1) Describe Grenouille so far; how does Suskind begin creating his character (in other words, how can you justify your understanding/interpretations of Grenouille using the text itself)?
Grenouille is first announced as a gifted and abominable person "in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages" (Chapter 1). From birth he was unwanted as his fishmonger mother and was rescued from death by bystanders. He was taken in by the church and even wet nurses did not want to keep nursing him. Nurses characterized him as the devil due to his lack of scent. From there he was raised by Madame Gaillard, along with other orphans. Throughout the chapters, Grenouille's sense of smell develops and becomes an asset to the tanner as he fought off many diseases that have killed people in the past, making him immune to them. When he was fifteen years old on the anniversary of King Louis XV's coronation, Grenouille makes his first kill, only by following his nose. While Grenouille has had a horrible life, Suskind, the narrator, speaks in an unbiased tone for the audience, keeping feelings and emotions out of the story.
2) We've never really read about a main character whose chief trait is his superhuman sense of smell. What is this all about? What might we learn from this character or story? Is scent a symbol for something else?
Grenouille's chief trait is his superhuman sense of smell, which emphasizes the grimness of the time period. France is described as a horribly smelly region and can be seen as putrid. Suskind describes the horrible smell of humans as "a sweaty-oily, sour cheesy, quite richly repulsive mixture” which can be seen in the nature of humans. During this very tense time period, crime and sin was very high in the cities of France and Grenouille's sense of smell resembles the desperation of the population.
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