Power and Control Theme in Perfume

Perfume is, at its heart, a novel about power. It explores how people obtain power, and then how they keep it or fail at doing so. A combination of religion and bureaucracy is introduced as the first avenue through which an individual can enjoy power. It's this combination that made sure that the infant Grenouille stayed alive in the first place. Later in Grasse, this same combination attempts to exert its power and do away with Grenouille, the serial murderer of young girls. It should be noted that in the case of the excommunication of the murderer in Grasse, Grenouille uses the people's faith in religion to his advantage. By ceasing his experiments after the excommunication, he lulls the residents of Grasse into a false sense of security.

While religion and government play powerful roles in the novel, the novel's logic and Grenouille himself asserts that the true ruler of a population is not the king or God, but scent, and more specifically the person who possesses the most intoxicating scent. Scent, as the "brother of breath," is inescapable as long as one keeps breathing. With this guiding logic, Grenouille presents the idea that while Laure is certainly a beautiful girl, the power over both men and women that she would enjoy later in life would come primarily from her intoxicating scent. This realization about how scent functions in relationship to power further supports Grenouille's belief that he's superior to those around him, as he believes he's the only one who is aware of this relationship, or indeed the only one who can even detect differences in individuals' odors. Thus, when this knowledge is paired with his ability to create sublime perfumes, it allows him to exert control over others without their conscious knowledge.

The massive extent of Grenouille's power, which is still a mystery to those around him, comes to life at his execution. Using his sublime perfume, Grenouille is able to turn himself truly into a god, incite an orgy that leads to his release, and, incredibly, make Antoine Richis offer to adopt Grenouille as a son. However, Grenouille cannot experience pleasure or satisfaction when he achieves this goal and finds himself in possession of absolute power. Rather, he uses his power of scent to commit suicide in Paris. In death, and in this method of death in particular, Grenouille simultaneously creates an intense show of power and destroys both himself and his tool or method for obtaining this power.

Power and Control ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Power and Control appears in each chapter of Perfume. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.

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Power and Control Quotes in Perfume

Below you will find the important quotes in Perfume related to the theme of Power and Control.

But to have made such a modest exit would have demanded a modicum of native civility, and that Grenouille did not possess. He was an abomination from the start. He decided in favor of life out of sheer spite and sheer malice.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 21

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator is describing Grenouille's first minutes of life, where his cry saved him from a death of neglect directly following his birth. The description here begins to develop Grenouille's character as a misanthropic “abomination,” even as an infant. While Grenouille doesn't truly understand his own misanthropy until he's an adult, and while Grenouille's lived experiences certainly teach him to hate people, the narrator posits here that this misanthropy was inherent to Grenouille from birth. This idea helps to further distance Grenouille from the reader, as the idea of an infant who is already malicious and inhuman is both strange Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaec

Grenouille knew for certain that unless he possessed this scent, his life would have no meaning... the mere memory, however complex, was not enough.

Related Characters: Girl from the rue de Marais, Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 41

Explanation and Analysis:

Grenouille has discovered the girl from the rue de Marais, who possesses an intoxicating scent, and he decides that he must possess the scent himself by killing her. While it's been obvious from the beginning that Grenouille is strangely obsessive about scent, this takes that obsession to a sinister extreme. His disregard for humans and life itself becomes apparent, as he later suffers no remorse nor even acknowledges that he murdered the girl. Further, this event becomes a turning point for Grenouille and his life. The discovery of this scent allows him to begin to plan for his future and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Even

The man was indeed a danger to the whole trade with his reckless creativity. It made you wish for a return to the old rigid guild laws. Made you wish for draconian measures against this nonconformist, this inflationist of scent.

Related Characters: Giuseppe Baldini (speaker), Pélissier

Page Number and Citation: 53

Explanation and Analysis:

Baldini is on a mental rant against Pélissier, a rival perfumer, but he also rails against the changing times in which he finds himself. Here, Baldini specifically recalls the guild laws of the middle ages, which set out strict guidelines for the creation of perfumes. Following those guidelines, presumably, Pélissier wouldn't be able to access the success he enjoys in the mid-18th century, and Baldini would still be considered a successful and well-established perfumer. This passage also highlights Baldini's love of rules and regulations in general. He later insists that Grenouille learn to write out formulas and measure ingredients, which Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt.

