs. Convention and Assimilation Theme Icon
Scent, Sight, and the Grotesque Theme Icon
...He knows that if he asked them to, the people would renounce God and worship Grenouille the Great instead, who is now manifest in the real world. (full context)