The Impact of Baldini on Grenouille's Development Perfume: Story of a Murderer

The Impact of Baldini on Grenouille's Development Perfume: Story of a Murderer

The Eighteenth century was a period in history where individuals who were often meant to lead a life of a swain, went out of the society's expectations and commited acts of atrocity to become something more. Such was a life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. In Perfume by Patrick Suskind, Baldini, the once "great" perfumer of Paris, took Grenouille under his wings to learn the proper methods of perfumery when he recognizes Grenouilles stupendous ability with scents, Furthermore his time with Baldini develops Grenouille from a character with no aim and purpose to a murderer who is decreasing in equipped with all the skills to ensure his personal success. Through the interaction of Baldini, Grenouille takes his ability to the next level. The initial interaction between Grenouille and Baldini was perhaps the most significant, due to the fact they both came to realize that they can benefit from one another significantly. This scene highlights tension between Baldini and himself whilst causing the audience to question Grenouille's true purpose. After the death of Baldini, however, is when the newly acquired skills of Grenouille come to use as he is in pursuit of the "perfect scent". Moreover, Grenouilles training with Baldini has caused him to loathe humans due to their explicit scent which further proves his decreasing sanity.

Grenouille begins to understand the language of perfumery by the teachings of Baldini, he learns that there is more to perfumery than just the understanding of a scent. Patrick Suskind portray Grenouille as an apprentice taking in all the teachings Baldini has to offer and due to Grenouille's eagerness, he benefited heavily. ""But Grenouille, too profited from the disciplined procedures Baldini had forced upon him...but by using the obligatory meausuring glasses and scales, he learned the language of perfumery, and instinctively sensed that the knowledge could be of service to him" suskind ). Baldini attempts to force new concepts and prespective of perfumery on Grenouille. He uses this to his advantage as the authors diction proves to the audience that his raw talent alone was not enough. With realizing how these skills were going to be useful for him down the road, the audience begins to question the path Grenouille was going to lead. The reference to "instinctively" Grenouille shows us that he already has a plan developing behind his learning's and portrays that he is developing positively towards his goal.

As the apprenticeship continues with Baldini, Grenouille found pleasure with the process that was taking place. Baldini is explaining to him how distillation occurs and takes place within the laboratory. "Grenouille was fascinated by the process. If ever anything in his life had kindled his enthusiasm-granted, not a visible enthusiasm but a hidden one, an excitement burning with a cold flame then it was this procedure for using fire, water steam...". Grenouille from the beginning of the novel, is portrayed as a character with no feeling or emotion due to the miserable life society has put him through. Grenouille exhibiting his emotion toward's distillation shows a drastic change in his character. This furthermore allows the audience to question what the use of distillation is to Grenouille and the root cause of his excitement.

Grenouille's experiences and interactions with the society in the novel thus far has caused readers to suspect his sanity. The training by Baldini himself has caused Grenouille to have no interaction with outside world and has ultimately caused Grenouille to loathe every scent except the scent of nothing. Grenouille has embarked on his personally journey. He has now left