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  • Essay / Frogs Search for identity

    The search for identity of the protagonist, Grenouille, in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer unfolds differently from the others because his identity is motivated by the beauty of the innocent perfumes that attract him . Grenouille is raised in a horrible environment, thus influencing the indifference between his personal needs and society's expectations. He was unconsciously driven on this quest to find his identity rather than having a choice, which led to differentiating his state of mind at any given time as well as his goals of capturing his identity. As the urge to hunt Frogs grows stronger, scent begins to become the symbol of identity used by Suskind. He places great emphasis on olfactory scents as an aid to Grenouille in pursuing his sense of identity. In “Perfume: A Murderer's Tale,” Suskind uses the format of the bildungsroman to form Frogs' quest as well as the olfactory imagery of the scents he picks up that guide him in his transformation to find his identity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay Due to Grenouille being immersed in his horrific childhood past, he was unable to take a influential decision on the choice of his quest. he was meant to be and could not choose his own vocation. When Grenouille entered the world, “[He] was an abomination from the start… [He] made up his mind in favor of life out of sheer malice and sheer wickedness…” (22) and he had “… a desire to hunt. . »(34) Grenouille is raised with hatred and a cruel past, which prepares him for the necessity of embarking on his quest for identity. The desire he feels to continue his hunt foreshadows the way he will act as he attempts to create an identity for himself while appropriating the scents of others. The Grenouilles' goal was to “…become a creator of scents…not a simple creator…. [B]ut rather, the greatest perfumer of all time. »(45) This is the first time that Grenouilles' objective is mentioned. He begins to realize the quest he must complete because it is imposed on him rather than by something he decided to create. In the call, Grenouille presents the reasons for his desire to hunt and he begins to become familiar with his goal and his environment which prevent him from further excelling in the pursuit of his goal. Now that Grenouille is aware of his goal and his journey. , he encounters trials and tribulations related to objects and humans who repress him, causing him to delay discovering his identity. When Grenouille achieved his objective, “...he was taken prisoner.” (124) Grenouilles' goal throughout his experience is to find the perfect scent to allow him to find his identity in the process. As he achieves his goal, he is slowed and held captive by the influence of different smells and people. One of the obstacles that hampered Grenouilles' research was the difficulty of finding the smell of glass and "when it finally became clear to him that he had failed, he stopped his experiments and fell deathly ill." » (104) Because Grenouille can no longer do the one thing that allows him to gain an identity, he becomes ill because he cannot stay strong. It is also one of the things that keeps him captive as he is almost dying, holding him to acquire the scents needed to create a disguise and get closer to finding his identity. The trials and tribulations that Grenouille faced have slowed him down in capturing his scent due to the effect that the action of achieving his goal has.