Man's misfortune stems from the fact that he does not want to stay in the room where he belongs. Pascal said that. And Pascal was a great man, a Frangipani of the intellect, a real craftsman, so to speak, and no one wants one of those anymore.

Related Characters: Giuseppe Baldini (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 55

Explanation and Analysis:

Baldini is considering the changing times in which he finds himself, and he feels threatened by man's desire for progress, speed, and discovery. Baldini's entire monologue sets the reader up to understand him as someone who is very interested in convention and conformity. He takes comfort in rules and regulations, as they offer him power and control. Baldini isn't interested in breaking rules for the sake of invention; he'd rather things just not change. When Baldini takes in Grenouille, however, the reader watches Baldini slowly but surely embrace "leaving the room" via Grenouille's creativity. While Baldini certainly molds and channels Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nes

But he at once felt the seriousness that reigned in these rooms, you might almost call it a holy seriousness, if the word "holy" had held any meaning whatever for Grenouille...

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille, Giuseppe Baldini

Page Number and Citation: 67

Explanation and Analysis:

Grenouille is delivering skins from Grimal to Baldini and is now inside a perfume shop for the first time in his life. Here, the reader is asked to consider Grenouille's relationship to religion itself and religious ideas in general. While Grenouille is said to have never understood words that signify non-concrete ideas, this alludes to the idea that he has some understanding of the ideas themselves if not the language that describes them. This also begins to draw a connection between scent, religion, and power. In Baldini's shop, Baldini (or Grenouille) has the power and ability to create scents. While Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occae

... [he] looks just like one of those unapproachable, incomprehensible, willful little prehuman creatures, who in their ostensible innocence think only of themselves... if one let them pursue their megalomaniacal ways and did not apply the strictest pedagogical principles to guide them to a disciplined, self-controlled, fully human existence.

Related Characters: Giuseppe Baldini (speaker), Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 81

Explanation and Analysis:

Baldini is watching as Grenouille sets about creating his copy of Amor and Psyche. Grenouille is a young teenager at this point, and Baldini begins to think of Grenouille as much younger and indeed, as a child. This passage as a whole highlights the novel's general portrayal of children as subhuman, or in this case, pre-human. By casting children as less than human, growing up and coming of age logically entails becoming truly human. In particular, the thoughts Baldini experiences about children here call Grenouille's later “coming of age” into question. While Grenouille does live to the age of 25, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum d

He believed that by collecting these written formulas, he could exorcise the terrible creative chaos erupting from his apprentice.

Related Characters: Giuseppe Baldini, Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 91

Explanation and Analysis:

Baldini has forced Grenouille to allow him to write down formulas for the perfumes Grenouille creates. Baldini finds a great deal of comfort in enforcing rules and order, and dislikes unrestricted creativity and invention. Thus, he finds Grenouille's ability to mix perfumes without measuring them to be both terrifying and miraculous in turn. By writing down the formulas, Baldini begins to exert some control over Grenouille's chaotic creative process. This is also the primary way in which Baldini uses Grenouille for his own gain. While Baldini certainly could've allowed Grenouille free rein to create as he so chose, getting the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusand

... 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 and Citation: 128

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator is describing Grenouille's evening activities in his imaginary “inner fortress.” While Grenouille's inner empire provides insight into what Grenouille wishes the world would be (odorous in a way he finds pleasing; himself as the god or ruler), the particulars of Grenouille's servants indicate how Grenouille feels about humanity. Notably, Grenouille wishes to be served. He wishes for someone else to fetch him things and perform menial tasks. However, in his perfect world, these people simply perform tasks without actually existing in any way. This indicates just how intense Grenouille's self-involvement is, as he cannot even bring himself to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum d

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 and Citation: 129

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator is describing Grenouille's daily "debaucheries" he takes part in within his inner palace, which include drinking bottles of scent collected in the past. Returning to the time this drink was collected (Grenouille's first walks around the city without permission while employed by Grimal), the reader begins to understand how important freedom is to Grenouille. While this desire for freedom is entirely related to Grenouille's misanthropy, it also functions to humanize him for the reader. Freedom is a common desire, and the circumstances of Grenouille's employment were inarguably inhumane and cruel. Thus, by indicating that this sense of freedom Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. V

For people could close their eyes to greatness, to horrors, to beauty, and their ears to melodies or deceiving words. But they could not escape scent. For scent was a brother of breath... He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 155

Explanation and Analysis:

Grenouille is sitting in a church in Montpellier after successfully testing his human perfume. He realizes now that he has the power to control people through scent. This passage gets at the underlying premise of the novel: that scent is the most powerful sense of all, and most importantly, that it is inescapable and works subconsciously. This explains both Grenouille's power, as well as the draw of the girl from the rue de Marais and Laure Richis. The girls' scents work subconsciously to make people love them and find them exceptionally beautiful, and Grenouille specifically states that while the girls Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde

No, he wanted truly to possess the scent of this girl behind the wall; to peel it from her like skin and to make her scent his own. How that was to be done, he did not know yet. But he had two years in which to learn. Ultimately it ought to be no more difficult than robbing a rare flower of its perfume.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille, Laure Richis

Page Number and Citation: 172

Explanation and Analysis:

Having just arrived in Grasse, Grenouille catches the scent of Laure Richis, whose scent is very similar to that of the girl from the rue de Marais. Grenouille then vows to possess this scent. While this stands primarily as a moment of foreshadowing, it also provides evidence of Grenouille's maturation and scientific mind, as he chooses not to murder Laure and rob her of her scent immediately. Essentially, he conceptualizes his last murder as childish and clumsy, which sets this one up to be significantly more sophisticated. While he doesn't yet know how to truly possess this scent, he's conducted Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debiti

What he coveted was the odor of certain human beings: that is, those rare humans who inspire love. These were his victims.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille, Girl from the rue de Marais, Laure Richis

Page Number and Citation: 188

Explanation and Analysis:

The narrator has finished describing Grenouille's process of learning how to take scent from humans, and this final statement sets the stage for Grenouille's future endeavors in working with human scent. Remember that Grenouille's first cry as an infant was a cry for life but against love. Here as an adult, by robbing young girls of their lives and robbing those around them of inspirations of love, Grenouille further brings this relationship between life and love into question. Undeniably, Grenouille doesn't understand love. He never feels it or experiences it. Rather, his misanthropy is what leads him to embark upon Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium re

He was also disgusted by the murderer. He did not want to regard him as a human being, but only as a victim to be slaughtered.

Related Characters: Antoine Richis, Laure Richis, Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 232

Explanation and Analysis:

Following Laure's murder, Grenouille is arrested, tried, and sentenced to a gruesome death. While Grasse prepares for the execution as if for a festival, in his grief Richis experiences only sadness, failure, and disgust at the murderer. While Richis is developed primarily as one of the "good guys" in the novel, Süskind also draws a number of comparisons between Richis and Grenouille. In this instance, Richis wishes to be able to regard Grenouille in the exact same way that Grenouille thinks of his victims—as something less than human, a creature that needs to die in order to accomplish a goal. D

He was in very truth his own God, and a more splendid God than the God that stank of incense and was quartered in churches.

Related Characters: Jean-Baptise Grenouille

Page Number and Citation: 239

Explanation and Analysis:

Grenouille has just incited an orgy at his execution with his perfume, and finds himself the most powerful person for miles around. For many characters in the novel, God and religion in general are the most powerful entities they believe in. Grenouille is consistently put in opposition to the church, however, as education in the church is believed to instill morals in a person—something that never happened for Grenouille. And though Grenouille doesn't necessarily understand the idea of God, he does understand the idea of a god in that it is all-powerful, and he also makes a connection several times Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minu

Power and Control Theme Analysis

Power and Control ThemeTracker

Power and Control Quotes in Perfume

Part 1, Chapter 4 Quotes

Part 1, Chapter 8 Quotes

Part 1, Chapter 11 Quotes

Part 1, Chapter 14 Quotes

Part 1, Chapter 17 Quotes

Part 2, Chapter 27 Quotes

Part 2, Chapter 32 Quotes

Part 3, Chapter 35 Quotes

Part 3, Chapter 38 Quotes

Part 3, Chapter 48 Quotes

Part 3, Chapter 49 Quotes